Sea Foam?

[FireMedic331]

Has anyone ever sea foamed a carbed car? I am thinking about doing it to my 72z. Any input or suggestions would be great.

 

Mike

[Guest chazzman007]

Yea ive used it on lots of engines, but not through the carb. You can use the pcv valve to get it in to the system make sure not to use to much, once it is in shut the engine off let sit for about 5-10 min then crank it back up. make sure you do this in well ventilated area because the fumes will be quite strong for a short while.

[FireMedic331]

Thanks for the input

[Careless]

Funny you ask.

 

I did this on the 3rd car since I've been using it just yesterday.

 

You can also use GM Top End Cleaner if you buy it at their dealership. Its about 11 bucks in either brand.

 

Not sure if they're exactly the same but it seems so.

 

It also looks like the classic club-goer drink called "REV", so don't leave it hangin around in the house in a plastic bottle if you got people who come home drunk looking for more booze. The smell will not stop them. HAHA.

 

 

anyways. as mentioned, take the booster line off your brake booster, and make sure it's still connected to the intake. If your engine carries a lot of momentum, it should not stumble, and it will suck up the entire bottle fairly quickly.

 

In order to get the hose to the bottle, I took the booster line off from the booster. shoved a 6 millimeter socket in the line, and attached another longer line to the end of the socket that was sticking out. It won't get sucked in the engine, it's pretty hard to get in there to begin with.

 

Anyways. it sucked it all up... I waited 15 minutes or so. turned the car on, and it smoked white for a while. Not a lot but slightly.

 

There was a strong wind, so I revved it up and it filled the entire backyard with enough white smoke to warrant a neighbourhood fire warning.

 

So I backed off the throttle, and let it coast for a bit. you'll want to rev up the engine real nice every minute or so to let it clean good.

 

Also, it will get passed the white smoke stage, and then into the blue smoke (oil) stage. It will burn blue smoke for about the same length of time (15 minutes), and then it will start to dimminish. This is how you know it's doing it's job. The blue smoke starts to die down and then you have only a tiny bit of blueish smoke exiting the tail pipe when revving above 3000 Rpm.

 

You will continue to burn oil for the next couple of hours or days until the entire intake plenum or whatever it is that is cruddy is cleaned.

 

There can be years of buildup, but it gets stripped off the surface and starts to be burned, so it will be a good thing to do.

 

My PCV valve failed open on my z31, so the entire intake plenum was caked with oil. So now that it's not burning blue anymore, I'm quite happy....

 

 

OH, you find exhaust leaks pretty darn quick too.

[Austin240Z]

I use it on my 98 toyota 4 Runner about every 3-5k miles, through the brake booster line. I have 186,000 miles, car runs great.

 

I've actually put a pretty thick smoke screen across all four lanes of a major road when I ran it through the engine at the parking lot at my work...... luckily traffic was pretty sparse that day..... Needless to say, I make better decisions on where I use the stuff now.

[rudypoochris]

Where does one use the stuff? That is the main thing keeping me from trying it.

[Austin240Z]

Where does one use the stuff? That is the main thing keeping me from trying it.

You can put it in the gas, in the oil, into the intake through a vacuum line(brake booster line), it has instructions on the back.

 

As for a physical place, you can do it anywhere, just understand that if you put it through the vacuum lines, you are supposed to run the vehicle, and it will cause lots of smoke. You'll probably want a second person to help keep the throttle up a little because it will make it difficult to hold an idle. The only real issue is the smoke. I'd just say dont do it near any heavy traffic areas.

[Careless]

a factory parking lot at night is fine.

 

worst the police can do is tell you to leave... or give you a ticket for trespassing, but usually they don't go there, and there might not be enough light for them to see the smoke anyway.

[RedNeckZ]

Yes, it is one of the best products on the market to day. You can put it directly in the carb thru the fuel line port or thru the gas tank during fillup. I had to use it on my 45mm DCOE webers. They had been sitting for some time while I was working on the Z and had got pretty gummed up by the time I got a round to put them on (it was so bad, you could not pass gas thru the inlets on the carbs). A friend came over and we decided to try it out on them. We put the stuff into the carbs and let them sit for a short while. After that we came back and it started right up and has been running great since. I strongly recommend it for carbs or fuel injection systems. Good Luck, Rich.

[bjhines]

I read somewhrere that you put 1/3 - 1/2 in the intake, 1/3 into the fuel tank, and whatever is left in the engine crankcase oil.

 

I have used it as Redneck says to preserve or "loosen up" gummed up fuel system parts. It has worked to "free up" old lawn equipment carbys and basket case car fuel systems. But I have never noticed any improvement when using it through a vac line in the intakes of several cars. It only helps to free up the varnished lawn equipment.

 

Keep in mind that people will imagine all sorts of improvements and swear that they exist. I have tried it and I can tell you that you won't convince me without an engine dyno.

[Austin240Z]

But I have never noticed any improvement when using it through a vac line in the intakes of several cars. It only helps to free up the varnished lawn equipment.

If you've ever taken apart the intake plenum on a newer car, there's always a lot of carbon build up, often times the gummy wet looking carbon build up(I call it intake tar) that stuff can wind up on the injectors as well. When you put the seafoam through the brake booster line, it grabs onto that stuff and helps clean it up, doesnt make a huge difference performance wise, but it'll clean off your injectors and help keep them from getting clogged as easily.

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Berryman's B12 works about the same as Seafoam right? That's what I've been using.

[myplasticegg]

I used it in my DOHC saturn from time to time. Kept it from running like a two stroke.

 

good stuff; gets expensive if you have to feed it in as gas/oil(the saturn used a quart every 1k...)

[Daeron]

I read somewhrere that you put 1/3 - 1/2 in the intake, 1/3 into the fuel tank, and whatever is left in the engine crankcase oil.

 

I have used it as Redneck says to preserve or "loosen up" gummed up fuel system parts. It has worked to "free up" old lawn equipment carbys and basket case car fuel systems. But I have never noticed any improvement when using it through a vac line in the intakes of several cars. It only helps to free up the varnished lawn equipment.

 

Keep in mind that people will imagine all sorts of improvements and swear that they exist. I have tried it and I can tell you that you won't convince me without an engine dyno.

 

Seafoam is GREAT stuff.

 

I universally recommend using it in fuel tanks and through vacuum lines for ANY vehicle.

 

However, I DO have a friend with an '05 SRT-4, who added the requisite 1/3 bottle to his engine oil, which was synthetic. He drained it after a couple hundred miles (he swears it shouldn't have been as much as 500) and replaced with pure synthetic.. and about 6-8K later (halfway through his NEXT oil change) he heard a knock in his engine. He said the oil light came on briefly, and he checked his oil and he was low two quarts. Never had problems with losing oil before, 33K miles on the motor. His engine spun a rod bearing.

 

 

 

I make a rule of ALWAYS saying that it is a definite risk adding anything to your motor oil that isn't more motor oil. I have run seafoam in my own crankcase of my subaru twice with no problems, and have known FAR more people to use seafoam in their oil without problems than otherwise. In fact, my above story (which may or may not be directly linked to the use of seafoam) is the only "evidence" I have to knock the idea.. but I wanted to relate the tale.

 

 

 

The thing to remember about seafoam is that it is a cleaning agent, designed to remove accumulated debris from internal areas in the engine which should not be grimed up. The three ways of using it all function differently.

 

When it is added to the fuel tank, it goes through your pump and rail, through each injector, and helps to clean that area of any buildup of sediments or minerals that might occur. I know that the first time I ran SeaFoam throu the gas tank in my 280Z (also did the vacuum thing at the same time) I gained about 10-20% fuel economy!!! MAJOR difference!! Subsequent vacuum applications (as well as the odd gas tank treatment) NEVER realized such a difference for me.

 

When it is sucked into the intake manifold through vacuum pressure, it bathes the entire air intake and exhaust tract, from plenum, thru runners, through the intake port, around the intake valve, cleans the combustion chamber itself (piston crown and underside of cylinder head), exhaust valve and port (far less importance.) The reason you shut the vehicle off for 5-15 minutes (I ALWAYS let it sit longer than label directions) is to let the solution soak into your crud in all of these spots. When you restart, as has been mentioned above, it all burns away. No mosquitoes tonight!!!!!!

 

When added to the oil, it helps remove varnishing stains, it can help clean up sticky, "ticking" hydraulic lifters, and just generally cleans the entire crankcase.

 

 

 

 

My point is that SeaFoam is NOT a "performance additive" or anything of that sort.. it is not designed to gain horsepower, but rather to regain lost power and efficiency.

 

Has anyone else got any horror stories to tell about seafoam in the oil, or seafoam used with synthetic oil? My buddy sure feels lonely with his blowed-up SRT engine.....

[m4xwellmurd3r]

think it'll make old rings seat like they should after a head rebuild T_T it'd be nice if i didn't have to tear it apart haha. then again, i doubt it would considering the engine can't rev past 5000rpm now.

 

but i've heard GREAT things about seafoam just like you all said. my friend used to run it through his truck once a year to help clean everything up (old truck that he drove probably 100-200 miles a day)

[rudypoochris]

Was he supposed to drive 200 miles with the stuff in the oil? I thought it was idle and drain pretty much.

[gjc5500]

i just slowly pored the whole bottle into the carbs. worked fine once the smoke cleared

[Daeron]

Was he supposed to drive 200 miles with the stuff in the oil? I thought it was idle and drain pretty much.

 

I've always run a few hundred miles with any sort of oil treatment.. but I do them rarely. The typical usage of the stuff in oil (people use a quart of ATF for similar purposes) at my subaru forum (http://www.ultimatesubaru.org) is about 3-500 miles, then drain..

 

I'm no authority, to say the least. I just wanted to relate my experience and my observation of others' experiences.

 

EDIT

I was actually editing my original post and got interrupted, never went back to change what I said. I typed all that up, posted it... then realized I had concentrated on seafoam in an FI vehicle and not a carburetted one.

 

With carbureted cars, the effects would be similar, except obviously you would be cleaning jets and float bowls and floats, etc (carb internals) instead of simply injector nozzles.

[3sev3n]

I have twin round top su's and im having trouble with my carbs Ive put sea foam in my tank but not in my carbs could someone give me step by step on how to clean twin round top su carbs with seafoam?

[vspec]

Always make sure your oil seals are good before doing this,Because it will clean the crud from the seals and cause a leak in some cases.