Sea Foam - how long to leave in?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Oct 2, 2005
Messages
38
Location
Nebraska
Greetings,

I have '97 chevy k1500 with the 5.7 liter motor. I am trying to resolve a stuck ticking lifter.

I have recently added a full bottle of sea foam to the crankcase in an attempt to help clean/free the stuck lifter(s). As an aside, I have ran two cleaning phases of auto-rx to no avail.

How many miles should I let the sea foam do is job before changing the oil?

Thanks,

Chris
 
I wouldn't leave it in for more than 100 or so miles. Maybe someone who has done it can chime in though.

Are you 100% positive it's a stuck lifter?
 
I would think that most of the volume of Seafoam would volatilize with enough full warmed events. I would probably put it in nearer the end of the OCI just to reduce the time whatever it dissolved remained spinning around
21.gif
 
The bottle I used in my gas tank did smell of mostly volatiles and solvents...the heat of the engine would probably drive most of them off (volatilize them).
 
Use Rislone...solvents directly in the crankcase kill your lubrication...seafoam is a good carbon cleaner but I'd never put anything like it in the crankcase
 
You can add it at a fresh OC and leave it the entire time if you want. However, I generally add it and run anywhere from 50-200 miles.

Sounds like you may have a collapsed or dead lifter. Seafoam, Auto-Rx, etc... will not fix it.
 
Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
You can add it at a fresh OC and leave it the entire time if you want. However, I generally add it and run anywhere from 50-200 miles.

Sounds like you may have a collapsed or dead lifter. Seafoam, Auto-Rx, etc... will not fix it.


Solvent in the oil, brilliant.

Those stupid lube engineers forgot the one miracle additive, harsh solvent...and purple dye, of course.
 
Thanks for the responses guys... I plan on changing the oil this weekend. Now to decide between 10w30 maxlife dino or mobil 1 high mileage?
 
Use the cheap stuff to finish flushing out the Seafoam. Then after a short OCI go to the good stuff.

No matter how well you drain the sump some of the contaminated fluid will be left behind. No reason to shorten an extended OCI with good stuff when you can just use the Mobil Clean 5000 for the same short (~5000 mile) OCI.
 
Any residual Seafoam is not going to hurt anything. It isn't like you are dumping a can of paint thinner in there. This product is safe to leave in the oil, if desired, for an entire OC. One of it's many uses is to remove moisture in the crankcase which takes time to do. Seafoam originally was designed for marine use. It is a 100% petroleum based product.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: another Todd
How about trying Marvels Mystery Oil.


Well although I LOVE SeaFoam and use it in my JetSkis and use it for carbon cleaning in my Jeeps, I would trust MMO in the crank case over SeaFoam...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top