seafoam

[weak-sauce]

your thoughts on seafoam.? would you add to oil, fuel or both.? thinking about tossing in a bottle in my 88 240 n/a w/150xxx miles

[Redwood Chair]

Snake oil.

[500dollar744ti]

not completely, if you suck a bottle of it through a vac line it will clean up some stuff. i've personally done it on a car that would not pass CO% emissions and as a last resort i tried seafoam and the car passed.

[sowsley]

It definitely makes a difference in my '82 Toyota.

[bicyclelifestyle]

Can't tell you if it works or not. All I know is auto parts stores love to sell the **** out of it. From a sales standpoint they must be making a good turn on it.

[BryantTF242]

i would say do it, put 1/3 in the tank, 1/3 in the oil, and suck up the other 1/3 into a manifold vacuum line that feeds all cylinders, but do that part very slowly little by little, too much at once and you can hydrolock your engine. after you have completed sucking it into the manifold, have someone in car give it a rev and then turn off the car, let it sit for 10 minutes or so to let the solution soak the valves and the cylinder bore, start it up, take it for a ride for a good 10 min cycling through 1-4000 rpm and your set

[weak-sauce]

sounds good.

Originally Posted by BryantTF242

i would say do it, put 1/3 in the tank, 1/3 in the oil, and suck up the other 1/3 into a manifold vacuum line that feeds all cylinders, but do that part very slowly little by little, too much at once and you can hydrolock your engine. after you have completed sucking it into the manifold, have someone in car give it a rev and then turn off the car, let it sit for 10 minutes or so to let the solution soak the valves and the cylinder bore, start it up, take it for a ride for a good 10 min cycling through 1-4000 rpm and your set

[BryantTF242]

i have seen it be proven to reduce NOx, cause from high combustion temperatures. it will help clear out the carbon build up in the cylinder that raises compression and absorbs fuel. so in a healthy car like yours it will only make it better.

[CerebralAilment]

I've heard it can plug up a catalytic converter if your not careful to make sure the car is warmed up at temperature before you do it.

I've done it to quite a few of my vehicles - I'm not sure if its yielded any results - I really just like making a big ass cloud of smoke for a few minutes

[BryantTF242]

Originally Posted by CerebralAilment

I've heard it can plug up a catalytic converter if your not careful to make sure the car is warmed up at temperature before you do it.

I've done it to quite a few of my vehicles - I'm not sure if its yielded any results - I really just like making a big ass cloud of smoke for a few minutes

haha fill up the neighborhood! we do it mostly at shop so the exhaust hoses suck up all the fun :(

but yeah make sure car is at operating temperature.

[photoman327]

Its good stuff. Just got another 1994 Buick Roadmaster wagon with 73,200 miles. change the oil add on bottle to the oil ran it to 79,000 before changing to mobil 5-30 oil. Also added one can to the gas on the first tank. a lot do it but I'm afraid to suck it in a port. that is over the top and it will clean to much.

[doucheNozzle]

I watched (heard) my '84 wagon's valve train clatter clear right up. It was crazy.

Look up "chinese water torture" if you really want to do it.

[Redwood Chair]

Originally Posted by 500dollar744ti

not completely, if you suck a bottle of it through a vac line it will clean up some stuff. i've personally done it on a car that would not pass CO% emissions and as a last resort i tried seafoam and the car passed.

In a pinch for emissions.
There's better ways to clean your engine than putting corrosive chemicals in it.

[doucheNozzle]

Originally Posted by Redwood Chair

There's better ways to clean your engine than putting corrosive chemicals in it.

I'm interested. What else is out there?

[Redwood Chair]

Delo, Rotella, water torture.

[JohnLane]

Originally Posted by scottyd

I'm interested. What else is out there?

'GM Top Engine Cleaner' which is used to get any and all ick out of the intake tract. Alarmingly effective. Alarmingly stinky out the tailpipe. Applied via a ported vacuum signal well away from your neighborhood if you are wanting to stay on speaking terms with the neighbors.

This is the stuff we used all through the '90s and I continue to use today when needed for wierd-o drivability issues that don'e make sense.... that one that is..... 'Intermittently starts and dies cold.' or 'Hesitates on acceleration but it has fresh everything, valves are set and WTH!!'

Buy it as the GM dealer. They will have it on the shelf. The stinkier and smokier it is out the tailpipe the worse your car needed it!

[BryantTF242]

nah seafoam is not corrosive to any parts.

[cosbySweater]

i sea foamed my car and it started burning a quart of oil a week afterwards.... not a fan

[The Manlaw]

everyone has mixed results with seafoam. I used it on my Jeep with 180,xxx miles and found 2mpg on average since then. Then i used it in a chevy s10 with around 170,xxx miles and it didn't make a damn difference. Each time was 2/3 bottle in vacuum line and 1/3 in the gas tank.

I've heard of people losing oil after using it. my suggestion has and will always be, time for some new seals...

[jerryc]

water torture, which is through the vac line, will do the same as seafoam in the vac line. Costs less though.
In the oil or gas I dunno, have heard too many negs or no results to try it. I've read too many positive things about Auto-RX and would go that way if I was to do anything.

[CerebralAilment]

Originally Posted by falunbrick

i sea foamed my car and it started burning a quart of oil a week afterwards.... not a fan

yeah - its a toss up for sure - sometimes its not a good idea to seafoam a car - because that old rock hard carbon build up is the only thing keeping your motor tightly sealed =P

[jfleganscca]

When I have used it, 1/3 can through vacuum hose and 2/3 can in the fuel tank, I have always had good results. 2-3mpg gain. I do have to agree with the others in regards to getting mixed results. I sell a ton of it at a NAPA and I have heard horror stories when the local dumba@@ hicks get it wrong. But I have never had any negatives from it.

[DrHicks]

Originally Posted by jfleganscca

When I have used it, 1/3 can through vacuum hose and 2/3 can in the fuel tank, I have always had good results. 2-3mpg gain. I do have to agree with the others in regards to getting mixed results. I sell a ton of it at a NAPA and I have heard horror stories when the local dumba@@ hicks get it wrong. But I have never had any negatives from it.

Watch what you say about the Hicks family!

Every once in awhile I run some SeaFoam through the fuel systems on my cars. I look at it as a cheap cleaner, though I'm not a huge fan.

Running it in your oil is a little dangerous. It might loosen up some gunk, but said gunk could plug up anything from your oil pump screen, to some of the little oil ports.


In my view, regular oil & filter changes, and good fuel, are far better than SeaFoam.

[Greaser]

Nothing beats good 'ole routine maintenance, but as cars do get older they do get gunk in them. Once in a while I while start to get a little ratter from the valves and I can feel the engine running a little sluggish. I dump half a bottom in the oil, half in the gas. It clears up the gas lines and injectors, and will knock the gunk loose in the engine. But I only add it if I plan on draining the oil in less than 500 miles, just in case. It is also a good idea to run it through the fuel system if it has been sitting for a while; I use it on my motorcyce's gas every spring.

I find its a good thing to use, if being careful, and as others have said, you might find new leaks. As CerebralAilment said, the gunk might be the only thing keeping your engine tight.

[Brandon]

Originally Posted by Redwood Chair

Delo, Rotella, water torture.

This. I just picked up some Delo 15w-40 the other day. I wish it was warmer year round here, I'm hesitant to run that thick of oil in the winter. Come spring time oil change though it's going in.

Originally Posted by jerryc

water torture, which is through the vac line, will do the same as seafoam in the vac line. Costs less though.
In the oil or gas I dunno, have heard too many negs or no results to try it. I've read too many positive things about Auto-RX and would go that way if I was to do anything.

I've thought about trying some of the Auto-RX stuff as well. Problem is, I don't have any cars that have any sludge build-up/sludge problems.