Too much seafoam?????!!!

[kcoop99]

So I have been having some problems with my charging system and bought a new battery, hooked it up, all works, blah blah blah. Well, as I was waiting for battery to charge overnight, I poured a whole can of seafoam in my tank (its the ONLY thing I have done). Now it is morning and I went out to start it and it cranks and cranks and when it fires up its a TERRIBLE backfire!!! So bad it kills it just when it starts to run. Could there be too much seafoam? Is there such a thing? Do I need to siphon the tank and start fresh? Again, I have not touched anything else and it has never backfired before today.

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[kcoop99]

I did remove the coils and such to gain clearance to the battery when I replaced it. Could it be that the coil wires did not 'seat' properly when I reinstalled? Would that cause a backfire issue?

 

[naughtyG]

A whole can is a bit much - should be a couple of ounces to a tank..

When pulling the coil wires, it's a good idea to cut off about 1/4" before re-screwing them into the coils, as the ends often get corroded and make a bad contact. Same is true for the plug caps ends.

 

[alorio1]

I would think you have way too much seafoam in it and siphon half or better of the gas out and refil with fresh gas to dilute seafoam already in the tank. Save fuel for future use. You may have coil connectors crossed to the rear coils also if you unplugged them for the battery installation.

 

[DMAN999]

I also would drain the Float Bowls into a clear Glass container also and make sure you didn't break loose some crud that's now clogging the carbs.
Also check the Fuel Filter and make sure it's not clogged.

 

[maleko89]

That's way too much. I would drain fuel tank and carbs.

 

[alorio1]

As suggested cut 1/4" off each wire.....the coil wire actually screws into the coil, it you look inside the opening of the coil you will see a barb that has threads on it. The wire screws into the coil clockwise.

I did remove the coils and such to gain clearance to the battery when I replaced it. Could it be that the coil wires did not 'seat' properly when I reinstalled? Would that cause a backfire issue?

 

[gamorg02]

i thought i read somewhere of someone running a bike onpure seafoam?

 

[kcoop99]

Siphoned all the gas out and emptied the bowls. Seem to have done the trick. I guess you learn something every day.

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EDIT!
It did not work!! UGH! I cut a small amount off of the wires and there wasn't much left to still connect to the coil. I just bought some new wires to make sure they seat properly. Would those not being seated cause a misfire though????

 

[RaWarrior]

I was under the impression it was impossible to "overdose" on seafoam. I know my pressure washer runs fine on 50/50 gas/seafoam....usually do that the first tank each year, then it runs fine on just gas. I don't think that would cause the problems you described.

Did you happen to reverse the coil/plug wire leads? I know if you do that on the front ones it makes it not start and backfire like crazy.

 

[kcoop99]

I'm pretty certain I hooked them up correctly. They were so short that there is no way they would have been able to cross. I'm leaning towards something with the coils. It is basically not starting and yes, backfiring like crazy.

 

[one2dmax]

I am not sure if the seafoam will cause the issue but I did take apart a carb set that was run with heavy seafoam. The plugs in the jet blocks were misshapen and the pilot fuel jets had plugged up. But, not sure if it was related to that or not.

 

[jfeagins]

I suspect you aren't getting those plug wires far enough back up into the coils.

When I first met Sean, after having gone completely through rebuilding my carbs, I had at least a whole can in my tank. I remember Sean asking me exactly how much of the stuff I had put in there after he had listened to the bike run a few seconds.

Needless to say, I simply topped off with some 100% pure Dino and all was good in life. Four years or so later, it's still running very well.

I will tell you that if you have any pressurized carb stuff, it ain't good to go indiscriminately spraying it down every orifice you see inside the necks of those carbs. That's all I'll say about that. {grin}

 

[88vmx12]

I did remove the coils and such to gain clearance to the battery when I replaced it. Could it be that the coil wires did not 'seat' properly when I reinstalled? Would that cause a backfire issue?

I think you have the wires swapped to your coils! :clapping:

G

 

[alorio1]

I was refering to the connections to the coils not the HT leads to the plugs, its very easy to get them crossed.......

I'm pretty certain I hooked them up correctly. They were so short that there is no way they would have been able to cross. I'm leaning towards something with the coils. It is basically not starting and yes, backfiring like crazy.

 

[kcoop99]

Got it solved today! While I don't know if you can "O.D." on seafoam, I probably did have too much in there. While changing the battery AGAIN we noticed that one of the wires going to the coil connection (those referenced above) was cut. Problem solved! Thanks for the input!

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