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Bought a 10 year old Snapper RER with a Kohler 15 HP engine.

Ran great the first 2 days I used it , so I probably should have left well enough alone?

Put on new air filter, new spark plug, oil and oil filter and put seafoam in the gas.

It started missing and backfiring, and eventually dying.

I took out the new plug and it was a mess! Put old plug back in, and it fouled.

Took out fuel filter and blew it out and some good ole gunk came out.

Cleaned and filed off the new plug, put it back and it seemed to run better, with a little backfire, but much smoother.

Did the seafoam clean out the carb and lines and cause this?

I know when I would fire up the jetskis for the first time in the Spring after fogging the engine, it would eventually foul the plugs. I'd replace them and they would be fine!

Is this the same thing I have with the Mower engine?

It's entirely possible that the Seafoam loosened up some stuff in your tank, fuel line, and carb.

Drain tank, replace with fresh gas.

Sammy the Red said:

Drain tank, replace with fresh gas.

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drained tank, put in fresh gas, ran it for a few minutes, then replaced fuel filter and spark plug, drained and refilled oil and all is well, I think?

a bit of a backfire when I turn engine off (right before it stops completely)

otherwise, very smooth and powerful.

Thanks for all of the help!

gitnby said:

drained tank, put in fresh gas, ran it for a few minutes, then replaced fuel filter and spark plug, drained and refilled oil and all is well, I think?

a bit of a backfire when I turn engine off (right before it stops completely)

otherwise, very smooth and powerful.

Thanks for all of the help!

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Super! You may end up having to get into the carb to clean whatever is in there if it doesn't run satisfactorily, but in the meantime, run the heck out of it.:thumbsup: I don't know if you have a throttle on it, but sometimes idling it down for 20 seconds or so will reduce the backfire.

My mower started misfiring when I began using seafoam in the middle of the summer. I believe it needed some time to burn off the carbon buildup because it's running smooth now.

I have no experience with Kohlers, but you might want to drain the carb bowl if it has one. Water in there can cause misfiring.

I have used Seafoam a couple of times.
Saw no improvement either time.

Just snake oil I guess.

I do not totally agree on the snake oil response, I was skimming through the threads, and came across this one about a week ago. I had never heard of Seafoam,and I am 59....Played around the net and got great reviews on the product, Just yesterday,I got out the 6 yr old echo blower, cranked it up, and it ran good for about 15 min. All of a sudden it would not run at full throttle, and wanted to die, would only run at half throttle if that. WELL! I thought this would be a good time to invest $10. bucks into this and a new spark plug. Got home, dumped some in the carb, waited 5 min., blue smoke,,,,, rand good, then it started it again, thought I would try it one more time, After that, a LOT of smoke, sputtering, and ran like a new blower. After that I added the Seafoam to all of my 4 cycle gas and 2 cycle. So far this stuff works!!! :thumbsup:

Glad it worked for you. :smile:

I usually dont use extra products in my stuff, i do use lucas oil enhancer ( swear by that stuff) ive used Marvel Mystery oil , i do treat my gas gans ocassionally to keep water out as well- I can tell when running the MMO and gas stuff - tractors run pretty rough for a bit.

I usually don't buy the whole "mechanic in a bottle" products, but I have seen Seafoam and Lucas products work wonders. I am a long time motorcycle tech and there are certain bikes that are prone to carbon build-up. Put a full bottle of seafoam to a tank of gas - run the bike till empty and immediately dain the oil. It gets the job done! I have only had to do the treatment twice one time when working on one that was REALLY bad (running on one cylinder), but it did the job. I try to run about 3 ounces to a tank of gas as oftern as I am able to as a preventative measure.