seafoam and Ford's

[Schmoe]

Thought I'd bring this up here. Over at F150online.com, a lot of members have been using Seafoam to clean out the carbon deposits. What they do is pop the vacuum line off of the power assisted brakes drum, run the engine, let the vacuum suck up the Seafoam. Anywhere from 6 ounces to the full can. Then let truck sit for about 20 to 30 minutes, crank up and then drive like #ell for 20 minutes or so. Claim that engines run better and idle so much more smoother than before. They all say the same thing, lots of smoke for the first 20 minutes or so. I'm talking James Bond type of smoke cloud out of the exhaust. In addition to that, they'll put another can in the gas tank.
You think this would help the IAC and EGR carbon build up that Fords are notorious for? Seafoam claims it will not harm the O2 sensors. What about the cats? Anyone try this on a non-marine vehicle? Read some stuff on there about putting Marvel MO in with the gas, this stuff supposedly prevents carbon build up in the first place.

 

[brianl703]

I've never used Seafoam, but I have done similar with B12 Chemtool carb cleaner. Basically I sprayed about half a can (8 ounces) into the throttle body of my '96 V6 Ford Contour (with the engine running) and when I took it for the emissions test a couple of weeks later, it measured 2PPM NOx at 15 and 25MPH.

I believe the very low NOx numbers are an indication that the B12 Chemtool cleaned carbon out of the engine.

Contrary to popular belief, Ford engines WILL run with the air intake duct removed, you may have to unplug the MAF sensor though.

Some say that the B12 Chemtool is too harsh for the teflon coating in the throttle body, but I didn't use a brush or anything on it, and I wasn't too worried about it anyway. If the teflon coating actually DID anything it wouldn't get dirty.

 

[SteveD2]

Yes, it does work very well. I did it to my cherokee and it immediately lowered the idle by about 100 RPMs and was noticeably smoother. It also seemed to respond better. There is ALOT of smoke, I did it with only the engine parked in the garage, because it was raining, and almost suffocated when the wind shifted.

 

[darkdan]

I use it on my F150, aspire, and crown vic.

Now that I'm using FP in the gas tank constantly I think I won't have to seafoam anymore.

 

[Schmoe]

As I read more into that forum, some members had a lot of smoke, some didn't. Was wondering if the amount of smoke has any correlation to the carbon build up....i.e. more carbon, more smoke. Since my truck has only 28K on it, wonder if I should even waste my time trying it, or maybe I should as a preventive maintenance kind of thing.

 

[darkdan]

I think how much smoke relates to how much seafoam you used.

My aspire poured out black smoke for almost two miles. My truck and vic it was grayish.

I'm sure the aspire had a lot of carbon build up. It was burning a lot of oil there for a while.

 

[road_rascal]

I'm not sure how the F150 motors are built but the Ford 3.8's and the 24v 3.0's use secondary butterflies which open up around 3,000 rpms (IMRC) which do get carbonized over time. I do the Seafoam injection every spring to keep things clean on the intake side. I just disconnect the rubber boot from the intake manifold and use a plastic spray bottle and hose down the insides.

 

[VaderSS]

I do something similar with 3M throttle plate cleaner. I put the straw in the intake and start spraying while holding a high idle until the can is empty.

 

[JTK]

I havent tried seafoam yet (near impossible for me to find locally), but a few times a year I'll spray an entire can of intake cleaner (any'ol brand) thru the PCV line of my ford windstar 3.8L (2001 model). These 3.8's collect oil in the plastic upper intakes which as road_rascal indicated, gunks up the air passages & secondary throttles. I just yank the PCV valve out of the valve cover, stick the spray can straw into the PCV valve and spray away as I work the throttle by hand to keep the engine from stalling. It huffs and puffs & blows some nasty smelling exhaust, but smoothes right out as soon as you are done. The only thing I wonder about is- if this heavy loading to the cats will significantly shorten their life span!?! I always make sure the cleaner says "cat & O2 sensor safe".
Joel

 

[Gary Allan]

Although you have to be concerned about cat life ..and I personally think that anything that you introduce will tend to burn off in the cat ...I don't see anything hitting it ..that wouldn't be hitting it if your engine didn't have the deposits that have accumulated upstream.

Use ATF ..cheaper and very effective ... in the combustion chamber anyway. I've never had a sensor or cat have a problem with it (never a failure in our "enhanced emissions" test here in PA). It won't wash down the plenum like a solvent does ..but it'll clean the combustion chambers and, if you use enough, the entire exhaust manifold as well.

Sea Foam worked well just pouring the can in the tank on my wife's Jeep. She complained of a knocking problem. I used it .."hyper-autophobic" wife's anxieties tranqualized ...

Good stuff.

 

[brianl703]

quote:

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Originally posted by JTK:
The only thing I wonder about is- if this heavy loading to the cats will significantly shorten their life span!?!

---

One of the reasons I tried the B12 Chemtool as I described above was that the check engine light was on and when I scanned it I got a "Catalyst Efficiency Below Threshold" P0420 code. The code kept coming back, so it wasn't just a random glitch.

After I used the B12 Chemtool that code has not come back. It's been about 6000 miles.

I can only guess what the B12 Chemtool did to the cat, but whatever it was, it was good.

 

[New]

quote:

---

Use ATF ..cheaper and very effective ... in the combustion chamber anyway. I've never had a sensor or cat have a problem with it (never a failure in our "enhanced emissions" test here in PA). It won't wash down the plenum like a solvent does ..but it'll clean the combustion chambers and, if you use enough, the entire exhaust manifold as well.

---

how do you use ATF to clean the combustion chambers ?

 

[darkdan]

Take out the spark plug and put some in with a turkey baister.

I wouldn't do it, but others have.

 

[02supercrew]

quote:

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Originally posted by darkdan:
Take out the spark plug and put some in with a turkey baister.

I wouldn't do it, but others have.

---

On other makes you may be able to do this, but on the Ford Mod motors, it's very, very, very time consuming.

I've done the Seafoam trick on both my 02 Supercrew and my wifes 00 Taurus, and it works quite well.

Really cool seeing dual pipes spewing smoke out for 5 mi....I kinda felt sorry for that poor biker that had to drive behind me.

 

[VaderSS]

Just get some Fuel Power for they combustion chamber cleaning. After a 1400 mile AutoRx app, a 3M cleaning(which made a noticeable difference), and 5 tanks of Lucas( which has always done well for me), 1 tank of Fuel Power has my Festiva idling better and it gets better with each passing day.

Use Seafoam or the like for the intake tract cleaning.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Personely I think SeaFoam is a rip off. THey are not giveing you your moneys worth. Even if it works they are over chargeing you for what you are getting. B-12 Chemtool cost half as much and is a much stronger product. I have used B-12 on a lot of carberated engines includeing Fords with no problems. THe only fuel injected vechiles I have used it in have been GM and Toyota products. You can do the same the thing add a can to the fuel and then do a can through the vaccum line or you can us a spray can of B-12 carb spray sprayed through the intake.

You really need to use caution when sucking a liquid through a vacum line. If you introduce to much liquid to quickly you can hydro-lock your engine. You really do not want it to suck it all in instantly. It should be trickled in on a carbed vechile through the car. If you use a vaccum line dip the line into the container then pull it out then dio it in again then pull it out repeat over and over until it draws it all in. You should run the engine at 1500 rpms so it does not stall when it takes a sip!

 

[darkdan]

B12 is $2 a can?

 

[Jackpot01]

I just cleaned my dad's F-150 with Seafoam last weekend. It is a 4.6L with 130000 miles on it. Didnt smoke much at all, now my Focus with 29000 miles on it smoked like Cheech and Chong (so did the Lumina, Monte Carlo and Maxima). I guess its all in how the intake is. My dad's truck doesnt use much oil and it sees alot of hwy miles so maybe that is why....who knows.

Eric
01 Focus Zetec - Motorcraft 5w20
99 Maxima VQ30DE - Castrol Syntec Blend 10w30

 

[Geoff]

Seafoam works. The amount of smoke you get has to do with the amount of carbon in your cylinders in my experience. You'll know they are clean when the smoke dies down (usually on the 2nd treatment).

Water works too. In the old days was common practice. Kind of a steam cleaning. The thermal shock breaks the carbon down and knocks it free. I've pulled exhaust manifolds afterward and they are spotless.

Change your oil afterward.

 

[Bror Jace]

If you so a search on "Seafam" you'll find at least one thread discussing what it's made from ... and the consensus is it's overpriced.

ATF doesn't have the detergency many people think it has so I wouldn't use it as a cleaner.

I'd like to see someone else try the vacuum line with Fuel Power or one of the Schaeffer Neutra formulations.

I'm a little fearful of the vacuum line practice for the same reasons JohnBrowning is; you never are sure about how much of a dose the engine is getting. You could easily plug things up as you are attempting to clean them out.

--- Bror Jace