Seafoam, my long time experiance with it & directions

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Ok, I've been lurking here for years, but simply never post.
In a nut shell... I don't know anything about oil other than what I like to piece together from some of the opinions here.

However... I do have two edges when it comes to Seafoam.
1) I've been using it longer than it looks like any of you have.
2) I remember the much more exact directions on the cans from years ago, and yall don't!
grin.gif

Like I said... I don't pretend to know anything about anything.

I'll pretty much hit common things at random & ramble my butt off.


Seafoam either smokes white, or black. That's it.

Seafoam smokes, mostly (IMworthlessO) because of it's contents mostly, and the carbon partly.
40-60% Pale Oil
25-35% Naptha
10-20% Isophthalic Acid
The smoke is mostly the pale oil burning in the combustion chamber & exhaust manifolds.

I have found the amount used has a some influence on how much smoke pours out.
More so than the amount of seafoam used, is the length of time between pouring it in the combustion chamber, shutting off the engine & cranking the engine.


Seafoam mainly cleans the combustion chamber, face & backs of valves.
Seafoam cleans some of the intake & exhaust track in the heads. Simply put... You're in la-la land expecting a spray cleaner, or sucking a cleaner is going to do much to the intake track itself (Intake manifold throttlebody area & majority of the head area)

If you want to clean those things, you need to bust out a brush/grinder, some solvent & do it by hand.


Here's a combination of the actual directions for use, with what I have found to be the best way to use it.

Fully warm the engine up before starting.
For the intake, the amount used should grossly depend on displacement. (Can = pint)
My good rule of thumb:
1/4 of a can for 4 cyl / through 2.4L
1/3 of a can 6cyl / through 4L
1/2 a can for 8cyl / 5.7L

My reasoning for this is that it has been my personal experience that if you go using a lot more than you need, a lot of it is simply going to blow right out of the chamber before you get it cut off & it does any good.
This stuff will also cause the engine to diesel if you're using too much... (i.e. you turn the car off, but it keeps running because the combustion chamber temp + compression temp rise is enough to ignite the seafoam)

(Yes... In my few years of recommending it & following it's use on several *huge* Toyota oriented forums, there has been a case of ONE person damaging their engine with it. The engine hydrolocked & spun a rod in the process. It's wasn't a small engine... It's was a 3.4L 5vz-fe V6. The guy accidentally dropped his vacuum line into a full can while a friend held the engine to a cruising speed.)
In light of the above, you want to pour the amount you're going to use in a separate container!

Don't worry about revving the engine up during use.
What you want to do is suck all of it up at one time, or put a funnel on your vacuum line & pour all of it in at once.
If the engine dies from being rich, that's great! If it doesn't, you IMMEDIATELY want to cut the engine off.
(At worse case - You can stall the engine, but won't hydrolock one using the amounts I recommend - less it is some odd ultra high compression)

When the engine is off you want to wait 5 min before cranking.
From here we go back to the old directions.

Let the engine idle for 10 min so that the billowing cloud of smoke isn't as bad.
Now you want to go drive until it stops smoking. It is helpful to to hold some gears into your red limit a few times...


If you've got a "smoker" I seriously suggest taking the can of Seafoam with you... If it's bad, you can fill entire city blocks (blocks!?) with smoke, or obscure drivers behind you.
Just incase any cops are anal retentive, you can show him the can & claim ignorance.

When you have finished, you need to repeate the process 2, or 3 times!
On my 3.0L v6, I do it 3 times back to back in one session. There is no point having partly empty cans laying around LoL! (Come on... $5 a can!)

Most people like to put Seafoam in at the end of an oil change, or with new fluid, and do a quick change after a few hundred miles.

This is actually AGAINST what the old directions use to call for. The old directions suggested it's use with fresh oil, over the operating period - without degrading it's service life.
(Trans-tune still says "Fluid can be changed at regular service basis.")


Trans-tune is the opposite ratio of normal Seafoam.

Seafoam swept through about every Toyota based internet forum like wildfire. The stuff works.


It offends some people, but it basically works as good as most people have lucky with a kit of Auto-RX in a short amount of time, for $5 a can. (Not 100% accurate, but you might as well chunk Auto-RX to the bin of stuff that works really well, but is overpriced.)


Another tip... Take a 16oz spray bottle full of water. Put the nozzle into whatever port you have that squirts directly into the post throttle plate manifold. Squirt fast enough so that the engine idle slows down, but isn't sputtering to death.
Make sure it's a mist & not a stream.
It won't "clean" any fuel residue, or oil from the PCV system out, but it will de-carbon any combustion chamber it get's to better than nearly anything else will.
For anyone that doesn't know, water injection is the most awsome thing of all time LoL!


When I rebuilt my engine from a head gasket blowout on the rear bank @ around 96,000 miles. (Ported & polsihed them myself & did a boat-load of misc. work) here's what things looked like.


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Don't think anything of the fluids on the pistons. I had a pressure + oil leak on one cylinder. All the fluids you see are anti-freeze & oil that spills into the combustion chamber when you break the seal on our lower intake manifold & heads respectifly.

Anywho... I purposely didn't clean the pistons to see how seafoam would do. I don't have any pictures, but I have examined the front bank twice. After the above Seafoam regimin & after I installed a serious amount of water injection when I turbo'ed the car.

The Seafoam reduced the carbon, the water injection nuked all of it LoL!

[ September 14, 2005, 11:50 PM: Message edited by: Toysrme ]
 
It's funny... I feel like I just wrote a dissertation to people that know a lot more & have no benefit from that!

Oh wait... I did! ROTFLMAO!
 
You say to let the engine suck all of it up, but it that really safe? I did a Seafoam treatment 2 weeks ago on my Aspire (1.3 liter 4 cylinder, 9.7:1 compression) and I let it take little sips at a time. If I let it take bigger gulps, the engine would stall and make this really sharp knock sound. That noise scared me, thinking I maybe was close to hydrolocking it, so I just continued letting the car take in the 1/2 can in little sips at a time. I also think I let it sit too long after it was done. I let it sit 30 minutes then started it up and drove it. I was hoping for huge clouds of smoke, it did smoke pretty good when I first started it, but by the time I got out to the road the smoke was gone. Did I do it wrong?
 
I have never used Seafoam, but I was under the impression that it should sit longer than 5 minutes before starting the engine. I would never dream of using 3 applications on my Maxima. I have read on Maxima.org to use 1/3 can through the brake booster cable and call it a day.
 
quote:

It offends some people, but it basically works as good as most people have lucky with a kit of Auto-RX in a short amount of time, for $5 a can. (Not 100% accurate, but you might as well chunk Auto-RX to the bin of stuff that works really well, but is overpriced.)

I agree with you.

75.00 worth of Auto RX didn't do what 10.00 worth of MMO, Seafoam and K&W Engine flush did for my engines. (Seafoam 4.59, Marvel Mystery Oil 2.99 and K&W 3.20).
 
If you stick by the amount I give, there isn't enough in the combustion chambers to hydrolock. Barring you don't have some 16-1 CR engine that can't run pump gas in the first place.


If it does stop it's just like adding too much fuel to the mixture.
It will either struggle to run (too rich), or it will quit (so rich the mixture is under it's lower explosive limit & can't burn).


I suggest finishing off the can because it doesn't do much on the first application other than get the loose carbon out. It takes several applications to get the majority of the carbon out.

One just doesn't cut it.
 
quote:

Originally posted by kingrob:

quote:

It offends some people, but it basically works as good as most people have lucky with a kit of Auto-RX in a short amount of time, for $5 a can. (Not 100% accurate, but you might as well chunk Auto-RX to the bin of stuff that works really well, but is overpriced.)

I agree with you.

75.00 worth of Auto RX didn't do what 10.00 worth of MMO, Seafoam and K&W Engine flush did for my engines. (Seafoam 4.59, Marvel Mystery Oil 2.99 and K&W 3.20).


Confused, please explain.
 
Shaman, the Auto RX treatments did not clean the sludge out of my engine. The K+W did. The Auto RX did not clean the combustion chambers. The Seafoam did. And the Auto RX did not stop any of the minor leaks or start up death grind. The MMO did. The MMO also cleans my injectors.

I didn't try Auto RX until I joined this board and I regret having done so. It has worked for a lot of folks here so I am not knocking it, but I think the same results could be had for a lot cheaper. I think this board helps hype its benefits, and after a while the members here refuse to believe that the same results could be had from something sitting on the shelf at Autozone for three bucks. The prestige is high here at this great board, but the "civillians" I've run into that've used this have a general "feh" attitude towards it.

I also think that the psychology behind the "shampoo, rinse, repeat" steps help build up the user's confidence that the stuff is working, and so you open the valve covers, and wow! no sludge, err, well, some sludge, better use another bottle. This motor needs three more cycles! But most OTC flushes get the job done in one bottle.

So Frank, please take no offense to my feelings. I think you have a good product, but I don't think it should cost more than five bucks a bottle.
 
how do you get mist into post TB? If you put it thru some vacuum line.. wouldn't the mist turn into water drops on side of the tube by the time it gets into intake?

If you do it thru the TB.. wouldn't the plate form the water droplets there?

Would you recommend doing the steam cleaning method before or after seafoam?
 
quote:

Originally posted by Toysrme:
What we're saying, is Seafoam will work as good as Auto-rx, but for $5 a can.

Seafoam is a combustion chamber/intake valve cleaner.

Auto-Rx is a crankcase additive used with the intent of cleaning varnish, carbon and sludge deposits on engine internals exposed to the oil stream.

But, yes, I'll agree with you, if you're actually trying to clean combustion chamber deposits by sucking Auto-RX thru the intake manifold, Seafoam at $5 a can is a much better deal!
 
In response to those of you saying you used Auto-RX with no effect and THEN used Seafoam or whatever solvent brand; I say that the initial RX cleaning did more than you realize and made the final observed cleaning on Auto-RX's earlier chemical hard work. Auto-Rx has to get to the troubled areas too, it is not a fuel side cleaner.

I have been testing oils and adds for a long time ( independently) and Auto-RX and Lubecontrol are the only two products I normally mention publicly for a reason.

Yes I use spray higher flash solvents for cleaning surface stuff but for deep safe cleaning in the engine,trans,gearbox AUTO-RX is the perfect tool.

LC and FP can be used in fuel side areas and performs BETTER than the products mentioned above. Per ounce cost is less than most the off the shelf solvents too.

I initially applied Seafoam into a 84 Ford 302 with serious EGR soot/sludge deposits and Seafoam failed. Until I used Auto-RX in the crankcase with LC/FP sucked into every intake/carb/vaccum orafice I could find , did the engine run properly.

Some mechanical cleaning was required in the EGR ports in the intake and that was when I was able to view the Seafoam lack of cleaning as it had been poured and sprayed( deep creep).

Your water wash was most of the cleaning Toysrme.

I do agree that Seafoam would work well to inhibit the corrosive after affect of the water cleaning.

Toysrme, appreciate your first post but I had to share what I have seen on this issue.
 
quote:

Originally posted by kingrob:

I didn't try Auto RX until I joined this board and I regret having done so. It has worked for a lot of folks here so I am not knocking it, but I think the same results could be had for a lot cheaper. I think this board helps hype its benefits, and after a while the members here refuse to believe that the same results could be had from something sitting on the shelf at Autozone for three bucks. The prestige is high here at this great board, but the "civillians" I've run into that've used this have a general "feh" attitude towards it.


Actually, this is a Seafoam thread.

Why not start a new thread if you feel the need to express your displeasure with the performance of the Auto-Rx product?
dunno.gif


BTW - I'm assuming you took advantage of the full purchase price refund offer for anyone dissatisfied with the performance of Auto-Rx.
 
I have an air control temp sensor from a 93 Taurus that is still pretty gunked up, after spraying with Sea Foam Deep Creep (? spray), B12, and QD electronic cleaner. The sensor also had previous B12 and Deep Creep treatments with the engine running and spraying into the throttle body, and Sea Foam poured from a can. The sensor never did get real clean, although the softer sludge was cleaned off.
 
I think the real problem with Auto-RX is that it takes a long time to work and then you have a long rinse cycle and the cleaning goes on a bit after the rinse cycle. It is a safe method that does not place a premium on operator techneque or judgement. It takes a while to gunk an engine up and any method that removes the stuff in a hurry has to be a bit harsh. I went through the quick fix stuff with several chemicals and a lot of dinking around with the engine on a Civic to pass California smog and just snuck by at the very bottom of the scale. I'm now doing the Auto-RX stuff and will report the results on a smog test as soon as I finish this second cycle of cleaning. Frank said he wanted the results, good or bad. But again, there's that problem, it's taking a long time.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Terry:

I do agree that Seafoam would work well to inhibit the corrosive after affect of the water cleaning.


I am lost on the corrosive effects of water and how the solvent would lessen them.
 
I'm curious also. I'm not a chemist, but I have used water & water/ethly alcohol injection to great affect in a few applications over a long amount of time.
The only effects I've run across are clean/noticeably cleaner intake / exhaust valves, combustion chamber, and portions of the head that gets very hot. (Immediate area around the intake / exhaust valves). Engine's tend to run smoother on it also.
I've never experianced seals, or metal having a problem. That's thousands of times more water than you would apply with a spray bottle.
Now methanol??? Ya, avoid it like the plauge. Extreme problems with Aluminum over time if it's not cleaned & protected. it also doesn't get along well with most commonly used gasoline & oil safe seals.
Without cleaning an intake system by hand, you simply can't clean one with the extreme amount of carbon provided by EGR, and sticky oil from PCV systems.

drifter420, with the seafoam it doesn't really matter if it atomizes, or is just a flood of liquid. You want it to sit on the valves, and in the combustion chamber where it can act like a solvent, then burn off/out.
With water, if you just put the spray head against a vacuum port that dumps directly into the main intake manifold chamber, it will deliver itself well enough.
Post throttle plate is where you want to apply such treatements.

*Any* liquid that is injected, or sucked into an engine needs to be done AFTER electronic sensors (AFM, IAT, MAF, MAP, KVG). Some have a tendancy to short out until they dry off, while some could be eaten alive by a very harsh solvent.

Seafoam works well enough in the crankcase from what I can see. (Again not an expert!) The last oil pan I pulled off; the block looked noticeably less gummy after seafoam.


I am not bashing Auto-RX. I just think seafoam works nearly as good, as good, or possible slightly better than a round of Auto-RX @ $5 a can.
 
Toysrme, I appreciate the sharing of your pix and opinions. I have been professionally repairing engines and interpeting oil analysis for a long time so I am speaking from BOTH of those points of view when I give an opinion. BTW do you have oil analysis results for the Seafoam treated engines to share as well as the pix ?

LarryL, I prefer the Auto-RX for just the reason that it is slow, it is SAFE, and deep cleaning. It was designed to be used "in-situ" periodically/methodically in the OLD oil with a fresh filter to limit the impact of the unit being out of service or costing an extra oil change. MOST harsh high flash solvents will clean surface stuff and stop because they flash off. They also will react with or strip the EP/AW coatings off the contact areas in the engine and damage the oil itself. Inert Auto-RX does not exhibit any of those harmful attributes by design.

Shaman, Contaminants and minerals in water will abrade and corrode metals, the lubricants added to Seafoam would inhibit the corrosive effect, they would have no effect on the abrasion wear.

Yes, Amsoil Powerfoam is a great product and seems to have better "stick/adhearance" in an intake you want to clean than say lighter less sticky sprays like Seafoam deep creep. All these kind of products destroy the host motor oil chemistry.
 
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