Which Fuel Water Remover Brand Wins?
2018 test3 productsFuel & Additives

Which Fuel Water Remover Brand Wins?

This head-to-head test of 3 fuel water remover options has the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.

The verdict
Ranked first

HEET

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The measured results

Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.

Safety data sheet

  • 1HEET

    main ingredient is methanol, 100 percent; the safety data sheet indicates it is 100 percent soluble in water

  • 2Isopropyl Alcohol 91% isopropyl alcohol (transcript also says '93%' once, kept both, not resolved)

    main two ingredients are water and isopropyl alcohol; inherently water soluble

  • 3Seafoam

    a hydrocarbon blend less than 95 percent and isopropyl alcohol less than 25 percent; per the safety data sheet it is not water soluble

Ice prevention test (product mixed with water and gasoline before freezing)

  • 1HEET

    no ice formed in the container

  • 2Isopropyl Alcohol 91% isopropyl alcohol (transcript also says '93%' once, kept both, not resolved)

    no ice formed in the container

  • 3Seafoam

    formed a big chunk of ice in the container, the only one of the three products tested that did not prevent ice formation

Water separation test (1 part water, 16 parts gasoline, 4 parts product)

  • 1HEET

    the methanol and water mixed together into a lower layer with gasoline on top rather than separating the water out cleanly; about 12 hours after adding it, the fuel sits above the 200 ml line with the HEET/water/ethanol mixture below it

  • 2Isopropyl Alcohol 91% isopropyl alcohol (transcript also says '93%' once, kept both, not resolved)

    mixed quite well with the water at the bottom of the container, similar behavior to HEET; the entire contents appeared foggy compared to the SeaFoam or HEET containers

  • 3Seafoam

    mixed thoroughly with the gasoline and left the water, plus the 10 percent ethanol content, separated out at the very bottom of the container, unlike HEET and isopropyl alcohol which both mixed into the water layer

Engine run test

  • 1HEET

    narrator questions whether a gasoline engine can run on roughly 80 percent HEET and 20 percent water, and richened the air-fuel ratio to get more fuel into the engine to test running it on straight methanol with added water; the transcript does not include an explicit pass or fail statement of the outcome

  • 2Isopropyl Alcohol 91% isopropyl alcohol (transcript also says '93%' once, kept both, not resolved)

    narrator states the engine will likely run fine until it draws in the isopropyl alcohol and water mix, at which point the fuel would need to be richened for the engine to keep running; the transcript does not include an explicit pass or fail statement of the outcome

  • 3Seafoam

    explicitly not attempted; narrator states 'I'm not going to try to run the SeaFoam through a gasoline engine, because I can tell you with absolute certainty that engine isn't going to run on water', since SeaFoam left the water/ethanol layer unmixed with the fuel

All measurements (2 more)+

Ice melting test (product added after water/gasoline had already frozen)

  • 1HEET

    did not fully melt the ice, but softened it into a slushy consistency rather than leaving it fully solid

  • 2Isopropyl Alcohol 91% isopropyl alcohol (transcript also says '93%' once, kept both, not resolved)

    did not appear to do anything to the already-formed ice

  • 3Seafoam
    not tested

Ice melting test

  • 3Seafoam

    not included in this sub-test; narrator brought out only the HEET and isopropyl alcohol containers for the ice-melting retest

  • 1HEET
    not tested
  • 2Isopropyl Alcohol 91% isopropyl alcohol (transcript also says '93%' once, kept both, not resolved)
    not tested

How it was tested

  • ice prevention test: 1 oz water plus gasoline plus product mixed together, frozen at 15 below zero Fahrenheit for 24 hours
  • ice melting test: 1 oz water plus gasoline frozen first, then product added to see if it melts the formed ice
  • water separation/contamination test: 1 part water, 16 parts gasoline, 4 parts product, shaken and observed for separation
  • attempted gasoline engine run test on each product's water/fuel mixture
  • safety data sheet ingredient review for each product

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