TORCO octane boost and Seafoam

[David K.]

[Edward J.]

Re: TORCO octane boost and Seafoam

David, I have used seafoam for years, its a good product for carbon and deposit removal. which causes drivability problem with late model cars. as well as older cars with carbon build up. Octane boost I will leave for someone like Duke William's ,

[Joe R.]

Re: TORCO octane boost and Seafoam

As discussed on this board before Seafoam is good for 3 to four years in your tank but pump gas without ethanol is good for 3 to 4 years also. Seafoam has other additives that helps the injectors in new engines and old engines with carbon build up. Using at least a gas with 93 octane without ethanol has been recommended with all engines with 11.1 compression.

Good luck using ethanol in older engines.

JR

[Michael W.]

Re: TORCO octane boost and Seafoam

If anyone is curious, Seafoam is simply 50% light petroleum oil, 25% rubbing alcohol and 25% naptha as per the MSDS sheets. No magic ingredients there. I've had success with it un-gumming old 2 stroke outboard carbs (it's original design purpose) but not much else. Possibly just running a few tanks of pump gas through the engine cleared up the symptoms but overheating and a stuck throttle are not the fault of the fuel anyway.

16oz of Torco in a full tank of fuel will raise octane rating by about 2.5 points AKI, as per their blending charts. Most Petrocan station sell 94 AKI fuel at the same price as everyone else sells 91.

[Duke W.]

Re: TORCO octane boost and Seafoam

I'm not familiar with Torco, but for a lot of these "octane boost" products a "point" is 0.1, not 1.0.

If your 365 HP engine is detonating at high load, low revs, it may have the original .018" shim head gasket and OE pistons. Can you measure the head gasket thickness and post. It's very easy... just use feeler gages at the most convenient corner of the head-block interface.

If the pistons and head gaskets are OE, then 91 PON is a little short of the octane requirement. If higher octane is commercially available, use it even if it has ethanol.

Another way to mitigate detonation is install stiffer springs to slow the very aggressive OE centrifugal advance ( 24 @ 2350 max), which should negate the need for additives, which are costly and inconvenient to use.

John Seeley's '65 FI engine has the original Flint head gaskets and operates detonation-free on California 91 PON E10 with 39 degrees total WOT advance, but the centrifugal is slower than OE and was modified before he acquired the car.

Duke

[David K.]

Re: TORCO octane boost and Seafoam

It was knocking upon acceleration in second gear, on the way up from 2000 to 3500 RPM. Problem is now gone with the use of the TORCO accelerator.
I read on previous posts on the subject that the use of octane boost messes up the carb and possibly engine internals.......others swear by it. Confusing

[Michael W.]

Re: TORCO octane boost and Seafoam

I read on previous posts on the subject that the use of octane boost messes up the carb and possibly engine internals.......others swear by it. Confusing

I've never read anything alluding to that, at least not from credible sources. Not everything on the internet is true, some say.

[Joe C.]

Re: TORCO octane boost and Seafoam

My 65' (365hp) sat in the garage this season for over ten months due to illness, and I only started the engine in August. Needless to say, the car ran like a pig with hesitation upon acceleration from a stop sign, overheating, and my revs sticking at 2-3k RPM after driving a few (6-7) miles. Bob Kunz suggested a full bottle of Seafoam in a tank of gas. After running two full tanks with Seafoam, everything has corrected itself. Fantastic product in my opinion.
I also experienced knocking on load acceleration in second gear the last couple of years & never bothered to attend to it (running Shell 91 octane with no ethanol). Someone suggested TORCO fuel additive for a boost in octane. This has vitally eliminated the knock. I assume that I'm running with approx. 96 octane, using 16-18oz in a full tank of gas. Has anyone heard of…….. or experienced problems with long term use of such a product. NB… My timing is set at 10 degrees, and idle is at 850rpm.

Thanks in advance;

What are your valves lashed at, pilgrim? If they are "too tight" then the cylinders will develop too much dynamic compression, which will cause detonation. Loosen the valve lash until you hear a nice, high performance clatter and then you'll have 'em set good.
Many of the old timers here, although they are the same age as I am, prefer to de-tune solid lifter L76 engines ( L84 engines are a different matter altogether) by increasing the valve lash beyond optimal. I prefer to fix the problem rather than applying a "band aid".
After "setting" for awhile, some unwanted guests may have took up residence in certin cylinders and need to be evicted. Use water stream into the carburetor and to hell with Sea Foam a waste of money. Then set a spell have some shine and go into the seeeemint pond.

[Duke W.]

Re: TORCO octane boost and Seafoam

"What are your valves lashed at, pilgrim? If they are "too tight" then the cylinders will develop too much dynamic compression, which will cause detonation. Loosen the valve lash until you hear a nice, high performance clatter and then you'll have 'em set good."



...just the opposite. "Tight lash" increases effective duration slightly, which delays IVC, so there is more reversion resulting in less compression pressure at low revs, which reduces the propensity for detonation.

Duke

[Timothy B.]

Re: TORCO octane boost and Seafoam

It was knocking upon acceleration in second gear, on the way up from 2000 to 3500 RPM. Problem is now gone with the use of the TORCO accelerator.
I read on previous posts on the subject that the use of octane boost messes up the carb and possibly engine internals.......others swear by it. Confusing

Could the knocking just be carbon that the seafoam softened and burned out.

[John L.]

Re: TORCO octane boost and Seafoam

I have a power equipment / small engine repair business. I use sea foam in all my repairs. I swear by the stuff and recommend it to all my customers instead of the more popular stabilizer. I have found that this stuff really works. I use it in the gas and oil.

[Tom B.]

Re: TORCO octane boost and Seafoam

I have a power equipment / small engine repair business. I use sea foam in all my repairs. I swear by the stuff and recommend it to all my customers instead of the more popular stabilizer. I have found that this stuff really works. I use it in the gas and oil.

I agree. I have used Seafoam in small engines and collector cars after they set for a long time and are hard to start and run rough. It has never failed to smooth things out and get them starting easy again. I'm not going to argue properties or if this is better than that, I just know from years of use that it works.

Tom

[Michael F.]

Re: TORCO octane boost and Seafoam

whatever works for you is my motto, listen to those known to be in the know and then make your choice, good luck

[Michael W.]

Re: TORCO octane boost and Seafoam

I have a power equipment / small engine repair business. I use sea foam in all my repairs. I swear by the stuff and recommend it to all my customers instead of the more popular stabilizer. I have found that this stuff really works. I use it in the gas and oil.

Agreed that it is great for unclogging small engine carbs etc. I take a different route and don't let them sit with gas in them while in storage. Ounce of prevention, pound of cure etc.

[Joe C.]

Re: TORCO octane boost and Seafoam

"What are your valves lashed at, pilgrim? If they are "too tight" then the cylinders will develop too much dynamic compression, which will cause detonation. Loosen the valve lash until you hear a nice, high performance clatter and then you'll have 'em set good."



...just the opposite. "Tight lash" increases effective duration slightly, which delays IVC, so there is more reversion resulting in less compression pressure at low revs, which reduces the propensity for detonation.

Duke

Good catch, and a debatable point in the OP's case. With tighter lash, IVO also occurs sooner, with corresponding valve lift increase. Better filling of cylinders and thus higher cylinder pressure at peak torque and higher revs means more cylinder pressure at midrange/high revs.

OP's detonation occurs "under load acceleration", so I assume mid-high RPM. and higher cylinder pressures. Not low load/low speed.