What did Sea Foam do for your motor? [Archive]

Paul Workman

08-20-2014, 07:57 AM

Dom, I have had several issues in the carburetors of several smaller engines, lawn mowers, pressure washer, generator, and one motorcycle that were not started over the winter. The carb jets became clogged with crud as result of fuel evaporating and leaving varnish(?) or goo in them. BUT, I've never had any such issues with ANY motors that had Sea Foam in the fuel while in winter storage.

That I can't say the same for Sta-Bil (the red stuff). The jets on my pressure washer closed completely shut on that carb, after the fuel evaporated. In fact, the manager/owner of the local rental place said to never use that stuff, and recommended Sea Foam - what they use in their rental equipment to prevent issues in motors that sit for long periods.

I dunno whether it is the Sea Foam or the fact I make it a habit to run ALL the motors once or twice a month and keep the carbs primed or both. But, for what it's worth, I've not had any more issues with the 2 Vettes or the 6 small engines since.

Far as de-carbonizing goes, I've never used Sea Foam, but have used ATF on one occasion, but plain old WATER (and inadvertently COOLANT once) poured directly into the intake of the running engine really works quite well, I find.

But, I'm curious... Your running w/o secondaries, and I dare say few if any fuss with their tuning as much as you. So, I'm surprised you're having any trouble with carbon...or are you??

P.

XfireZ51

08-20-2014, 09:09 AM

Paul,

I had no reason to do it other than to just try it. Had heard about it. I've used Marvel Mystery Oil before in much the same way. Sometimes a lifter would stick on my SBC, and Marvel would quiet that down pretty quickly.
I took the car out on Monday after not having really driven it. There was a Roush 427 Mustang in front of me who got on it from a light. I, of course, obliged him.
Car went sideways beating the ASR. Could not get any traction, and it was a warm day, I was pointed straight. Took me by surprise. Lgaff told me he had measured a 10lb increase in compression on a cylinder after using SeaFoam.
Maybe I did need to blow it out a bit. Just wondering.

Schrade

08-20-2014, 09:26 AM

I read many years ago, in more than one place, that gasoline left unburned in the cylinders would solve carbon deposits.

So on carb'ed vehicles that I owned, I started dropping the accelerator when I parked at the end of the day, and turning off the ignition (with the pedal on the floor) just as it got around 1,200, and it would keep going to maybe 2k+, before winding down. WHen it stopped spinning, I'd let off the pedal, leaving a bunch of fuel in the cylinders.

Never noticed any carbon next day when I'd fire it, but plugs were always really clean at change time tho'...

I don't know how to leave fuel in electronic injection cars...................................

Schrade

08-20-2014, 09:31 AM

Some CC additives had a rap for eating seals at the crank. I never believed it.

I always guessed that maybe the additives actually DID solve some deposits that might have been lodged against the seals, and THEN allowed some leaking.

So maybe they DO actually solve some deposits - don't know for sure here..........

Billy Mild

08-20-2014, 10:47 AM

I owned a 1996 Plymouth Neon back in the day. It was my first car and as such I took really good care of it. I always changed the oil with Mobil 1 every 5,000 miles or so. Changed the plugs every 15,000 miles. The normal maintenance items.

At about 80,000 miles the engine had a sort of rough idle, and didn't get as good of gas mileage as it did previously. A lot of other neons had this issue as well. There was a TSB put out by Chrysler to use their combustion cleaner to help resolve the issue. I followed the TSB to the T.

1. Drive the car to get the engine throughly warmed up
2. Have an assistant keep the car above idle and don't let the car die
3. Spray the combustion cleaner into the air intake after the air filter.
4. Let the car sit for 4 hours after the entire can was ingested.
5. Start the car up and do some heavy pulls on the highway until no more smoke is coming out of the tailpipe.

After this was completed the car ran smooth as silk and the gas mileage improved.

Karl

08-20-2014, 04:03 PM

Sea foam seems to have worked quite well. Car runs much smoother. I put a can in about 1/3 tank of gas and drove it hard. Also my oil catch can keeps the oil from going into the intake which means less oil and carbon going into the engine.

Paul Workman

08-20-2014, 06:44 PM

Karl,

Ya oughta see what a quart of coolant at WOT will do in just 1/4 mile! :o

The valves looked brand new!! But, I don't recommend it tho!

Fully Vetted

08-20-2014, 07:04 PM

...Far as de-carbonizing goes, I've used ATF on one occasion...P.

Now THAT brings back memories of pouring ATF down the throat of my 72 Cutlass Supreme, opening up all four barrels and watching the neighborhood disappear in white smoke!

Paul Workman

08-21-2014, 05:53 PM

Now THAT brings back memories of pouring ATF down the throat of my 72 Cutlass Supreme, opening up all four barrels and watching the neighborhood disappear in white smoke!

Clears out skeeters too!

Fully Vetted

08-21-2014, 08:58 PM

I miss the sound of 4 barrel....

XfireZ51

08-21-2014, 09:02 PM

I miss the sound of 4 barrel....

Quad or Holley?

edram454

08-21-2014, 11:47 PM

how do you properly apply sea foam on a zr1. do you have to wait till there is a 1/4 tank then pour can and run that tank down?? who could I do that safely on my zr1?

ed ramos #3028

XfireZ51

08-22-2014, 12:11 AM

I poured Sea Foam down the crankcase vent tube on the pass. side of the air horn. Also poured the remainder in the tank.I just bought Sea Foam Spray that has a special applicator which fits into and under the air bridge so it can be sprayed with the motor running. Gonna try that tomorrow.

Hog

08-22-2014, 05:44 AM

Has anyone clamped the feed and return lines, mixed up some treatment, and added it through the a pressurized container into the fuel rails, then run the engine?
Getting the secondary injectors running might be an issue on an "intact" LT5.

I do this to some of my CSFI(Central Port Fuel Injected) vehicles to keep the poppets from sticking.

I am going to put some Seafoam in the 57 this Winter. This E10 fuel has me concerned. I do keep the tank full and it gets a good 1/2 hour run once a month.

Paul Workman

08-22-2014, 09:13 AM

XfireZ51

08-22-2014, 10:00 AM

Did I miss the "why" you're doing this? Just because, or trying to fix something??

Read post #6 in this thread. I bought a spray can yesterday so I'll be trying that out today.

Racinfan83

08-22-2014, 10:13 AM

Will adding this stuff to the gas mess up the cats? Never used it - just curious because it sounds like it works as a "fuel stabilizer"? Would be interested in putting some in for the "winter siesta"...

XfireZ51

08-22-2014, 04:25 PM

I just finished spraying Sea Foam into the TB. SF has an applicator that fits under the air bridge allowing you to spray SF into the intake. Simple enough.
Once I sprayed in about 1/2can I shut motor off and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then restarted the motor. Definitely got gray smoke from exhaust as I would rev the motor. Right side seemed to smoke more than the left. I took it out for a romp to clear the rest of the SF from the motor. The overall impression I get is that there is a greater urgency to the throttle. It just feels more itchy and more eager. Its a more sensitive throttle, appearing to be more responsive. The motor seems to have takes a bit more of a BARK at WOT.
Anyone else want to offer their take?

Fully Vetted

08-22-2014, 05:25 PM

Where'd you get the applicator? Like an O'Reilly's or AZ?

Karl

08-22-2014, 10:45 PM

Where'd you get the applicator? Like an O'Reilly's or AZ?

It was on sale at AutoZone 2 for $15.

Schrade

08-22-2014, 10:54 PM

Did you do the 25lb bag of sand first?

Yup, just add water until it starts overflowing out of the oil cap (http://motors.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=oil+cap) /fill hole, and then youll be good. Just make sure to do a seafoam application (http://www.audiforums.com/forum/#) when you get a chance. Thatll get any of the leftover sand out.

From here...
http://www.audiforums.com/forum/off-topic-5/hey-guys-please-help-my-mods-gone-wrong-80267/

edram454

08-22-2014, 11:27 PM

I will be trying seafoam too. probably a good idea. did your car throw any codes while it was on and you were dumping seaform into the intake?? I am sure mine needs that alot.

Paul Workman

08-23-2014, 06:10 AM

Did you do the 25lb bag of sand first?

From here...
http://www.audiforums.com/forum/off-topic-5/hey-guys-please-help-my-mods-gone-wrong-80267/

Oh, man... That can't be for real. But, can you imagine??? LOL!

c4koh

08-24-2014, 07:16 PM

I added sea foam to my new (in April) 1992, and it had the effect of cleaning the old injectors... so much so that they started to mis-fire lol! I did an injector resistance test, and the primaries were 7/8 OK, 1 of them about half-gone... and the secondaries were pretty much shot across the board, 1 completely so (hence my mis-fire)...

So, the sea-foam seemed to "clean" and peel back to the metal, which - as they were on original injectors - were likely rotted due to ethanol.

Anyway, I replaced the injectors (thanks Jerry's Gaskets & FIC), and when under the plenum noticed it was a little gunky too. So, once replaced the injectors and verified all was OK, I then went out for a drive - got the engine warm. Got home, removed the accordian bellows, then sprayed sea foam into the intake, around half a container full, with throttle between idle and 4K RPM to suck in some air and keep it warm... then let her sit, engine off, hood down (to keep all the heat in) for an hour...

Started he up, good puff of grey oily smoke, then clear - so certainly some gunk worked off. Car was running well anyway, but certainly it does work to break down deposits, which for the $10 or so it is, is well worth it on my 61K miler.

That and a full container in the gas tank, and I'll do that every year.

XfireZ51

08-24-2014, 08:24 PM

Where'd you get the applicator? Like an O'Reilly's or AZ?

Dave,

The applicator came w the spray can.

Ed,

No codes. Most of the smokes comes after you've put in about a 1/2 can and then let a warm motor sit for a bit. It sat for about 30 min. Then started it back up, when I revved the motor
And got gray smoke. Ran it, stabbing the throttle a few times, let it sit and then took it out for a run. Hoping to do some datalogging tomorrow. But as I indicated earlier, the accelerator appears to feel more responsive.

Fully Vetted

08-24-2014, 09:09 PM

Did you do the 25lb bag of sand first?

From here...
http://www.audiforums.com/forum/off-topic-5/hey-guys-please-help-my-mods-gone-wrong-80267/

Ok...That is the funniest forum posting I think I've ever read. The replies were hilarious.

Paul Workman

08-24-2014, 09:10 PM

Dave,

The applicator came w the spray can.

Ed,

No codes. Most of the smokes comes after you've put in about a 1/2 can and then let a warm motor sit for a bit. It sat for about 30 min. Then started it back up, when I revved the motor
And got gray smoke. Ran it, stabbing the throttle a few times, let it sit and then took it out for a run. Hoping to do some datalogging tomorrow. But as I indicated earlier, the accelerator appears to feel more responsive.

Curious to know if the oxygen sensors are affected...

Schrade

08-24-2014, 10:20 PM

Curious to know if the oxygen sensors are affected...

Yeah - that's a good Q...

Even if it solves some carbon / sludge deposits in the intake, some of that jam is gonna' foul the O2's???

XfireZ51

08-24-2014, 10:26 PM

Curious to know if the oxygen sensors are affected...

No. It's O2 sensor safe. I'm hearing from FU that it's a good idea to change your oil after use. Hoping he'll provide an explanation for that.
I also used it on my Vibe GT w 185k miles.

Racinfan83

08-25-2014, 07:59 AM

Is it safe for the cat converters? I would like to add some to the gas for winter but don't wanna screw up the cats...

WVZR-1

08-25-2014, 09:41 AM

No. It's O2 sensor safe. I'm hearing from FU that it's a good idea to change your oil after use. Hoping he'll provide an explanation for that.
I also used it on my Vibe GT w 185k miles.

Didn't read the entire thread but anytime a "pour to stall" TEC (top engine cleaner) is used it's thought to be wise to do it at an oil change. You'll never see it on the container but it's generally the way we did GM TEC on early cars IF it was done as a "pour to stall". Is it an issue? I'm sure there's been millions of cars done without.

Pour to stall puts the TEC in the cylinder.

XfireZ51

08-25-2014, 10:21 AM

Didn't read the entire thread but anytime a "pour to stall" TEC (top engine cleaner) is used it's thought to be wise to do it at an oil change. You'll never see it on the container but it's generally the way we did GM TEC on early cars IF it was done as a "pour to stall". Is it an issue? I'm sure there's been millions of cars done without.

Pour to stall puts the TEC in the cylinder.

I have used Marvel Mystery oil both poured in the gas tank and into the oil directly, not aware that an oil change would be called for. Having said that, I'll probably listen to FUs advice. Would the fact that it was sprayed in rather than poured make a diff?

Karl

08-25-2014, 11:15 AM

Is it safe for the cat converters? I would like to add some to the gas for winter but don't wanna screw up the cats...

The bottle says it's catalytic converter safe.

Roadster

08-25-2014, 02:01 PM

I know this thread is about Sea Foam, which I have never used. I have been using Lucas Fuel Injector Cleaner in the 82 for the past 2 1/2 years and just put my first treatment in the 94 ZR-1 yesterday. The injector spray on my 82 is a perfect umbrella spray, have never had a problem, and I would assume the Z will or already is the same.
Might be a good follow-up to use after the Sea Foam on a regular basis. I use the Lucas everyother tankful in the 82 (6 ounces) and will probably do the same in the Z.