I've been doing some reading on people's results using Seafoam, and alot of them say that when they were using it, their cars threw a lot of smoke. That got me thinking, isn't that bad for emissions related equipment like O2 sensors and catalytic converters? I'm thinking about trying some Seafoam in my Ciera, but I don't want to contaminate the new O2 sensor I put in.
Question about Seafoam
- Thread starter 55Test
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I don't recall anyone saying that they saw smoke unless they were adding it directly into the intake. Anything combustible will make smoke under that situation.
Any intake purge, aside from water, will do this.
Any intake purge, aside from water, will do this.
55,
For what it's worth, I believe it's written on the bottle that it's oxygen sensor safe. I ran 1/2-2/3 a bottle in the gas and the rest through the vacuum line, but not so much so that it caused it to stall. I didn't get any of the smoke clouds people seem to mention around here. I may try it again with the stall effect.
Note - if doing the vacuum line through intake method, you may find yourself having to clear codes on your car's diagnostic system. With my volvo, I had to after using a purge line, though I can't remember if I disconnectted the solenoid or not. If you can clear the codes, easy enough.
For kicks, I put a drop or two on a chunk of carbon that come from an old intake valve left from a rebuild, and it seemed to discolor the solution, and later caused a spongy feeling when I was probing it with a metal wire.
I too replaced one of two O2 sensors, this one before the cat. OE from AutoZone for $140 and change, so I'm more cautious as for what get's done with the engine and with what, especially sealents (there's a clue).
Have fun tinkering
For what it's worth, I believe it's written on the bottle that it's oxygen sensor safe. I ran 1/2-2/3 a bottle in the gas and the rest through the vacuum line, but not so much so that it caused it to stall. I didn't get any of the smoke clouds people seem to mention around here. I may try it again with the stall effect.
Note - if doing the vacuum line through intake method, you may find yourself having to clear codes on your car's diagnostic system. With my volvo, I had to after using a purge line, though I can't remember if I disconnectted the solenoid or not. If you can clear the codes, easy enough.
For kicks, I put a drop or two on a chunk of carbon that come from an old intake valve left from a rebuild, and it seemed to discolor the solution, and later caused a spongy feeling when I was probing it with a metal wire.
I too replaced one of two O2 sensors, this one before the cat. OE from AutoZone for $140 and change, so I'm more cautious as for what get's done with the engine and with what, especially sealents (there's a clue).
Have fun tinkering
I know O2 sensors are sensitive to silicone
. A buddy of mine was following my lead and cleaning the throttle body on his BMW. BUT he decided to spray a little silicone lubricant on the butterfly in the throttle body
. Next day CHECK ENGINE. It ruined bot O2 sensors to the tune of $200.00 and some dollars. Can you say OUCH!!!
i use seafoam in my 1999 tracker and in a 2001 sebring. and mostly in my 2002 kawasaki vulcan.. My bike "carbed" loves it. my bike has a known carbon issue in the rear jug. I've never experienced this problem, probably cause i was it hard. But others who lug the engine will start to get a knock. and when they use seafoam its gone after about 1/2-3/4 a tank. I use it in my bike either way.. I swear by seafoam. my local advanced had it for sell for $3.88 a can. I bought 4-5 cans. lol
i can testify with arkainzeye on the kawasaki vulcan (vn800). everything improved dramatically after using seafoam in the bike.
mine was modded with tweeked carbs, k&n filter, and vance and hines pipes. it ran lean for a bit until i got the carbs dialed in. the seafoam improved throttle response and smoothed everything out.
i did use some fp in the kaw later and was extremely impressed with those results.
sold that bike...
mine was modded with tweeked carbs, k&n filter, and vance and hines pipes. it ran lean for a bit until i got the carbs dialed in. the seafoam improved throttle response and smoothed everything out.
i did use some fp in the kaw later and was extremely impressed with those results.
sold that bike...
Have to be careful with silicone sealants around O2 sensors too.quote:
Originally posted by 1maniac:
I know O2 sensors are sensitive to silicone. A buddy of mine was following my lead and cleaning the throttle body on his BMW. BUT he decided to spray a little silicone lubricant on the butterfly in the throttle body. Next day CHECK ENGINE. It ruined bot O2 sensors to the tune of $200.00 and some dollars. Can you say OUCH!!!
I've seafoamed my Caprice at least twice through the years. The latest time was a few weekends ago. I used the PCV hose and used up pretty much the entire bottle. I also stalled the engine by sucking up more and closing the throttle. When I restarted, I got a THICK white cloud. It looked like a wood fire. Nasty. I let it idle and revved it and it continued to smoke.
After a few minutes, the smoke died down to just a small amount so I figured it was done. Drove the car out of the driveway onto the main road and hit the gas at 5mph and held it to the floor until about 45. I cannot believe the amount of smoke that was released. You honestly couldn't see through it. People probably thought my car was on fire, or a POS.
I turned around and floored it again and it STILL smoked. This, despite driving the car hard, using FP, etc.
This is basically the same experience I've had with SeaFoam in my car. In another post I mentioned that I think some SeaFoam pools up in my intake and so when I drive it, it belches THICK white smoke until it gets purged out. I told my wife to watch me as I drove out, she said that the car behind me had to apply his brakes as he entered the smoke screen it was so thick!
I do this late at night so that there isn't so much traffic on the road and the cloud is not so visible.
After a couple hundred yards down the road, the exhaust is clear.
I do this late at night so that there isn't so much traffic on the road and the cloud is not so visible.
After a couple hundred yards down the road, the exhaust is clear.
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