Stalling after Seafoam?

[MooseKitchen]

So I used a can of Seafoam with my previous fill up. Now on my second tank of fuel (always top tier, 93 octane), my 1/2 ton has been stalling out while in the drop off line at my childrens' school. It has happened twice now, 2 days in a row. No CEL. It fires right back up. I have noticed the TAC is not as smooth as it used to be. It jumps, and idles at 500 rpms rather than 550-600. It should be noted that I live in the mountains, and the school is on top of a hill. The drop off line is on a 10-25% incline (it varies).

Fuel, air, and spark, yes?

Spark - I'm 8k into new plugs from the dealer.
Air- 8k miles into the new air cleaner from the dealer
Fuel - I use 93 octane. Almost exclusively BP. Occasionally I'll go with Shell or Exxon.

I did use a can of Seafoam with my last fill up. That's the only change. This has never happened before. I'm thinking there's a carbon deposit that broke loose and is fouling up the fuel line, or the exhaust. So either fuel is not getting to the combustion chamber, or the exhaust cannot escape. Is the answer more Seafoam?

Thoughts?

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[ncgrl1]

That is a good guess! My assumption would be the same as yours. Curious as to what you find out. I have used Seafoam in the past with good results.

 

[bigredbighorn882007]

I would think so as well. You could run it low and put another can in and not fill it so it can be more concentrated and hopefully break it up. Did it happen shortly after fueling?

 

[MooseKitchen]

I ran the tank with the seafoam down to 1/8 and then filled up. Now it has happened twice.

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[bigredbighorn882007]

Could be that the sea foam loosened up some trash in the bottom of the tank. If the fuel pickup is at the rear of the tank, the trash could slide to the pickup and be just enough to choke it out at idle. Happened to me in my old corvette every time I filled up

 

[travelinty]

Had this happen on another vehicle after good seafoam cleaning ended up swapping the fuel filter and all was well again.


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[rotwiler]

I don't see how carbon could break off in fuel lines, but maybe in engine. I used to seafoam every car I had, but now I only use it if doing a carbon clean out through vacuum line. Only thing I add to fuel now and by reading a lot , found only fuel system cleaners with P.E.A work well. So now I only use redline fuel system cleaner or gumout total system cleaner(both have p.e.a) redline has most. Old vehicles had metal tanks, new are plastic, so most fuel cleaners only clean from fuel pump to engine, is why p.e.a is important.

 

[Casper]

So I used a can of Seafoam with my previous fill up. Now on my second tank of fuel (always top tier, 93 octane), my 1/2 ton has been stalling out while in the drop off line at my childrens' school. It has happened twice now, 2 days in a row. No CEL. It fires right back up. I have noticed the TAC is not as smooth as it used to be. It jumps, and idles at 500 rpms rather than 550-600. It should be noted that I live in the mountains, and the school is on top of a hill. The drop off line is on a 10-25% incline (it varies).

Fuel, air, and spark, yes?

Spark - I'm 8k into new plugs from the dealer.
Air- 8k miles into the new air cleaner from the dealer
Fuel - I use 93 octane. Almost exclusively BP. Occasionally I'll go with Shell or Exxon.

I did use a can of Seafoam with my last fill up. That's the only change. This has never happened before. I'm thinking there's a carbon deposit that broke loose and is fouling up the fuel line, or the exhaust. So either fuel is not getting to the combustion chamber, or the exhaust cannot escape. Is the answer more Seafoam?

Thoughts?

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

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I'd guess your fuel filter is partially plugged, and at idle the engine starves on an incline.
See Travelinty's post above.

If carbon it had to come from somewhere, so you could have carbon in an intake valve seat, or carbon in an exhaust valve seat, but that should cause an annoying rough idle, not stalling.

 

[MooseKitchen]

xxxxxxxx
I'd guess your fuel filter is partially plugged, and at idle the engine starves on an incline.
See Travelinty's post above.

If carbon it had to come from somewhere, so you could have carbon in an intake valve seat, or carbon in an exhaust valve seat, but that should cause an annoying rough idle, not stalling.

2012 1500. Pretty sure the fuel filter is not the issue

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[Burla]

Maybe run PEA cleaner, maybe you will get lucky and it will go after wherever the problem is. I wouldn't rule out fuel filter, but I believe those are in our gas tank? Which if true would suck ass. Google it, adding sea foam to the gas tank often leads to this.

 

[Casper]

2012 1500. Pretty sure the fuel filter is not the issue

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xxxxxxx
Just because its a ****** to replace doesn't mean it isn't a reasonable explanation for the symptoms. This was not a Seafoam intake treatment--it was added to his gas tank.

I had not heard Burla's warning before....but if there are documented reports of fuel filter clogging, that makes my suggestion just that much more reasonable--it certainly fits the symptoms described by the OP--although I'm sure there are other possibilities.

 

[Granite Ram]

I just added sea foam to my truck last week. I normally add a bottle of sea foam when I have a bout a 1/4 tank of fuel. I drive it for a bit and then shut it off for about 10-15 minutes. After that I drive it aggressively until about an 1/8 tank. After that I fuel up. My truck runs noticeably smoother with the high concentration of sea foam.

If that doesn’t work I would use a cleaner through the throttle body.

 

[MooseKitchen]

So roughly 10 tanks later, the truck was still stalling. I just did an oil change and tried to stall it out. It wouldn't do it. I went from the Havoline synthetic 10w 30 to Red Line 5w 30. Interesting to me

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