I have a 1986 Suzuki lt 230 quad. The top end has been rebuilt, good pressure and the carb has been cleaned, The oil filter has low hours, I don't believe the gas filter has ever been changed, clean gas, New spark plug. But I decided to try seafoam out and see if it is a magical treatment and improve the performance of my atv. I put less than the recommended amount in the gas tank and the oil, as a caution.

I had it running, didn't go to far and it died. I tried to start it back up multiple times, pushed back and tried again the next day with no luck.

I removed the spark plug and it was very wet and black. A little bit of carb cleaner, tried to start it again, no luck and the plug was just as black.

I wasn't sure if it was gas, oil or seafoam on the plug.

I can almost get it started every time after I clean the spark plug and kick it a few times, but I can't get it started. I also might be running to rich or lean. I don't want to waste the oil and seafoam and just dump/replace it. After all it wasn't running more than 5mins-10mins. but then again it is starting to looking dark.

I heard you have to run seafoam through the system to get the effects and that 2 stokes and 4 act differently to seafoam.

Is there anything I can try before changing the oil? also how do I know what a weak spark looks like?

I searched weak spark and I plan on getting a spark plug tester

 

Well I keep kicking it and kicking it. I took a break and kicked it some more and I finally got it started. (my right wrist and leg are a bit sore) I checked the plug and I am no longer getting oil on my spark plug. I don't know what I did or why I was getting oil on the spark plug but I am no longer getting oil on the plug.

It shouldn't be so hard to start next time.
I think replacing the spark plug helped me get it started (enough though it didn't have a lot of wear) I will have to test my spark soon to see if it is strong.

I keep revving it high to poor out the white smoke of what seafoam unclogged, but I didn't run it long enough to see if its running normal again. I have some things to fix before I start it up again, But hopefully I can clear out the smoke and keep running it till it is fully cleaned and then change the oil.

 

It shouldn't be the Seafoam, I run it in all my quads and lawn equipment. 2 stroke and 4 with out any issues. Keeps them running great.

 

How much seafoam did you put in?

 

Fixed!

I couldn't get the quad running or running very long.

My sparkplug started to come out dry after a few day of messing with it, instead of being wet after kicking it. I don't know why. That was before I fixed the problem.

But the reason I couldn't get it started was unrelated to seafoam. The problem just happen to occur when I tried out seafoam.

The problem was I was kicking and the spark wasn't firing until the end of my kick, kind of like a timing issue. But the cause was because of the magneto screws were lose to the cover, not getting a solid connection with the fly wheel and the magneto didn't know when to fire so it was sparking at the wrong time. Its nothing locktight couldn't fix... boy it seams more screws fall off the quad than I actually ever touched.

So its kicking fine like it was before I had the issue.

I thought it was the internal wiring for a while. Also though it might be a broken key to the flywheel.

I did happen to change the oil while I had it open and the seafoam sure did the trick. I might have to change it a few more time to fully clean out the system.

Thanks everyone for your time and input.