Interesting observation rktc.
However, I'm wondering if "every" ingredient in Seafoam is listed? Seafoam is also used as a very good fuel stabilizer. Which of the ingredients you listed would contribute to that function?
From your analysis, one would conclude that you don't believe that Seafoam does what it claims to do. Would I be wrong in making that assumption? If so, it would appear that myself and many others have been duped into believing that it actually works. I know I've run Seafoam in a number of small two stroke engines with no particular remarkable observation of improvement. That might be partly due to my steadfast regular maintenance and the moderate use of Seafoam on a regular basis on machines I'm always using.
Now, I do have at least two small engines that I hadn't used in many years and they had never been treated with Seafoam. One engine was a small Tecumseh two cycle mounted on an ice auger. It had sat unused for at least ten years. I recall that it had run pretty lump when I put it away. Probably why I quit using it. So, one day when I was giving my OPE the Seafoam treatment, I pulled down the Tecumseh engine, clamped it down on a WorkMate bench and put in fresh fuel. After a considerable amount of effort, It fired up and ran lumpy as usual. I poured about an ounce of Seafoam into the fuel tank and within a minute or so, the engine began to emit very thick blue/white smoke. Far more than normal for a two cycle. About two to three minutes later, the smoke had cleared up and the engine was responding to throttle input crisply and idled down very nicely. I can't make a definitive scientific conclusion that Seafoam is what cured the engine's ailments but I can't think of anything else that would have done so.
I was so impressed with the results I got with the ice auger engine, I decided to pull out an old 1976 Johnson 15 h.p. outboard engine that I had retired for being down on power and difficult to start. I had bought it used and don't know it's history. I do recall that it was down on power in a big way. I used to put the Johnson on a very light 14' aluminum boat for my young 12 year old nephew to use. A kid down the lake had a new Yamaha 6 h.p. engine that would run neck and neck with the 15 Johnson. I recall that I had spent numerous hours cleaning and adjusting the points, putting in new plugs, cleaning the carb probably five times and with virtually no improvement in performance. After my nephew grew into his teens, he no longer used the 14' with the Johnson so that motor was retired to the garage about 15 years ago. After the Tecumseh engine revival, I gave the old Johnson the same treatment. This time, I set the pistons so that I could pour in Seafoam to let is sit in the cylinders over night. The next day, I mounted the engine on a 45 gallon drum half full of water, put in some fresh fuel and struggled to get it running. It fired up and ran as it normally did but puking out a thick cloud of blue/white smoke . It idled fairly well and would rev up sluggishly. I added a good dose of Seafoam to the fuel and got more smoke for a few minutes then it cleared up. I put the motor on the same old aluminum boat, added more fuel and Seafoam to the tank and took it out for a test ride. The engine ran better than normal and would occasionally, emit the occasional puff of heavy smoke. I'm not exaggerating, after five minutes or so, the performance improvement was remarkable. It spins up to maximum rpms quickly and actually makes power much closer to a 15 than a six. Again, I have no scientific proof that Seafoam was the ingredient that brought power back to this engine. I do know however ,that the engine makes noticeably more power than it ever did before the treatment. My assumption is that the rings were probably carboned up and the Seafoam may have freed up the rings to improve compression.
In summary, I do not challenge your analysis of Seafoam ingredients. If your intent is to dispute the effectiveness of Seafoam, I cannot scientifically prove that you are wrong there either. On the other hand, from observations of my personal experience with many years using the product, I have no intentions of stopping use of it any time soon.
