Seafoam cleaner questions?

[Evo_Spec]

it's supposed to smoke really bad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef3HNvxblxQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

or if you prefer official videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D11ZVYwj62w" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mitmaks]

ok i tried this tonight but had issues...lol first off how fast should this stuff be sucked up through the pcv hose? i had the engine warmed up, stuck the hose in the bottle held the throttle but after 20 seconds or 30 seconds tons of smoke was pouring out of my exhaust covering my neighbors place so i turned the car off and looked in the can of seafoam to only see about maybe 1/5 of the liquid sucked up?

does it go that slow or should it of been sucked up much faster? should i of used the brake booster line instead??

Maybe you can go somewhere remote, where theres no neighbors that will be bothered by it lol. Try brake booster hose, thats what Ive used. Let it sit a bit before you drive it though so it soaks up stuff.

[newbieMX3]

yea i know its suppose to smoke...lol my thing is that it just seems to suck the seafoam up way to slow?? and i let it sit for 30 minutes and then drove it but by the time i went probably an 1/8 of a mile it had stopped smoking!?!?

[Mad Cow]

Use the brake booster hose then, it should suck it up pretty quickly, quick enough so that it'll barely smoke when it's time to shut it off and let it sit.

[davmac]

Do not add seafoam to the oil. In the fuel tank or through the intake manifold I believe it can do wonders, but leave it out of your oil. If you do put it in your oil be sure to change the oil asap. I have heard of people leaving it in the oil for some short time idling or low miles, but really not recommended.

[Mad Cow]

Do not add seafoam to the oil. In the fuel tank or through the intake manifold I believe it can do wonders, but leave it out of your oil. If you do put it in your oil be sure to change the oil asap. I have heard of people leaving it in the oil for some short time idling or low miles, but really not recommended.

You're supposed to put it in the oil to clean out the oil passages and stuff, but you're only supposed to let it idle for a few minutes and then change the oil.

[davmac]

You're supposed to put it in the oil to clean out the oil passages and stuff, but you're only supposed to let it idle for a few minutes and then change the oil.

I hear you. We're really both saying the same thing. I guess I'm just going a step further - no to seafoam + oil. If you only leave it in there for a few minutes of idling it really can't do much cleaning anyway. The fact is that seafoam is a petroleum distillate - a solvent for oil. Seafoam is not a lubricant. Best case you run your car at idle with a diluted oil and it doesn't do anything beneficial or cause harm. Worst case you put the equivalent of many miles of engine wear on your motor over a short time with a little cleaning. AutoRx or several short interval oil changes using synthetic oil is a much better option if you want to clean the crankcase.

[Mad Cow]

You're supposed to put it in the oil to clean out the oil passages and stuff, but you're only supposed to let it idle for a few minutes and then change the oil.

I hear you. We're really both saying the same thing. I guess I'm just going a step further - no to seafoam + oil. If you only leave it in there for a few minutes of idling it really can't do much cleaning anyway. The fact is that seafoam is a petroleum distillate - a solvent for oil. Seafoam is not a lubricant. Best case you run your car at idle with a diluted oil and it doesn't do anything beneficial or cause harm. Worst case you put the equivalent of many miles of engine wear on your motor over a short time with a little cleaning. AutoRx or several short interval oil changes using synthetic oil is a much better option if you want to clean the crankcase.

Finally someone who understands that you shouldn't drive with seafoam in your oil, I've been trying to explain this to so many people and they just won't believe me. I can't comment on it's cleaning ability because I've never had to put it in the oil (low mile klze ftw ), but I'm just assuming that it works because that's what the official instructions say.

[93vtecklr]

Is there any likelihood that it'll clog up a catalytic converter? Or is it cat-save?

[davmac]

The catalytic converter will see whatever is in your exhaust. So adding seafoam to the intake and gas tank plus the resulting crude it cleans off the intake system will flow through the cat. Doing a seafoam cleaning once every couple of years shouldn' t be a problem. The phosphorous in oil will shorten the catalyst life - but no worse than a motor with leaky valve guides or rings. Generally when those leaks are minor the cat will last longer than the engine.

[mitmaks]

so did you run it in your car, how did it go?

[_-Night-Shade-_]

I highly doubt adding it to your oil will cause much harm, especially if that's the official instructions too. I've done it and everything is fine. 1/3 of the bottle is nothing compared to the 4L+ of oil in your engine, plus you're only going for a few miles. You'd probably do more damage to your engine driving low on oil than driving on seafoamed oil.