How to: Seafoam

[Toysrme]

Seafoam makes the world go round!
Not really, but at $5 a can it's a steal.
A can is 1 pint.
You need 2 cans.

Pour 1/2 a can in the gas tank when you stop to fill up. (This ensures it mixes well)

Pour the other 1/2 in with fresh engine oil.
At the least you will notice that the engine will idle noticeably smoother.


Here's where most people get confused. Using it down the intake to clean the combustion chamber & parts of the head.


1) Drive the car around the block until it comes up to temp
2) Pour 1/3 of a can into a separate container (1/4 of a can for 4 cylinders)
3) Crank the engine
4) Pull the brake booster hose off & put your finger over the end so the car doesn't lean out & stall.



5) Drop the hose in the bottom of the container & let your finger off the end. If the engine doesn't stall out completely SHUT IT OFF ASAP.
The fluid will near instantly disappear & the engine should stall from being too rich to run, or being too lean from the hose letting air in afterwards. This will not break your engine. You're not using enough fluid to hydrolock it.
6) The engine should sit for 5 min.
7) Crank the engine & let it run until the smoke dies down
Normally you will get an ungodly amount of smoke.
8) As the smoke dies down, drive the car around. Be sure to make liberal use of 1st & 2nd gear to get to the higher portions of the RPM range a few times. That would be 5000-6850rpm..
You are not breaking your engine by running it at those rpm... All of the computers on all of the engines will cut the fuel to slow the RPM down before the engine is damaged. Yes, they are built for it...






Why someone would want to do this?
To clean gunk, sludge, & misc. heavy buildup out of the oil system. Pump, passages, bearings, walls.
To clean the fuel system.
To clean carbon out of the combustion chamber.

Now some people ask why you want to go to the trouble of cleaning carbon out of the engine.

Because as it builds up on the valves, they don't seal as well - causing poor compression while the leaking gas superheats parts of the engine that are not designed for it.

Because carbon in the combustion chamber is bad. mmmm kay? Any carbon becomes superheated. Superheated carbon / metal will cause the incoming fuel & air to ignite earlier than it should be. This (Detonation, pinging, kocking - all just names for pre-ignition) is very derailment to many aspects of engine life.

This is what a 3vz-fe looks like @ 95,000 miles.
(Forget the fluids, fluids spill look at the black carbon build-up)




Here's what it looks like 6 months after the last 3 Seafoam treatments.







Seafoam = Good. It's cheap & versatile, while working at least as good as anything else; regardless of the cost.

[xfeejayx]

should oil be changed soon after this is put in? will it smoke until i change the oil and/or run out of that tank of gas?

[Toysrme]

Sure, No, No.

[hassanbigboss]

I used the Seafoam Injector Cleaner and the Deep Creep today in my V6 Camry with 119,000 miles. My procedure went something like this:

A few days back I poured a couple of cans of Seafoam in my gas tank and filled it with 93 octane gas.

I waited for a few days and another gas of tank.

After all of the above was done, I took a bottle of Seafoam and Seafoam Deep Creep. I poured about 1/3 to 1/2 of the bottle through the brake booster line and after that I shut down the car. The other half was poured into the crankcase where the oil is poured.

For the next step I let the car sit with the Seafoam in the crankcase and took apart the air intake box and the intake pipe to expose the Throttle Body. I scrubbed the plate and the body from the inside with a tooth brush while spraying liberally with Deep Creep.

I used a cotton cloth to take of all the carbon that I could from the mouth of the Throttle Body and also from the butterfly plate. I sprayed the entire bottle of Seafoam down the TB by making sure to spray up and down the TB and all around. I replaced everything and let the car sit for another 20-30 minutes.

After the initial wait I tried to start the car but it did not turn over (this is to be expected). After a few tries the gas caught fire from the spark plugs and the engine turned over for 5-10 seconds before starting. A lot of smoke came throught the tailpipe and after giving the car some gas and waiting for a minute, I drove the car on the back roads with the gear in "2" instead of "D". This kept the RPM above the 4500 rpm range. I reached speeds of 60-100mph on open road. After 15-20 minutes I came back home and was surprised to see how smooth and quite the engine was after this cleanup. I will drive for another 100-200 miles before the oil change.

I am extremely happy with this performance I gained from this procedure.

[oakfloor]

Wow! you should post this over at bobistheoilguy.com

[Brian R.]

Good post Toysrme. I'll put this in the FAQ thread.

[Toysrme]

Bob's knows it. I have posted it there.

[xfeejayx]

Originally Posted by Brian R.

Good post Toysrme. I'll put this in the FAQ thread.

I revived an old thread, and its getting put in the FAQ?! I feel so special.

Toysrme sure knows his shiat, remind me not to argue with him.

[popeye08]

Great, it is very details.

One question: if I just do the brake booster line thing, should I change the engine oil soon? I just changed to the full synthetic oil, there are still several thousand miles to go, hate to change it now. Thanks!

[Brian R.]

Originally Posted by xfeejayx

I revived an old thread, and its getting put in the FAQ?! I feel so special.

Toysrme sure knows his shiat, remind me not to argue with him.

It's a good idea not to argue with anyone....

[Brian R.]

Originally Posted by popeye08

Great, it is very details.

One question: if I just do the brake booster line thing, should I change the engine oil soon? I just changed to the full synthetic oil, there are still several thousand miles to go, hate to change it now. Thanks!

You don't have to change the oil if you only put the Seafoam through the brake vacuum line. If you put it in your oil, then you shouldn't use it too long before you change the oil. It will dilute the oil and increase oil contamination by soluble sludge and varnish.

[guest123123123]

I have a 2001 sebring 2.7lt.. will the seafoam help fight any sludge build up or cause more harm than it is worth? I use seafoam in my camaro with no problems.. but the sebring 2.7lt is of poor design.

[hassanbigboss]

Guest123, Seafoam is just a petroleum based product I do not think it will do any harm to the Sebring. And yes it will help fight sludge

[Toysrme]

LoL I don't know everything, but thanks.

Oh feel free to discussion a point, if you don't agree with what someone is saying. Just keep it non-personal, and if you *are* going to tell someone they're wrong. You better bring some type of factual information to the table, 'cause car forums are loaded with all different kinds of smart people.

[guest123123123]

Sounds good. I have been looking into ARX too, www.auto-rx.com . Seems good for cleaning sludge- which is my main concern. I have 120k miles on the 2001 sebring and these engines are known to sludge even before 70k miles and need an entire new engine. I just found out this information last night and maybe I am fortunate not to have broken down yet- or maybe they used a redesigned engine in a certain percentage of the 2001 cars. I still am searching for the information.
Kind regards,
-Guest123123123