Sea Foam Motor Treatment

[86bowtie]

Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with this product? I saw it in an Advance Auto Store, just curious on if its efficient or not.
http://www.seafoamsales.com/motorTuneUpTechGas.htm

[RageCage]

86Bowtie,

I've heard good things about it, for cleaning out carbon. I have used a similar product "GM Top End Cleaner", which you drip down the carb for a while, then dump all of it in and stall the engine, let it sit overnight, start up, get the cloud of smoke, and all the carbon is cleaned out, supposedly. It didn't hurt anything, but it didn't cure the problem I was having, a spark knock, which turned out to be a clogged portion of the coolant passages, or a "hot spot" from too much Bars Leak, I think.

I have used the gas additive Techron with great success. It goes in the gas, and eats away at any carbon it finds, in the cylinders, in the carb, on the intake valves, etc. It cured a "miss" I was having, which I think was from a carboned up intake valve.

Rage

[TommySS]

It works GREAT. I used it on my wagon and was able to go from premium to regular gas afterwards.

I had a LOT of carbon.

[86bowtie]

Thanks Tommy, thanks Rage!! Im gonna give it a shot. Something tells me I probably have alot of carbon.

[HLandin]

So the Sea Foam works pretty well? I might try it on mine.

[HLandin]

When the directions for Sea Foam say pour into the carb or the throttle body, for TBI would that mean removing the fuel metering assembly or can I just add it in above the fuel injectors?

[TommySS]

Above the injectors.

The longer you let it sit after the engine stalls (and you keep pouring the rest of it in), the better it'll work.

[HLandin]

Originally Posted by TommySS

Above the injectors.

The longer you let it sit after the engine stalls (and you keep pouring the rest of it in), the better it'll work.

So let me get this straight, you slowly pour it in till it stalls and then pour the rest in, let it sit, and restart it later?

Also, it say it can be added to the engine oil. Has anyone tried that? Any positive or negative results?

[TommySS]

You want to pour/spray in as much as you can with the engine running. You'll need to give the engine more and more gas to keep it running as you pour/spray.

Keep throttle on it until most of the can is gone. Once the engine stalls, finish spraying it in, and let the engine sit for a couple hours (if you can spare it, mine sat for several days).

The stuff smells like penetrant (liquid wrench/PB Blaster), and it won't hurt your oil. What it does is thin it out some and it will dislodge sludge. This is a two-edge sword. It cleans, but the sludge is now suspended in the engine and can clog passages, the oil pump pickup, and the filter.

If your engine is really sludged up, I'd have it professionally flushed.

[HLandin]

I didn't know they did oil flushes. Is that like getting the coolant flushed, something that needs to be done every so often? Is it easy/cheap?

[HLandin]

Well, I used a little bit of the Sea Foam through the throttle body and now I'm letting it sit. Only thing is, I notice some smoke coming through my PCV filter on the side of the air cleaner as I added through the throttle body. Is this unusual? Does it indicate anything bad? A clogged PCV valve perhapse?

[TommySS]

Oil flushes are like getting coolant/trandmission flushes.

It's worth doing if you don't know what you're starting with, or if you know you need to.

The smoke you see from Seafoam is normal. PCV valves are cheap, and easy to to replace (it won't hurt.

[HLandin]

So the smoke is normal? It was a little blue and I thought for some reason I was burning oil. So you would recommend replacing the PCV valve? When I replace the valve, should I also replace the lines leading to the valve (I don't know if they are clogged with gunk) on the inlet and outlet sides of the valve train?

As far as the oil flush, if its offered, I haven't had it done and it probably should be done as preventive maintenance, wouldn't you agree?

[TommySS]

Any smoke you generate from the Sea Foam is gonna be normal.

If you can't remember when/if the PCV valve or crankcase filter was replaced last, I'd replace it. The lines going to it are no doubt cracked and extremely brittle.

The PCV shouldn't cost more than a couple bucks. The hose you need to get should be about the same price.

Remember, Sea Foam is a very thin penetrating type oil. It's gonna smoke - and it's all normal. Now, after you blow it out, the smoke should go away.

Oil flush is worth it if you don't know how sludged up things are and you strongly suspect there's a problem.

You could also accomplish the same thing by changing your oil more often. Over time, the sludge will go away.

Please let us know how it goes

[HLandin]

As far a getting the oil changed regularly, I'm good about that. Because of how much mileage I put on it, I have it changed every 3,000 miles which is about every month during the school year (I commute). I'm just trying to preform as many preventive maintenance procedures as I can to make the car and its motor last as long as possible. So far, this Sea Foam stuff seems to be working well.

God bless that VIN code 7.