Seafoam question

[B M]

Hey there.... I have been wanting to do the Seafoam treatment, so I finally got around to following the great instructions in the project area. One difference, was there was not a bit of smoke from the exhaust. Why would tht be????? The ST has 63k miles on it. I put a bit less then directed on the can and a bit more then in the Project section.....I was hoping to smoke up the yard!! Thanks for any answers

 

[David Griffith 2]

Did you let it set for a while before re-starting? The first time i did the treatment mine barely smoked.. I tried it again a couple months later.. let it set longer.. and it smoked the yard up... This is a great mod for smoothing out your idle.. mine runs so much better after the treatment.

 

[Woppy V]

notice a change in her idle? i have been thinkin about doing this recently

 

[Travis Munday]

Seafoam is a mod?



Sweet....maybe my pine scented washer fluid is a mod as well.

 

[Todd Z]

Depending on the flow it will or will not smoke...



The Run-rite systems we used you did not want it to smoke, because when it did, you got a CEL....



Todd Z

 

[shawn stonbraker 2]

As already asked, how long did you let it set, and another is, was the engine cold or hot when you treated it? I didn't put it in the project but I had a cold engine when I did the project. If it is hot (after going to the store to get the SeaFoam) it will evaperate before really doing anything. Give it another shot on a month or so and see if you can "smoke up the yard". Did it help you at all? Like I said, mine runs so much better after doing it.

 

[David Griffith 2]

Mine was from a cold start.. and it set for 10 minutes.

 

[TomT]

I did mine a couple of weeks ago and there was a LOT of smoke. Idled much better afterwards.

 

[B M]

Thanks for the responses, I let it sit between 10-15 minutes, the engine was warm, I had driven it earlier in the day, but it had been sitting for about 3 hours. I will try it again in a month or so. Thanks again for the quick answers!!!!

 

[shawn stonbraker 2]

No problem b, That's what the site is for. Maybe your engine wasn't that bad to have it smoke when treated.

 

[ga rebel]

it works better with a hot motor

 

[Lester Durst]

I havent used Seafoam in any engine so take my question with a grain of salt.



Does this stuff really do what it claims to do? Producing alot of exhaust smoke IMHO doesnt mean that anything in the engine is being cleaned. I would think it means that the Seafoam is just being burned during the combustion process.



I wonder if anyone has looked at the internals of a engine after a Seafoam treatment to see if there is any difference?

 

[shawn stonbraker 2]

Lester, I can say that I have done exactly what you have asked. I used to work at a small engine (lawnmower) repair shop. We would use SeaFoam in the engines as a gas treatment on all the mowers we serviced. (for spring and winter maintenence) We also used it for if there was a stuck valve. We'd pour a bunch into the gas and oil, run it, and when or if the valve finally let free, we'd pull the head and take a look. The reason is because everything would be cleaned out. It would clean all the carbon build-up off the bottom of the heads and the top of the cylinder. (save us the trouble of doing it) Most of the time the valve did free up, but on the complete tear-downs, it was impressive on how clean the inside of the engines were. We would even put parts into a container of just SeaFoam to let it soak and remove the carbon build-up (just like it was a solvent tank). So, in my opinion, it does work. Most automotive shops have what it called a "top-end cleaner". It's to clean the intake and the top-end of the cylinder walls and heads. When you get the nice little carbon ring at the top of the cylinder it can start to cause problems. Using SeaFoam in the way I described in the project, it goes straight to the cylinders this way. The smoking is cause by the SeaFoam burning off. No argument there, but hopefully by then, it has done it's job by desolving the carbon deposits out of the top of the cylinder. I know alot on here like to call stuf "snake-oil" and alot of it is. I can say on this stuff, I have personally seen what it can do. You make your own decision on weither to use it or not. That's the beauty of this site. The info is there if you want to do it, if not, that's ok also. Hope this helps.

 

[FlipTrac_511]

Is Seafoam safe to use in all gas engines?

 

[shawn stonbraker 2]

Yep.

 

[Wes Davis]

After reading about it on this site I used it in my 1979 Chevy 350 boat motor. My motor runs like a brand new motor in my opinion. I believe the SeaFoam stuff to work. I smoked up my dock. I have also used Marvels in my oil and fuel. The Marvels in the oil really got the dirt out. I could tell by the black sludgy oil I pumped out. Marvels in the fuel appears to help with lubricating and cleaning the carb as well.

 

[jbluther]

My engine (~95k miles) didn't smoke as much as I expected. Nice hot engine and everything. I did it for maintenance. Engine was running great before and after the application.



I have a question on the application method. If you apply it through the brake booster line, wouldn't the 3 cylinders on the driver's side get the fluid sucked into it? How would the Seafoam go "upstream" to the other side of the manifold?



My suspicions were enforced when watching the smoke at the tailpipe. The smoke was coming out in a rapid "puff-puff-puff" pattern. I would think that means some (maybe only one?) cylinder had the Seafoam in it.

 

[shawn stonbraker 2]

Jared, actually what you are doing is putting it into the Air Intake not just one side of the engine. So, it will be taken into the cylinder that has the Intake Valve open and taking "air" in. You aren't feeding it into the fuel rail on that side of the engine.

 

[jbluther]

But the valves operate too fast. By the time a valve opened and closed on the passenger side, a valve on the driver's side would open effectively "stealing" the Seafoam. I would think some Seafoam makes it to the passenger side, but I bet a majority gets taken in by the driver's side.



Too bad it's such a PIA to remove the spark plugs. Would be best to just apply a few ounces to each cylinder directly.

 

[Dan Long]

What about using the port on the intake tube for the EGR, it would then also pass though the throttle body and help clean it?