I wanna seafoam my engine..
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From: FL
Car: 1992 Firebird convertible
Engine: 5.0 tbi
Transmission: Auto
Axle/Gears: stock, slow and steady 2.73's
I wanna seafoam my engine..
My buddy told me that it blows all the crap outta the engine but i have no clue where to put it in my engine to get the smoke show. i have a 305tbi.
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From: M.D
Car: 1987 Camaro
Engine: 350 hsr
Transmission: 700R4(blown)
Axle/Gears: 3:73
Re: I wanna seafoam my engine..
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From: Michigan
Car: 86 IROC Z, 92 RS
Engine: 305 4bbl, 305 TBI
Re: I wanna seafoam my engine..
Joined: Mar 2008
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From: Lincoln, NE
Car: 86 Z28
Engine: Built 312
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 10 bolt 3.42
Re: I wanna seafoam my engine..
Put about 1 pint in a cup. With the engine already at operating temp, disconnect the vacuum line from the brake booster to the manifold at the check valve on the booster. Start the engine back up, and SLOWLY let the engine siphon in the Seafoam from the cup via the hose you disco'd. DO NOT siphon it in so fast that it kills the engine- you can hydrolock it that way, or worse. Turn the engine off. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. Start it back up, and hold the RPM's around 2-2500 until you don't see any more white smoke. Sometimes it takes as long as 10 minutes.
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From: M.D
Car: 1987 Camaro
Engine: 350 hsr
Transmission: 700R4(blown)
Axle/Gears: 3:73
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From: Moorestown, NJ
Car: 88 Camaro SC
Engine: SFI'd 350
Transmission: TKO 500
Axle/Gears: 9-bolt w/ 3.23's
Re: I wanna seafoam my engine..
I tested seafoam on dirty valves. After a two week soak, it didnt even make a dent in the carbon and varnish build-up. I think if anything, it probably just contributes to carbon build-up when you use it.
Ive found the best thing is water. It flash boils, and breaks up all teh carbon. When the engine is up to operating temp, you rev it to about 1500-1800 RPM, and slowly begin pouring in the water until the engine starts to complain. Do it for each side of the TBI so all the cylinders get clean. Ive done it a bunch of times, and provided you dont just dump it in, it wont harm the engine. But, it may clog the cat if you leave the exhaust hooked up.
Ive found the best thing is water. It flash boils, and breaks up all teh carbon. When the engine is up to operating temp, you rev it to about 1500-1800 RPM, and slowly begin pouring in the water until the engine starts to complain. Do it for each side of the TBI so all the cylinders get clean. Ive done it a bunch of times, and provided you dont just dump it in, it wont harm the engine. But, it may clog the cat if you leave the exhaust hooked up.
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From: Northwest Indiana, Kouts
Car: 88' White-Black Trans Am
Engine: Trying to find a motor
Transmission: 4L60E
Axle/Gears: 3.23
Re: I wanna seafoam my engine..
Im with Dimented. It did not help my old motor at all. It made things worse to the point where it caused various things to mess up on the motor and we ended up swapping it. The only good turn out ive EVER had with seafoam was putting it in my riding lawn mower
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From: Michigan
Car: 86 IROC Z, 92 RS
Engine: 305 4bbl, 305 TBI
Supreme Member
iTrader: (1)
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,697
Likes: 2
From: Michigan
Car: 86 IROC Z, 92 RS
Engine: 305 4bbl, 305 TBI
Re: I wanna seafoam my engine..
Put about 1 pint in a cup. With the engine already at operating temp, disconnect the vacuum line from the brake booster to the manifold at the check valve on the booster. Start the engine back up, and SLOWLY let the engine siphon in the Seafoam from the cup via the hose you disco'd. DO NOT siphon it in so fast that it kills the engine- you can hydrolock it that way, or worse. Turn the engine off. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. Start it back up, and hold the RPM's around 2-2500 until you don't see any more white smoke. Sometimes it takes as long as 10 minutes.
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From: Lincoln, NE.
Car: '87 IROC
Engine: 5.7 Vortec w/ factory TPI
Transmission: WC T-5
Axle/Gears: 3.45 Posi
Re: I wanna seafoam my engine..
Not a fan of Seafoam and tend to use Lucas treatment. I put it in all of my engines and have never had any problems. I have 164,xxx on my 06 silverado 1500hd 4x4 crew and it still runs like new. Every other fuel fill up it's added along with my regular maint. schedule.
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 557
Likes: 15
From: Lincoln, NE
Car: 86 Z28
Engine: Built 312
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 10 bolt 3.42
Re: I wanna seafoam my engine..
Worst case scenario is bending a rod....it would take the perfect storm of stupidity and epic failure, but its a possibility given the right combo. You never know who will come along and not read the directions and convert them into destructions
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 557
Likes: 15
From: Lincoln, NE
Car: 86 Z28
Engine: Built 312
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 10 bolt 3.42
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From: New Boston, IL, USA
Car: '90 Formula 350
Engine: 383 SBC
Transmission: ProBuilt S/S 700-R4 & ACT 9" Stall
Axle/Gears: 10 bolt 3.23
Re: I wanna seafoam my engine..
I've used seafoam before in some vehicles that had been abused (1/3 in intake, 1/3 in oil, 1/3 in gas). My mother-in-law went several years on the same oil in her DD. I used a can in the car right before I change the oil. It seems to help get some of the gunk broken loose.
I've heard a lot of people say they've always used water to break loose the carbon back in the 70s-80s. Basically they've always told me it would clean out a carb and chambers pretty well and usually would want to burp out the carbon.
You could possibly hydrolock a motor with seafoam also since it's liquid.
I've heard a lot of people say they've always used water to break loose the carbon back in the 70s-80s. Basically they've always told me it would clean out a carb and chambers pretty well and usually would want to burp out the carbon.
You could possibly hydrolock a motor with seafoam also since it's liquid.
Re: I wanna seafoam my engine..
It was recommended to me by an Auto Tech professor a few years ago. I've been using it in most of my and my parents cars for a couple of years and 3 of them are over 200,000 miles with only a transmission rebuild in the Dodge (its a 2nd gen, so it was expected). Many of my friends have used it in there cars after I recommended it to them. From 4 cylinder ricers to v8 trucks and cars. All I've gotten is positive results and feedback. This is the first forum I've heard people not liking it. There is a drawback to seafoam and that is that it does foul the spark plugs and o2 sensor, other than that dealerships use a very similar process, a top end carbon deposit removable or something like that. I think its a pretty good product, but what did you expect for $8.
Sorry for the long post but I found this article posted about Seafoam that answers a lot of the questions people usually have.
Okay, I am putting this in two places, and on other sites, as I don't know where it should officially go, but i want as many peeps and homies as possible to read this. I got totally bugged out , becuase so much speculation was going on here, with the one thread being 23 pages long, and 4 years old. I couldn't stand it anymore, so i called Sea Foam.
I was transferred to Jim Davis, Technical Director/ Research, of Sea Foam. and we had quite a cordial conversation, a real easy going guy, he is college educated, with a degree in automotive technology, has 35 years experience in the automotive repair industry , and is an A.S.E. certified mechanic. He has been with Seafoam, I think, the last 5 years, as his doctor told him, his body was just too out of whack, to handle mech work anymore.
So I will try to write as much as I remember, from my chicken scratch.
First off, I asked all the questions I wanted, such as , will it hurt, is it damaging to any parts at all, can it be used as maintenance, what do you do after you use the product, does anything need to be changed out, etc., etc.
First, he stressed multiple times, that this was a 100% petroleum product, nothing else. He said this many times during our conversation. he said there is nothing added, no fillers, no astringents, no mulsifiers, cleaners, detergents, nothing at all.
so how exactly does it work? Well , as you know, there is more than just carbon in your engine, there is salt , sulfur, all kinds of vox, and nox materials, you name it. How does it get stuck in there, and not filtered out? Simple, alot of the stuff we normally add, including gas, has a certain amount of sludge, varnish, lacquer, and gums added to it. This is the stuff, that sticks to walls, pistons, etc., especially when cooling. then all the other stuff we talk about, including carbon, gets stuck to this stuff, carbon, small micron stuff, other nox and vox particles.
Seafoam attacks and disolves the varnish, gum, sludge, and lacquer in there primarily, and then begins to break up , the other stuff.
Once this happens, all the junk is now freefloated back into suspension, and can be filtered out, or burnt out, of your various systems.
Seafoam does 3 other things primarily; controls and locks up moisture, adds lubricity without viscoscity, and cleans without adding any chemicals at all.
Does it harm other materials? In a word, no. He told me that right now, around their research area, they have multiple glass , sealed jars of Seafoam, with various things in each jar. plastic, rubber, seals, o-rings, pencil pieces, paper clips, bits and pieces of everything. Some of the items, in some of the jars, have not been opened or disturbed for 3 plus years now. he said, these bottles and items are studied through mag glass, and items looked at closely through microscopes, with no apparent natural destruction, loss, or dispersal,or disfiguration, becuase the item was sitting in Seafoam.
So you do not have to worry about your gaskets , seals, o-rings, etc., from exposure to seafoam.
he also said as a former tech, he did this same cleaning job many, many times, to multiple autos, and only one time did he have a problem.
It was with a car, driven by an old dude, who never drove it over 45 miles per hour, never put it on the highway, never got it hot, allways in traffic/city driving, and never driven over 20 miles, in either direction. he said it was just so full of carbon and junk, that the gum/lacquer did get on his 02 sensor, and a chunk of carbon did stick to that. he replaced said o2 sensor, and did another cleaning job, and the car drove like new. he said the old dude was so
impressed , becuase it drove the way it did , when he bought it new.
Again, 1 problem encountered, in all the times he did this cleaning job.
I asked will it harm injectors over time, or will it harm or dirty up the spark plugs, again the answer was no. As a matter of fact, he said, it will do nothing to the injectors but clean them real well, and it will proly make your spark plugs look like new, after a 2 or maybe 3 cleaning jobs.
I asked if it was too much, becuase gas contains cleaners and detergents in it as well, plus using this as a cleaner. he said no, because seafoam will clean out the detergents and cleaners as well, plus he said, only the really big gas peeps put cleaners in their gas, such as BP, shell, Chevron, Exxon, and even they do not put it in all grades of their gas. So if you are buying gas at Bud's truck and beer stop, it proly does not have cleaners/detergents in it.
OIL. I then asked about adding it to your oil and gas tanks; he said follow
the amounts on the directions, and you will be fine. Again, it adds lubricity and removes moisture, from you various systems, even the exaust system.
this is good , as i noticed, several drops of not only water, from using this on both my cars, but noticed a bit of goo coming from the 4runner pipe.
Specifically, in oil, it breaks up, and cleans up, all the junk in your oil system.
the longer you leave it in, the more it breaks up this crap, it should then be able to be filtered out of your system, and will turn your oil dark.
He said, how long you leave it in is up to you, the longer you leave it in, the more cleaning it does, then you can change your oil. then you can put more in, and clean again. You can keep doing this, until your oil system is clean, then do this for maintenance. the stuff that it breaks up and loosens up,
should not damage your system anyway, it should get filtered out, your pistons, and stuff will continue to smash this stuff up, and is stronger than the junk. Until it gets filtered out, or you keep changing your oil, until it starts to run clean for at least a couple thousand miles.
MAINTENANCE. I asked about maintenance, and changing out stuff; except for your filters, and the one bad example from above, you should not need to change anything else out. for using as regular maintenance, he said, not only is it fine, but he has been doing it for years. once his oil is clean to the way he likes it, and he thinks his intake system/injectors are clean the way he likes, then he just addes to his crank case, about every 6k or every other oil change, before he does the oil change a day or two, and adds for gas, to the recommended amt on the back of the bottle, so it keeps everything clean, lubed, and keeps out moisture.
i again asked specifically if it would harm injectors over time, he then went into a long story about injectors, and how you can balance them, and how they work, etc., etc., and then finally he said, no, it will not harm injectors, maybe cleaners or detergents in gas will , over a long time, but seafoam will clean out that stuff anyway, and again he said, only some of the big gas companies use cleaners, in all their diff levels of gas anyway as well.
Also when it comes to maint, it does such a good job of lubricity, he says it keeps the lacquer/gum , etc., from hanging on in the first place, which is what allows all the other stuff to hang onto, along the way. So he did recommend as maintenance, but not a lot, just after you have it cleaned the way you like, and you certainly need to do no more, than recommended maintenance that is described on the bottle. He said it really matter as to what you do, and how you are satisfied, some may find, that half or less the recommendation maintenance, works fine for them.
I am sure we talked about other stuff, and for longer, but this is as much as my scratchings have allowed me to remember right now.
As anectdotal evidence, besides doing my88 4runner, which it also got out the goo and water from the gas system/CAT/muffler/pipe( oh yeah, he did say it will also help clean out your CAT as well, he did 2 cleanings on one that smelt like Eggfarts, and after the second treatment, the stench was gone) I also did simultaneously a 92 chevy caprice, old school, with a 5 liter motor, with police interceptor package. i did two clean jobs with it, and if you saw my motor with the hood open, you cannot either hear, or see that it is running, it is that quiet now.
So today i actually drove it to work, and I also drive it for work, as I am a sevice tech, that has to drive to sites, to get certain work done.
One of the things that used to bother me a lot, was from a dead start, or red light, if i pressed on the gas a bit hard, i would for a second or two, get the 'clatter, rattle ' sound, as it first excelerated, like a diesel engine sound, and then it would go away. I would allways hear it, all the time, and every time. After the cleaning today, if I was not looking for it, I would not hear it, and when i was looking for the sound, i would just barely hear it, and that was only sometimes. i am looking for this sound to completely disappear soon.
Secondly , exceleration. This car is fast, and has allways been fast, but it was never what I considered quick, it was okay, but nothing special. Once it got up a little momentum, then it would giddyup.
Now, today, several times, I hit it up, at a stop light, or sign, or if i was allready on the highway, would hit the accelerator, as I was allready doing highway speeds. What throttle response!!!! WOW!!!! Not guessing, not thinking, but my A#$ss-ometer could easily tell, that as soon as my foot hit the pedal, my car would bow it's back up , like a wet cat, and take off, lickety
split, i mean the acceleration came quick , and easy folks, as soon as I hit
the pedal. And this car weighs a good 55oo lbs, not including all the wieight of all the crap i carry around in it.
Lemme show you;
Sorry for the long post but I found this article posted about Seafoam that answers a lot of the questions people usually have.
Okay, I am putting this in two places, and on other sites, as I don't know where it should officially go, but i want as many peeps and homies as possible to read this. I got totally bugged out , becuase so much speculation was going on here, with the one thread being 23 pages long, and 4 years old. I couldn't stand it anymore, so i called Sea Foam.
I was transferred to Jim Davis, Technical Director/ Research, of Sea Foam. and we had quite a cordial conversation, a real easy going guy, he is college educated, with a degree in automotive technology, has 35 years experience in the automotive repair industry , and is an A.S.E. certified mechanic. He has been with Seafoam, I think, the last 5 years, as his doctor told him, his body was just too out of whack, to handle mech work anymore.
So I will try to write as much as I remember, from my chicken scratch.
First off, I asked all the questions I wanted, such as , will it hurt, is it damaging to any parts at all, can it be used as maintenance, what do you do after you use the product, does anything need to be changed out, etc., etc.
First, he stressed multiple times, that this was a 100% petroleum product, nothing else. He said this many times during our conversation. he said there is nothing added, no fillers, no astringents, no mulsifiers, cleaners, detergents, nothing at all.
so how exactly does it work? Well , as you know, there is more than just carbon in your engine, there is salt , sulfur, all kinds of vox, and nox materials, you name it. How does it get stuck in there, and not filtered out? Simple, alot of the stuff we normally add, including gas, has a certain amount of sludge, varnish, lacquer, and gums added to it. This is the stuff, that sticks to walls, pistons, etc., especially when cooling. then all the other stuff we talk about, including carbon, gets stuck to this stuff, carbon, small micron stuff, other nox and vox particles.
Seafoam attacks and disolves the varnish, gum, sludge, and lacquer in there primarily, and then begins to break up , the other stuff.
Once this happens, all the junk is now freefloated back into suspension, and can be filtered out, or burnt out, of your various systems.
Seafoam does 3 other things primarily; controls and locks up moisture, adds lubricity without viscoscity, and cleans without adding any chemicals at all.
Does it harm other materials? In a word, no. He told me that right now, around their research area, they have multiple glass , sealed jars of Seafoam, with various things in each jar. plastic, rubber, seals, o-rings, pencil pieces, paper clips, bits and pieces of everything. Some of the items, in some of the jars, have not been opened or disturbed for 3 plus years now. he said, these bottles and items are studied through mag glass, and items looked at closely through microscopes, with no apparent natural destruction, loss, or dispersal,or disfiguration, becuase the item was sitting in Seafoam.
So you do not have to worry about your gaskets , seals, o-rings, etc., from exposure to seafoam.
he also said as a former tech, he did this same cleaning job many, many times, to multiple autos, and only one time did he have a problem.
It was with a car, driven by an old dude, who never drove it over 45 miles per hour, never put it on the highway, never got it hot, allways in traffic/city driving, and never driven over 20 miles, in either direction. he said it was just so full of carbon and junk, that the gum/lacquer did get on his 02 sensor, and a chunk of carbon did stick to that. he replaced said o2 sensor, and did another cleaning job, and the car drove like new. he said the old dude was so
impressed , becuase it drove the way it did , when he bought it new.
Again, 1 problem encountered, in all the times he did this cleaning job.
I asked will it harm injectors over time, or will it harm or dirty up the spark plugs, again the answer was no. As a matter of fact, he said, it will do nothing to the injectors but clean them real well, and it will proly make your spark plugs look like new, after a 2 or maybe 3 cleaning jobs.
I asked if it was too much, becuase gas contains cleaners and detergents in it as well, plus using this as a cleaner. he said no, because seafoam will clean out the detergents and cleaners as well, plus he said, only the really big gas peeps put cleaners in their gas, such as BP, shell, Chevron, Exxon, and even they do not put it in all grades of their gas. So if you are buying gas at Bud's truck and beer stop, it proly does not have cleaners/detergents in it.
OIL. I then asked about adding it to your oil and gas tanks; he said follow
the amounts on the directions, and you will be fine. Again, it adds lubricity and removes moisture, from you various systems, even the exaust system.
this is good , as i noticed, several drops of not only water, from using this on both my cars, but noticed a bit of goo coming from the 4runner pipe.
Specifically, in oil, it breaks up, and cleans up, all the junk in your oil system.
the longer you leave it in, the more it breaks up this crap, it should then be able to be filtered out of your system, and will turn your oil dark.
He said, how long you leave it in is up to you, the longer you leave it in, the more cleaning it does, then you can change your oil. then you can put more in, and clean again. You can keep doing this, until your oil system is clean, then do this for maintenance. the stuff that it breaks up and loosens up,
should not damage your system anyway, it should get filtered out, your pistons, and stuff will continue to smash this stuff up, and is stronger than the junk. Until it gets filtered out, or you keep changing your oil, until it starts to run clean for at least a couple thousand miles.
MAINTENANCE. I asked about maintenance, and changing out stuff; except for your filters, and the one bad example from above, you should not need to change anything else out. for using as regular maintenance, he said, not only is it fine, but he has been doing it for years. once his oil is clean to the way he likes it, and he thinks his intake system/injectors are clean the way he likes, then he just addes to his crank case, about every 6k or every other oil change, before he does the oil change a day or two, and adds for gas, to the recommended amt on the back of the bottle, so it keeps everything clean, lubed, and keeps out moisture.
i again asked specifically if it would harm injectors over time, he then went into a long story about injectors, and how you can balance them, and how they work, etc., etc., and then finally he said, no, it will not harm injectors, maybe cleaners or detergents in gas will , over a long time, but seafoam will clean out that stuff anyway, and again he said, only some of the big gas companies use cleaners, in all their diff levels of gas anyway as well.
Also when it comes to maint, it does such a good job of lubricity, he says it keeps the lacquer/gum , etc., from hanging on in the first place, which is what allows all the other stuff to hang onto, along the way. So he did recommend as maintenance, but not a lot, just after you have it cleaned the way you like, and you certainly need to do no more, than recommended maintenance that is described on the bottle. He said it really matter as to what you do, and how you are satisfied, some may find, that half or less the recommendation maintenance, works fine for them.
I am sure we talked about other stuff, and for longer, but this is as much as my scratchings have allowed me to remember right now.
As anectdotal evidence, besides doing my88 4runner, which it also got out the goo and water from the gas system/CAT/muffler/pipe( oh yeah, he did say it will also help clean out your CAT as well, he did 2 cleanings on one that smelt like Eggfarts, and after the second treatment, the stench was gone) I also did simultaneously a 92 chevy caprice, old school, with a 5 liter motor, with police interceptor package. i did two clean jobs with it, and if you saw my motor with the hood open, you cannot either hear, or see that it is running, it is that quiet now.
So today i actually drove it to work, and I also drive it for work, as I am a sevice tech, that has to drive to sites, to get certain work done.
One of the things that used to bother me a lot, was from a dead start, or red light, if i pressed on the gas a bit hard, i would for a second or two, get the 'clatter, rattle ' sound, as it first excelerated, like a diesel engine sound, and then it would go away. I would allways hear it, all the time, and every time. After the cleaning today, if I was not looking for it, I would not hear it, and when i was looking for the sound, i would just barely hear it, and that was only sometimes. i am looking for this sound to completely disappear soon.
Secondly , exceleration. This car is fast, and has allways been fast, but it was never what I considered quick, it was okay, but nothing special. Once it got up a little momentum, then it would giddyup.
Now, today, several times, I hit it up, at a stop light, or sign, or if i was allready on the highway, would hit the accelerator, as I was allready doing highway speeds. What throttle response!!!! WOW!!!! Not guessing, not thinking, but my A#$ss-ometer could easily tell, that as soon as my foot hit the pedal, my car would bow it's back up , like a wet cat, and take off, lickety
split, i mean the acceleration came quick , and easy folks, as soon as I hit
the pedal. And this car weighs a good 55oo lbs, not including all the wieight of all the crap i carry around in it.
Lemme show you;
Last edited by R/T-Z28; Jun 23, 2011 at 05:59 PM.
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