Thread: Sea Foam vs Sta-Bil vs Marine Sta-Bil - What is the best for boats??

I can't speak about Sea-Foam or the marine Sta-Bil, but I have use the regular Sta-Bil in my boat since 1997. Every October on my last time to use my boat I make sure that the gas tank is topped off and I put the recommended amount of Sta-Bil in the gas tank. I then disconnect my gas line and let the motor run the gas out of the carbs.

Come next Feb. when I crank the boat back up for the first time I have not had the first problem.

I've had marine mechanics tell me not to run the gas out of the carbs when I winterize my boat and I've had other marine mechanics tell to definately run the gas out of the carbs when I winterize my boat. I have chosen to latter approach and it has worked perfectly for me.

No to first question.think he had a problem with ethanol he is blaming on Stabil. Sea foam is a cleaner and could have cut loose some things that had been broken down by the ethanol. If you are sure you have non ethanol gas run ethanol when not running motor for a while. If having to run ethanol gas use marine in every tank. I use regular in all small engine gas every time I buy gas for them. Have had no problems with cranking after sitting all winter and they seem to start better every time I start them. I never run carbs dry any more and have had no problems. Carbs used to gum up because of lead in gas and additives that went with it. Same thing with misers. I have read the can about putting it in engine not sure if I would do it myself. It will clean anything that your oil runs through,litters, bearings and such. If you have newer engine you shouldn't have anything gummed up to start with. Maybe on old engine. With lifter noise. Understand one thing, any place you have a seal like crankshaft ends there are seals and carbon builds up around seal lip. Run cleaner through in oil will cut that carbon loose and can create oil leaks.

I have used stabil and marine stabil in my boat since new in 04, and don't make the effort to find 100% gas since I use stabil or the marine version. I used the original version until I found the marine version just a year or so ago. I have not used sea foam in the boat but would not think it would hurt anything if used in reasonable quantities. Some people don't bother to read the directions, or do read 'em, and then think 2x as much is better. I do not run the gas out of my 60hp at the end of a trip or end of the season, never have, and I have not had any issues with my carbs or plugs. I use the stabil to maintain the quality (?) of the gas since a tank of gas could last me all summer long since I dont use the 60 that much. I use the TM 95% of the time, and stay within site of the boat ramp alot as well. My 60 starts everytime, with little effort and no trouble.

Putting seafoam in the engines oil is for cleaning the oil passages out of gunk, sludge, etc. If you have a 4 stroke, then add some seafoam to the oil and run the motor for a few minutes then CHANGE the oil. If you have a 2 stroker, then putting some seafoam in the gas/oil mix probably won't hurt (up to a point) but the motor will probably smoke more than normal.

I use Marine Stabill because my mechanics said too, as far as the differences I dont know but he makes his living working on em and runs it in his.

I use seafoam and sta-bil. Sta-bil is used to prevent water from falling (separating) out of the fuel. One of the big negatives of Ethanol fuel is that the alcohol in the fuel draws moisture creating the problem. Seafoam is used to decarb the engine while it is running or you can mix a strong mixture (separate tank) and do it once a year. Seafoam has been around for sixty years now. If it caused problems they would have shown up by now. We have to decarb now because the ethanol fuel does not burn as hot as regular fuel creating the carbon. I was amazed how much better my outboard ran after using seafoam in one tank of fuel.

I would not put any additive in my automobile's engine. Modern engine oil has enough detergents and additives to keep your engine clean and suspend contaminants as long as you change it at the reccomended intervals .

I have used Sea-Foam for years and have had no problems other than it's a cleaner and your fuel filter will need to be changed on a regular basis. Recently, because of the water that is attracted by the ethanol, I have started using Amsoil every other tank. It actually works really well.

All of it is good stuff.

Marine stabil only thing I use!