Seafoam Experience Not Super

[BHopkins]

I used Seafoam for the first time yesterday. It was on my '03 Olds Alero with the 3400 cc V6 engine, which has 167,000 miles on it, and has a rough idle. Based on other's experiences I have read here on BITOG, I was expecting quite a bit of black smoke billowing from my tailpipe, and hoping for a significant improvement in idle.

I put a cardboard box on the floor under the exhaust, to keep from getting a big black stain on the garage floor. I followed the directions on the can, pouring about 1/2 of the can into the gas tank, and pouring the other 1/2 in through a vacuum line (brake boost), which I verified went right into the intake manifold. While pouring in the can, I could see a lot of thick white smoke, but no black. Shut the engine off and waited as instructed, then started the engine back up and ran it until the thick smoke was gone.

All I ever got was thick white smoke. It lasted about three minutes. When I checked the box that I put under the exhaust, there was no soot at all. Only a big wet spot right under the exhaust, from condensation. (Yes, it is cold here.) I took the car around town and came home and let it idle in the garage. I believe the engine is idling a little better, but not super smooth.

What do you all think? What is the cause of the difference in experience? Why did't I get big clouds of black smoke, as others have described? Could it be the quality of gas? I generally always put gas in this car from trusted sources, that claim a high detergent level. Could this be why?

 

[Ramblejam]

Originally Posted By: BHopkins
All I ever got was thick white smoke.


That's all anyone gets. Who told you anything about black smoke?

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
All I ever got was thick white smoke.


That's all anyone gets. Who told you anything about black smoke?





Black smoke usually indicates unburned fuel. White smoke is standard fare for SeaFoam. Sometimes you don't even get white smoke. It depends on the engine, I think.

 

[Brandon Gatz]

Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
All I ever got was thick white smoke.


That's all anyone gets. Who told you anything about black smoke?


What he said.

 

[Turk]

Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
All I ever got was thick white smoke.


That's all anyone gets. Who told you anything about black smoke?





Exactly, always white!!

 

[dlundblad]

Sounds like it all went well. How's it sounding now?

I did the exact same treatment on my Jeep. Even from seeing You Tube videos I expected to have a lot white smoke after it sat with the engine off. It smoked for maybe 30 seconds then I took it for a gentle drive.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Some engines will smoke more than others. A lot of people say the white smoke is seafoam cleaning the gunk out of the intake.

I seafoamed my 2000 Jeep 4.0 right next to a friend's 2004 Jeep 4.0; mine made no smoke and his made a ton of smoke.

 

[147_Grain]

White smoke is normal. Wouldn't hurt to try it again and use a full can, with a helper holding the accelerator pedal down for a minimum of 1,500 RPM's.

 

[BHopkins]

I don't know why I was expecting black smoke. Perhaps it was from one guy's comments about his tail pipe being caked with soot after running Seafoam.

It's great to hear that this is normal. I will pay attention tomorrow on the way to work, if the car runs any different.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[BISCUT]

Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
All I ever got was thick white smoke.


That's all anyone gets. Who told you anything about black smoke?





Sounds like you got the expected result....

 

[pbm]

Have you cleaned the TB?
My (sold) Buick had the 3.1 (which is basically the same engine as the 3.4) and when I cleaned the throttle body she purred like a kitten. You would be amazed at all the black gunk that comes out.
Remove the large intake hose at the TB and spray inside with TB cleaner while the engine is running.....lot's of black residue will run out so put some paper towels under the TB.
I would then shut the car off and carefully wipe inside the TB with a TB cleaner dampened rag.
It really made a difference in the idle smoothness....

 

[BHopkins]

Originally Posted By: pbm
Have you cleaned the TB?
My (sold) Buick had the 3.1 (which is basically the same engine as the 3.4) and when I cleaned the throttle body she purred like a kitten. You would be amazed at all the black gunk that comes out.
Remove the large intake hose at the TB and spray inside with TB cleaner while the engine is running.....lot's of black residue will run out so put some paper towels under the TB.
I would then shut the car off and carefully wipe inside the TB with a TB cleaner dampened rag.
It really made a difference in the idle smoothness....


I noticed that there is a vacuum line that plugs into the intake hose, just in front of the throttle body. If I do a second Seafoam treatment, as suggested by 147_grain, can I pour it in prior to the throttle body? Then I can get the benefit of cleaning the throttle body at the same time. Will that work?

Seafoam is on sale at NAPA for only $6.99. I just as well do a second treatment if it will help.

 

[Trav]

Pale oil, naphtha and IPA down the cat and you get tons of smoke, no surprise there, it doesn't seem to do much of anything else.
I tried this stuff on a real carbon monster the Cadillac N*, they can get so bad they knock at cold idle.

It didn't do anything except smoke like crazy. Pulled the plugs out and added a few oz of GM Top Engine Cleaner down the holes and let it sit.
Now it smoked black, ran it a couple of full throttle runs and the knock was gone.
The first full throttle run resulted in a large black/grey cloud behind the car.

I cant recommend Sea Foam, i filed under the ones that do little or nothing with a few others.

 

[Boss302fan]

Originally Posted By: Trav
Pale oil, naphtha and IPA down the cat and you get tons of smoke, no surprise there, it doesn't seem to do much of anything else.
I tried this stuff on a real carbon monster the Cadillac N*, they can get so bad they knock at cold idle.

It didn't do anything except smoke like crazy. Pulled the plugs out and added a few oz of GM Top Engine Cleaner down the holes and let it sit.
Now it smoked black, ran it a couple of full throttle runs and the knock was gone.
The first full throttle run resulted in a large black/grey cloud behind the car.

I cant recommend Sea Foam, i filed under the ones that do little or nothing with a few others.


I agree that seafoam does little if anything at all. GM top engine cleaner can do wonders if applied correctly...

 

[BHopkins]

Originally Posted By: Boss302fan
Originally Posted By: Trav
Pale oil, naphtha and IPA down the cat and you get tons of smoke, no surprise there, it doesn't seem to do much of anything else.
I tried this stuff on a real carbon monster the Cadillac N*, they can get so bad they knock at cold idle.

It didn't do anything except smoke like crazy. Pulled the plugs out and added a few oz of GM Top Engine Cleaner down the holes and let it sit.
Now it smoked black, ran it a couple of full throttle runs and the knock was gone.
The first full throttle run resulted in a large black/grey cloud behind the car.

I cant recommend Sea Foam, i filed under the ones that do little or nothing with a few others.


I agree that seafoam does little if anything at all. GM top engine cleaner can do wonders if applied correctly...


Well, that was why I asked my initial questions. With only the white smoke, I wondered if a brand new engine with no carbon buildup would smoke the same. Isn't the Seafoam going to smoke? Just curious.

Today I ran out the Seafoam treated gas. I had a big bottle of Techron that I bought at AZ, since it is on sale. Put it in with a fill up today. I am anxious to see if I can tell any difference in idle after this tank of gas is gone.

The GM Top Engine cleaner sounds interesting. But does it have to be poured in through the spark plug holes? That would be a major PITA on my car.

 

[Trav]

Any engine new or old will smoke when the cat/exhaust is loaded with pale oil.
From my own experiences stuff sucked down a vacuum hose may only clean a minimal amount, it doesn't stay in the cylinder long enough to really soak in to any deposits.

Redline SI-1 or Techron work well at keeping things clean in the combustion chambers but getting the liquid into the cylinder through the plug hole is the best to actually clean a carbon loaded combustion chamber.

Yes it can be a real pain to get it in there on some engines, a hose and small funnel does the trick most of the time. You only need a couple of ounces in there.
You only need this approach when you have a problem like with the N* knocking, pre ignition from carbon deposits or adversely high compression for the same reason, otherwise the PEA based in tank cleaners are probably the best way to go.

 

[mclasser]

Watch any Seafoam YouTube video and you'll always see white smoke coming out.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: 147_Grain
White smoke is normal. Wouldn't hurt to try it again and use a full can, with a helper holding the accelerator pedal down for a minimum of 1,500 RPM's.



That's how I did it before my inverse oiler.
You gotta pour it really slowly til there's about 1/4 can left then flood the whole thing and make the car stall.
One thing I will say for sure. The first time it's done there is way more of a smoke show than every subsequent application.
I like mmo for this as well. Seafoam first,then mmo to wash out the alcohol.
Jmo

 

[mauric3]

How often do you guys use the seafoam when you want to clean the fuel system in your car? Most fuel system cleaner i've seen recommends around 4-5k miles..

What's the best fuel system cleaner in the market right now?

Also, can you use Seafoam or any other fuel system cleaner on a DI Engine like the 2.5L skyactiv engine from mazda?

 

[Joenpb]

Gumout Regane is a new formulation and works well. Seafoam was designed for motor boats, boats that have not run since last summer. Seafoam also can dislodge gunk that can foul an enginec with a lot of miles. Many horror stories abound from people who have done nothing for the entire life of their car, only to Seafoam (pour in intake) then foul plugs etc.