Anyone had any luck finding this stuff? Chinese name for it? Long shot I know...
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Anyone had any luck finding this stuff? Chinese name for it? Long shot I know...
Many moons ago, I could find Carb and Fuel Injector cleaner at the METRO mart in China (Techron, IIRC). They were stupid expensive but at least available.
CC
You can make your own like I do. Here's the MSDS for the stuff;
1 PALE OIL 40-60%
2 NAPHTHA 25-35%
3 IPA 10-20%
Pale oil is: A petroleum lubricating or process oil refined until its color (measured by transmitted light) is straw to pale yellow.
You should know what naptha is
IPA is: Isopropyl alcohol
I buy a quart of new cheap oil, a quart of naptha, and pint of IPA at the highest concentration and mix it all together. I posted on another site what the percentages come out to be but it's not connecting right now. I do know that mixing all three like this keeps all of the percentages in tolerance. I mainly use it before an oil change in a car or truck. I pour a 1/2 pint in the crank case and drive it for about half an hour. It's really helps my oil consumption problem on my '99 Amigo.
I've seen the regular products such as STP and all those. But Seafoam is something extraordinarily different from what I hear.
As for sourcing and then mixing that stuff up... it'd probably be infinitely easier to source a bottle of Seafoam and have it shipped here then going through that mess. Thanks though, I do appreciate the effort.
Sorry Carl, maybe I misread that.... you found Seafoam Carb + Injector cleaner in Metro?Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyCarl
Sorry, I haven't seen Sea Foam anywhere in China. Near as I can tell, it's prodominantly available in the US and I think it's a smaller brand name and may not have the same reach as the STPs and Chevrons of the industry. Getting a large bottle of it on an international flight may be a little tricky but who knows!
Just curious, what do you think Seafoam does that any other fuel injector or carb cleaner wont?
CC
Actually, all of the ingredients are common.Quote:
Originally Posted by Taimur
Oil, naptha, and rubbing alchohol.
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=358870Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyCarl
http://www.hdtalking.com/fuel_and_ca...-sea_foam.html
It's just that I've used STP stuff in other vehicles and to be honest was not impressed. Most others I know share my sentiments but more than a few riders I know back home have been reccomending this stuff as if it were liquid gold. I actually read a bit about the Techron stuff this morning, sounds pretty good as well. I'm considering just going into a shop during the holidays and having the injectors flow cleaned ultrasonically and flowtested. It's just a long process which has kept me from doing it. I guess that's what holidays are for sometimes!
I actually didn't know what Naptha was until I just googled it... and I'm still unclear how I'd buy naptha in Beijing. Lighter fluid? Camping gas? Most of these products aren't pure naptha anyways and I'd be very wary of tossing in a mixture of products into my Japanese sportbike engine. In Vancouver I'd have a bit of explanation to do to get it, in Beijing it's hard enough to buy matching shoelaces. :thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by david3921
For sure the unreliable labeling and manufacture of goods in China makes it much harder to be sure you're getting the right stuff. I have had good experiences with Techron, and have run sea foam but never saw any serious gains... certainly less than a proper carb cleaning.
Do you just want it for preventive maintenance or is there a problem with the bike?
CC
Yeah, it seems Techron is quite similar to Seafoam. My bike is FI and I've had her for about 5 months in Beijing. The owner before me had a getoff and seemed to have just parked the bike for a long time thereafter and most of the basic maintenance items had to be redone by me to get her up to standard. Air filter, oil/filter, battery, rad flush, front pads plus plus. My idle was a bit unsteady and the bike was sometimes stalling at red lights. My mechanic told me he thinks it's dirty injectors. I was thinking fuel filter but I was wrong.
Took it in today for a proper injector removal, cleaning and flow testing. Took about 2 hours in total, much shorter than I anticipated but pretty expensive. It was totally worth it though because my idle is now rock solid at 1200, my lower end feels much more responsive and stronger, mid range stayed the same while high end feels a bit more eager than before. I'd say the lower end is where I feel the most improvement. The icing is that the engine and exhaust note sound a bit smoother too. That never hurts!!
Still want to get that Seafoam stuff and use it every few months to keep things clean... maybe the effects on FI is more than on a carbed engine?
I had to replace the (very expensive) fuel filters on my fuel injected V-Strom after 25,000 kilometers. That's not normal. I always ran the best gas I could find in it, but now I just stick to 93 octane from Sinopec or BP. I know it sounds strange, but 97 octane in China seems to be worse for FI than 93.
If you have a FI bike in China, it might be a good idea to pull the fuel filter(s) every 15,000 kilometers and soak them in FI cleaner. Most modern FI systems do a good job of keeping the injectors clean, (my V-Strom has two filters inside the fuel pump), but if they become clogged, it will burn out your pump.
You should be able to find FI cleaner pretty easily in Beijing at Metro or Walmart.
Cheers!
ChinaV
Great advice! I'll probably pull it next oil change and have it cleaned with something. Apparently a new OEM filter is about $250 so definitely worth the maintenance hassle.
Also I'm a bit wary to use the 93 octane because acording to my service manual, gasoline used outside of North America should be rated 95 or higher for this model (only 91 in continent).
Another homebrew recipe http://hildstrom.com/projects/seafoam/index.htmlQuote:
Originally Posted by david3921