Posts: 3479
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | On certain motors (especially old technology 2-stroke engines), I always recommend replacing the plugs on a yearly basis in the spring after you have run all the gunk out of the cylinders from fogging oil/storage. The plugs are not expensive for the most part (and yes...some are very expensive with the higher technology motors and not worthy of replacement yearly) and it is good preventative maintenance.
The can of sea foam will help things along, but if it is possible, I would say if you can get direct access to the intake, get some pressurized sea foam or mercury powertune.
When the motor is up to temperature, set the idle to around 1500 to 1800 RPMs (High idle). Spray directly into the intake so the motor starts to sputter, but don't let it die. continue to do this for a couple minutes, then spray heavily until the motor dies. If it doesn't want to die, just kill the engine. Continue to spray into the intake for another few seconds.
Let the motor sit for 20 minutes or more (depending on how bad things are, up to 2 hours can be beneficial). Then tighten everything up and go out to the lake. Run everything out of it. There will be a bunch of white smoke as you start out, but after a bit, it will be all gone.
This process should definitely help any ill running issues due to carbon build up. It can smooth out idling, acceleration, and top end.
A good change of a set of spark plugs after this process is a good thing as well...
Steve |
