lithium4750 Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Has anyone tried the seafoam engine treatment? i put some in my Z and its running really weird. Supposedly it stops in a week and will go back to normal. Who has heard good things about this stuff? I read somewhere you aren't supposed to use it on engines with over 150k on them. Help me out here people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desert dog Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Change your spark plugs. If the engine is really carboned up from use, the Seafoam will break it all loose and foul your plugs... Been there, done that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNeedForZ Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 A guy posted about his experience with seafoam couple weeks ago. He let the engine suck it in with a vacuum hose and the car runs really crappy afterwards. He gave up on the engine because he said he's going to drop in a V8 anyway. Have you ran the engine with seafoam? Because you shouldn't. The instruction says let the engine suck in seafoam and then STOP the engine to let it soak(the guy I mentioned above let the engine ran with seafoam in it). Hopefully once you cleaned up your spark plug all the junk inside the combustion chamber will break up shortly (Take her for a good drive will help) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaysZ Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 i'll add my experiences... i added seafoam thinking it would clean up the carbon deposits and stuff... well, in short, it DID but not the way i intended it to haha. apparently, the carbs were set with the engine and all the carbon deposits and it was running decent. after the seafoam wiped out all the gunk and carbon, there was now too much fuel running through and i was running super rich. my plugs were fouling every 10 seconds of running and i had to keep a wire brush with me at all times to re clean the plugs. on a side note, i did use the stuff in my daily and ... i didnt notice an incredible improvement but at least it didn't ruin anything :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 I've used SF on a few of my cars and some friends' cars....it kicks @$$!! Read the directions and it will do the trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_82_ZXT Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Ran it on my 83 NA and it improved idle quality significantly. It just seemed a little better. Mario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifegrddude Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 I use Seafoam about once a year and never had a problem with it. It does foul out your plugs so you have to replace them once you're done with the treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithium4750 Posted March 17, 2006 Author Share Posted March 17, 2006 thanks guys i'll have to check my plugs. my friend who i did it with said it might wear off in a week. but i can't stand waitin that long the way it is. it says run it while puttin it in then turn it off then let it sit for 5 minutes, then start it up again. thats exactly what i did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatMan Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 I put it in the fuel tank as perscribed, and proceded to run through 2 weeks of changing fuel filters (napa, 3.99) and fighting the stumbling and stalling. As was said before, Plugs Fouled at every start up. Went through 4 sets of plugs before I got the idea to wire-brush/B12 them. Before starting the resto I cleaned the tank with MEK, twice, and changed all the soft lines. All the stuff I got with the Seafoam was in the HARD LINES!!! Runs like a champ now, after resetting the carbs and floats, and swapping out the fuel pump. Now if I can just fix the alternator problem... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezzzzzzz Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 I've always used BG 44K cleaner. It works wonders cleaning up deposits. The next comparable product is the GM injected engine cleaner. I've never failed to see start up, idle quality and overall performance not improve with these products unless the engine was junk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Seafoam is not a cure all.... It is a solvent... It will remove crud and gunk...by flushing it through the fuel system and into the cylinders and out through the exhaust... If you run it through a vac hose into the intake manifold.. it will wash all of the buildup through the cylinders and out the exhaust... If you have a great deal of gunk in your fuel/intake system.. it can foul your plugs... coat O2 sensors.... and plug up the cat... If you put it in your oil... it can loosen deposits in chunks that can plug drain passages and clog the pickup screen... ====================================================== The thing to consider here is..... Do you have large amounts of deposits that should be cleaned another way????? An old mechanic's trick is to run the engine at idle with Kerosene or mineral spirits in the oil.... then drain and REMOVE THE PAN.... then they wash everything down with solvents and a brush... lifter valley, valve covers, oil pan etc... If your intake needs cleaning.. then remove it and clean accordingly... usually the throttle body and/or EGR areas are the only parts that get really nasty. If your fuel tank has gunk and trash in it.. then you need to remove the tank and have it professionally cleaned. (BTW There is a drain on the S-30 tanks). Once you have cleaned everything carefully... you can run the Seafoam through the engine to get deposits you may have missed...(like exhaust valves) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Seafoam is not a cure all.... Absolutely correct...there are no 'cures in a bottle'. Sea Foam, or Techron (the only ones that work well AFAIK), should be used as a regular maintenance type thing. If you use it every 10k miles or so, there shouldn't be enough crud built up to cause an major issues. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithium4750 Posted March 19, 2006 Author Share Posted March 19, 2006 Yeah I got up this morning and took a wire brush to my plugs, they looked horrible. Started it up and it ran great. I have to say seafoam did make it run smoother, especially in the higher RPM range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo280zEd Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 so the sensus is that seafoam does clean the deposits off though? without damaging injectors and rubber hoses and such with it's cleaning chemicals? -Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desert dog Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Seafoam cleans the combustion chambers really well. Most times deposits in the chambers makes the engine run rougher due to variation in combustion chamber size because of the deposits. Removing the deposits, which Seafoam does very well, makes the engine run smoother. If you have a lot of deposits though, you can go through a couple of sets of spark plugs before it all clears out... I use the stuff religiously in my 440 Power Wagon... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedNeckZ Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I have had a good time with sea foam. I have tried other type of cleaner foam and can say that they left a lot to be desired. I was having a problem with the 45 mm DCOES carbs in my Z. They had been sitting for a few years in my racing Z, while I working on some of my other Z's. Well, when I finally went to start it, it didn't want to start. The carbs were gummed up bad. Well, a mud racing friend came over and help me trying to get it started. After trying for some time to get it started, he got me to buy a bottle of it and pour it into the carbs thru the screen area. We let it sit over night and tried it again in the morning. It started on the first crank and ran great after that. It does smoke some after first putting it into the gas tank. But it sure cleans out all the crud in the tank, lines and carbs. Just remember most of our cars are over 30 years old and not that well taken care of. It works, take care, Rich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savageskaterkid Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 I used something similar in my old truck. Works wonders. Instead of Seafoam its POWERFOAM https://www.amsoil.com/storefront/apf.aspx Its amazing, I sprayed it into the intake and only used half the spray. Then I cut it off and let it sit for about 10 minuts. Fired it back up, and your supposed to let it run for about 2-5 minuts. Blue smoke poured out the exhaust for a couple minuts. The truck revved better, and idle better, it even seemed to rev quicker too. I have no experiance with regular seafoam, but am a partial amsoil dealer and paid 5 bux for this, and it did great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dosquattro Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 I think it's just user error from what I've seen. I've used it on all of my cars and never had any problems. If you suck in through a vacuum tube then besure to keep the throttle up so it dies out and shut the car off after you put a 1/3 of it in. Give it a couple of minutes and then start it up and prepare for the smoke out. It'll also let you know of any exhaust leaks with all the smoke coming out. Take out your o2 sensor if you want but I never had any problems. then just plug your bung. Should smoke for a couple of minutes and then clear up. If you car runs **** for a week you some of you said. I'd say get a new o2 sensor cause it might of fouled it and get some new plugs. I always use it as pretune up and then do everything afterwards...(plugs...o2 if bad...oil change..) I do the following.. a 1/3 of it in your oil and a 1/3 in your gas. Drive for a day and then change your oil cause it will thin out your oil along any crap that it loosened up. This is a aerosol seafoam that is used for spraying into your intake manifold. I think it's called deep creep but I've never used that yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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