How To Seafoam Your Car
#41
Tech Resident
Thread Starter
well, my car has 28.5k on it and so far i have seafoamed the oil about 2k miles ago because i switched to GC 0W-30. pretty soon i plan to go to advance to get a can for my gas tank. as for seafoaming the cylinders, i'll likely do that before i get headers next year, i'm in no rush at this time.
in short, no it's not a bad idea to seafoam your car at 23k miles. yes, the mileage is low, but remember, the car is still 5 years old
in short, no it's not a bad idea to seafoam your car at 23k miles. yes, the mileage is low, but remember, the car is still 5 years old
#43
Couple strange things happened when I seafoamed today.
A. After I disconnected the booster line and started it up, it would'nt idle, it wanted to die. I had to keep messing with the throttle to keep it alive while I was pouring it in. I figured that it would idle higher...not want to die.
B. The car would'nt die after I had poured it all in. I turned it off, took the keys out and it kept sputtering/knocking/burping/farting for about 10 seconds while I had the damn keys in my hand. That was pretty strange.
Car did'nt smoke much at all. I guess that's good. It runs a little smoother, nothing dramatic though.
Any idea what A and B are all about?
A. After I disconnected the booster line and started it up, it would'nt idle, it wanted to die. I had to keep messing with the throttle to keep it alive while I was pouring it in. I figured that it would idle higher...not want to die.
B. The car would'nt die after I had poured it all in. I turned it off, took the keys out and it kept sputtering/knocking/burping/farting for about 10 seconds while I had the damn keys in my hand. That was pretty strange.
Car did'nt smoke much at all. I guess that's good. It runs a little smoother, nothing dramatic though.
Any idea what A and B are all about?
#44
Tech Resident
Thread Starter
A.) a vacuum leak is a major problem for a car. it normally will rev very high with a leak but i suppose the car can sputter and want to die. anything's possible with a vacuum leak...
B.) sometimes i car just won't die after you dump the seafoam in. that's not a problem. either there was just enough air in the line with the pour that it didn't choke out or you just didn't pour enough all at once.
neither of these are problems. as long as it runs fine once you start it back up you're groovy.
B.) sometimes i car just won't die after you dump the seafoam in. that's not a problem. either there was just enough air in the line with the pour that it didn't choke out or you just didn't pour enough all at once.
neither of these are problems. as long as it runs fine once you start it back up you're groovy.
#45
Originally Posted by ChocoTaco369
A.) a vacuum leak is a major problem for a car. it normally will rev very high with a leak but i suppose the car can sputter and want to die. anything's possible with a vacuum leak...
B.) sometimes i car just won't die after you dump the seafoam in. that's not a problem. either there was just enough air in the line with the pour that it didn't choke out or you just didn't pour enough all at once.
neither of these are problems. as long as it runs fine once you start it back up you're groovy.
B.) sometimes i car just won't die after you dump the seafoam in. that's not a problem. either there was just enough air in the line with the pour that it didn't choke out or you just didn't pour enough all at once.
neither of these are problems. as long as it runs fine once you start it back up you're groovy.
#46
I plan on changing the plugs because of a few fouled ones and was wondering if this is safe to do so under this condition? Considering, I wouldnt want to do this after the change. I also have 30k miles and the car seems like it might need to be freed from buildup.
#47
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Seafoamed the tahoe today. Your instructions worked like a charm, although the drive-by-wire throttle is a hassle to spray inside while you hold it open. Thanks for the tips.
Question though, I have read that once you run that through, you should change or clean the plugs. Any thoughts?
Question though, I have read that once you run that through, you should change or clean the plugs. Any thoughts?
#48
Tech Resident
Thread Starter
to the two posts up top ^^^
i've already answered spark plug related questions a few times in this thread just to let you know in case i leave some stuff out here. i'll still answer your questions again because i'm a nice guy
you shouldn't run into any problems using seafoam regarding your spark plugs as long as you use it responsibly. what i mean is you use the correct amount and seafoam every 10,000 - 20,000 miles, not use double the recommended amount of seafoam and do it every 2,000 miles, know what i mean? i can't guarantee you your spark plugs will be 100% okay, but i myself have never seen any problems. for the record, if you were planning to change your plugs soon, i'd change them AFTER seafoaming just in case. while it is extremely unlikely all the plugs will get fouled, i can't tell you 100% for sure that a plug won't go. however, what i can tell you is it seafoam knocks out a plug, it was on its way out anyway and the seafoaming was the "straw that broke the camel's back". i would be willing to bet money that if your plugs are new, a simple seafoaming will not ruin them, though it could speed up the process to when they foul.
just use it responsibly, don't use it constantly (just every 10,000 - 20,000 miles) and you should be fine.
i've already answered spark plug related questions a few times in this thread just to let you know in case i leave some stuff out here. i'll still answer your questions again because i'm a nice guy
you shouldn't run into any problems using seafoam regarding your spark plugs as long as you use it responsibly. what i mean is you use the correct amount and seafoam every 10,000 - 20,000 miles, not use double the recommended amount of seafoam and do it every 2,000 miles, know what i mean? i can't guarantee you your spark plugs will be 100% okay, but i myself have never seen any problems. for the record, if you were planning to change your plugs soon, i'd change them AFTER seafoaming just in case. while it is extremely unlikely all the plugs will get fouled, i can't tell you 100% for sure that a plug won't go. however, what i can tell you is it seafoam knocks out a plug, it was on its way out anyway and the seafoaming was the "straw that broke the camel's back". i would be willing to bet money that if your plugs are new, a simple seafoaming will not ruin them, though it could speed up the process to when they foul.
just use it responsibly, don't use it constantly (just every 10,000 - 20,000 miles) and you should be fine.
#49
I've used Seafoam several times before including the TransFlush on my 99 Z28. I noticed a slight improvement in shifting but not enough to really warrant doing it again. However when I Seafoamed my sister's 98 V6 Camaro her's was so clogged up it fouled out the plugs and melted the catalytic converter. YEAH, that's what I said. I could see the headers glowing red after running it down the road for about 10 minutes going 30 mph (since I couldn't rev it any higher without killing it because exhaust wasn't flowing) Be careful if you have over 125K miles. If you suspect your car to have built up an excessive amount of carbon let the Seafoam sit in there overnight to allow it to pretty well dissolve all the carbon before trying to burn it out of there. Like I said, I've used Seafoam several times and its no joke when it comes to cleaning out your engine, but if you can't rev it up above 2500 rpm whenever you crank it and let it run then be cautious of your plugs and cats. Great write up BTW. Glad to see someone did this.
#50
Tech Resident
Thread Starter
sweet googlie mooglie ! how do you get THAT much carbon buildup? there are blazers out there with 200k miles that were seafoaming and just smoked a lot. that's how i first learned about seafoam years back! from a damn old *** chevy blazer forum i stumbled upon.
what a surprise it's your sister's car. leave it to a girl to go 125k miles without a tuneup okay, so many i'm being presumptious and it's not fair, but seriously, which sex historically doesn't take car of their cars and just gets in it and goes?
what a surprise it's your sister's car. leave it to a girl to go 125k miles without a tuneup okay, so many i'm being presumptious and it's not fair, but seriously, which sex historically doesn't take car of their cars and just gets in it and goes?
#51
Well I guess that it doesn't help that she inherited that car from me.... that I bought from a woman. I never could figure out what was wrong with why it wouldn't accelerate and crank like it should. Guess I know why now. I had always used injector cleaner and changed the oil regularly but I had never heard of Seafoam until I used it when I got my Z28.
#53
It helped the acceleration some, but as for the ignition problem it didn't. I'm not sure what was going on there. It would take a 8 or 9 turnovers before it would fire up, but once it was fired up you could kill it and crank it right back up. We explored every option we could think of with the fuel filter, check valves, fuel line pressure... everything.
#55
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Ok
Question
I just seafoamed and my car is acting up. When I start it, it backfires and pops alot. Choco called me and suggested it was the MAF, but I took it completely off and cleaned it out, it really wasnt that dirty. I also started the car with the MAF disconnected, no change. Right now as we speak seafoam is still sitting in my fuel lines and oil. The odd part about this is I JUST changed my plugs, and my 02 sensors. I dont think it could be an issue with them? Anyways, I have new plugs sitting right next to me, and new wires, along with new oil. I believe it fouled a spark plug, because it sounds different, and its popping. Question is, if I change my plugs, oil and wires, will the seafoam in the gasoline still make contact with the plugs, possibly causing another one to foul?
Question
I just seafoamed and my car is acting up. When I start it, it backfires and pops alot. Choco called me and suggested it was the MAF, but I took it completely off and cleaned it out, it really wasnt that dirty. I also started the car with the MAF disconnected, no change. Right now as we speak seafoam is still sitting in my fuel lines and oil. The odd part about this is I JUST changed my plugs, and my 02 sensors. I dont think it could be an issue with them? Anyways, I have new plugs sitting right next to me, and new wires, along with new oil. I believe it fouled a spark plug, because it sounds different, and its popping. Question is, if I change my plugs, oil and wires, will the seafoam in the gasoline still make contact with the plugs, possibly causing another one to foul?
Last edited by Joey7489; 07-24-2006 at 01:51 PM.
#58
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I have seafoamed my 93 several times. I will never forget the first time though, I went wide open back and forth in this huge empty parking lot by my apartment and created a smoke screen.
I just did it again this weekend on my 93 with 165K miles and it smoked and definately helps.
I just did it again this weekend on my 93 with 165K miles and it smoked and definately helps.