Sea Foam
Sea Foam OK so I bought a bottle of Sea Foam in wally world and am going to dump it into my gas tank on a Full Tank. Is there anything negative about this stuff. I've read some people say do not do it, Why?
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,407
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From: Knappa, Oregon
SeaFoam is a good gas treatment and I don't think there is any real controversy about using it...in the gas. The arguements against SeaFoam are usually related to using it to clean the top end of your engine. I believe Mopar has a product that many people are using on the top internals rather than SeaFoam now.
Here's a thread:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...r-cleaner.html
Here's a thread:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...r-cleaner.html
Gas is pretty potent stuff for cleaning lines and fuel injectors already.
You need to put a full can into 1/8 - 1/4 tank,, then it'll do some cleaning. I've been doing that every 3-4 months for 13+ years in my 1998 T/A.....
Change the fuel filter right AFTER that tank is run out.
Also....SeaFoam for cleaning the top end of the engine is for the ***** who don't know any better......
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Don't bother putting a full can into a full tank....it won't clean anything. Too diluted.
Gas is pretty potent stuff for cleaning lines and fuel injectors already.
You need to put a full can into 1/8 - 1/4 tank,, then it'll do some cleaning. I've been doing that every 3-4 months for 13+ years in my 1998 T/A.....
Change the fuel filter right AFTER that tank is run out.
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Gas is pretty potent stuff for cleaning lines and fuel injectors already.
You need to put a full can into 1/8 - 1/4 tank,, then it'll do some cleaning. I've been doing that every 3-4 months for 13+ years in my 1998 T/A.....
Change the fuel filter right AFTER that tank is run out.
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Been doing it this way for 6 years now, never a problem!
What does it say on the can?
Regardless, you don't need a full can in the tank. Nor do you really need anything more than Techron to clean your fuel system, unless you always buy crappy gas and never get anything with any decent additives.
If you are going to add some to the oil, which I think is silly, at least do it right before you change the oil. Extra detergents don't really help you lubricate the motor any better. In fact, a better way to "clean" the oil system is just drain the old stuff, fill with a good additive pack 0W20 and let it idle up to operating temp, then shut down and drain it out.
For the intake manifold (top end) I think this stuff does ok. The main problem is that if you add it at the brake booster it isn't going to do much for the front. So you would need to find a place to add it near the front of the manifold. The spray / foam cleaners are a little easier to get distributed evenly.
edit: looked at a can...
"One pint treats 8-25 gallons of fuel"
"One pint treats 10 quarts of motor oil"
"Slowly pour 1/3 pint through carburetor, throttle body, or direct manifold vacuum line that will feed all cylinders."
Regardless, you don't need a full can in the tank. Nor do you really need anything more than Techron to clean your fuel system, unless you always buy crappy gas and never get anything with any decent additives.
If you are going to add some to the oil, which I think is silly, at least do it right before you change the oil. Extra detergents don't really help you lubricate the motor any better. In fact, a better way to "clean" the oil system is just drain the old stuff, fill with a good additive pack 0W20 and let it idle up to operating temp, then shut down and drain it out.
For the intake manifold (top end) I think this stuff does ok. The main problem is that if you add it at the brake booster it isn't going to do much for the front. So you would need to find a place to add it near the front of the manifold. The spray / foam cleaners are a little easier to get distributed evenly.
edit: looked at a can...
"One pint treats 8-25 gallons of fuel"
"One pint treats 10 quarts of motor oil"
"Slowly pour 1/3 pint through carburetor, throttle body, or direct manifold vacuum line that will feed all cylinders."
Last edited by HAZ-Matt; Nov 21, 2011 at 03:58 PM.
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My personal experience with the stuff has been pretty positive. I had a customer bring me a POS run-down Nissan that was sounding like a diesel due to stuck lifters....they had just bought it (God only knows why) from a car lot. They wanted me to "adjust the valves" on it. When I informed them that the car had hydraulic lifters that required no adjusting, they were surprised....and pissed. Apparently, the car lot had told them that was the only problem with the car (valve adjustment). I told them that we could try SeaFoam and see what happened.
I dumped a can of it into what looked like an engine that had never had it's oil changed, and then started the car. No joke....5 seconds later, the car died. Started it again....it died. Started it again....it sputtered, then ran like a new engine! I was pretty amazed, as were the customers. I changed the oil after flushing the engine again with a little diesel fuel, and they drove home......extremely lucky, and very happy.
SeaFoam is a pretty nasty detergent, as in this case it un-stuck the lifters in no time flat. Does it work in a full tank of gas for a fuel system? I'm not sure. Does it flush an engine well? I'd have to say yes...but don't leave it in the oil for long. I suspect that it plays hell on old oil seals.
Personally, I've used bottles of Techron on occasion for the fuel system. Seems to work fine for me.
And that's the end of my little story for the day.....
I dumped a can of it into what looked like an engine that had never had it's oil changed, and then started the car. No joke....5 seconds later, the car died. Started it again....it died. Started it again....it sputtered, then ran like a new engine! I was pretty amazed, as were the customers. I changed the oil after flushing the engine again with a little diesel fuel, and they drove home......extremely lucky, and very happy.
SeaFoam is a pretty nasty detergent, as in this case it un-stuck the lifters in no time flat. Does it work in a full tank of gas for a fuel system? I'm not sure. Does it flush an engine well? I'd have to say yes...but don't leave it in the oil for long. I suspect that it plays hell on old oil seals.
Personally, I've used bottles of Techron on occasion for the fuel system. Seems to work fine for me.
And that's the end of my little story for the day.....
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Verdad Gallardo OK well I dumped it in the tank and ran 100 miles and have no issues so I guess it's OK. I wasn't looking for any miracles, just wanted to try something New to clean up the injectors a little. It cost me about $8 and didn't do any damage so.......I guess it's OK. Thanx for your replies.
I used this in all of my cars. The way I was told to use it is suck the entire can through a vacume line the shut the car down and let it sit for an hour or so, then run the car until it stop pouring smoke out the exhaust. I can say this stuff is amazing. I used it between intake manifold ls1-ls6-fast92 swaps so I was able to see a before and after. My ports looks almost brand new compared to the first time I had it apart a month before.
Sucking it in a vac line is like steam cleaning your pistons. I know a guy who sucks water into a vac line to clean the top end when they are putting out too much to pass inspection. When he is done the car passes every time. However....it can be dangerous doing things like this.
When its started later on it smokes as its sucked up into the heads and into the cylinders. There's everybodys smokeshow....
Whats funny is....everyone that does the SeaFoam in the brake booster line pours it in, then they sit around and wait for a couple hours....FOR NOTHING......
Funny ****.......but as long as they "think" its cleaning things inside the top end, thats all that matters.
I did SeaFoam years ago on this stupid bandwagon......I did 3 FULL cans in one week. It smoked a little bit each time. Then my friend woke me up, after laughing at me, gave me a single can of MCCC. I did that the proper way and after letting it sit for 2 hours.......it smoked more than all 3 SeaFoams combined and the engine actually ran better afterwards.
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