Sea Foam... do you want the truth?
#41
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yeah. on an auto they reccomend doing a flush service. well every shop ive ever worked at, they do. i dont know the service interval, since i dont have an auto. what is it, like every 10k miles? i couldnt imagine putting seafoam in a tranny though... JESUS... goodbye tranny
#42
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Well I have used seafoam on my old '89 Runner. I didn't notice much difference, but I should've. The Runner had over 200k on it! I probably didn't poor enough SF into the line.
Anyways, I want to toss a wrench into this thread and see what ya'll think? I did some googling on seafoam and came accross an interesting argument. Read post #26, and anything after, posted by "Red Devil" http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forums/...ea-foam-2.html
He says, seafoam is really nothing special but water and alcohol. And that is what cleans the engine. He states he, himself, has actually cleaned engines with winshield washer fluid! Now, I haven't read up as much on the actual ingredients in SF yet, and their individual purpose, but it kinda makes you wonder? I have an old POS lawnmower that still runs ok. I may try the winshield washer fluid in there. Still, if it works, I doubt I'd ever try it in an actual car engine. Simply because if something bad happens, you can't complain to the washer fluid company, where as you might be able to complain to SF.
Anyways, I want to toss a wrench into this thread and see what ya'll think? I did some googling on seafoam and came accross an interesting argument. Read post #26, and anything after, posted by "Red Devil" http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forums/...ea-foam-2.html
He says, seafoam is really nothing special but water and alcohol. And that is what cleans the engine. He states he, himself, has actually cleaned engines with winshield washer fluid! Now, I haven't read up as much on the actual ingredients in SF yet, and their individual purpose, but it kinda makes you wonder? I have an old POS lawnmower that still runs ok. I may try the winshield washer fluid in there. Still, if it works, I doubt I'd ever try it in an actual car engine. Simply because if something bad happens, you can't complain to the washer fluid company, where as you might be able to complain to SF.
#43
Many years ago working at a owner operated Firestone we had one of those mechanics that could just about fix anything. Ford Tortoise (taurus) would not pass smog. He asked me to go pick up a two liter of Coke from the store. Came back and he promptly fed it into the intake. Car stalled, let it sit for 20 minutes. Started back up, exhaust smelled a little sweet after. I'll be damned if the stupid car did not pass smog. Seafoam/Coke whatever... Any acidic cleaner would probably help.
#46
#47
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anybody, were "exactly" do you put seafom in the vacum lines
#48
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for the gas tank, just follow the amounts per gallons of gas tank. but do at least two direct cleanings first; that is what i did, to get all the junk out first, then the gas tank thing , becomes your maintenance routine, so you do not have to do a bunch more of direct cleaning procedures, in the future.
#49
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i put it thru the brake booster line there is only one rubber line leading to the master cylinder. just pulled it off while the truck was running and let it *slurp* about a 1/3 of the can up then once the last bit was gone i shut the truck off. started it back up a few minutes later and poured whitish smoke for about 10 minutes and smelled pretty horrid. on my way to work there are a few hills on the interstate that i normally have to downshift on to maintain above 55mph, didnt have to do any such thing this morning.... curious... seafoam and a oil change... who would have thought oh yeah Lucas oil treatment too.
#50
Above dude is correct, or use the pcv valve hose. I like the brake line, becuase it is longer and more flexy, I also like to first pour it into a GLASS measure cup.
wait until your car is running and at normal warm temps. once it is warm , pour the foam into the glass, 6 oz. then pull the brake hose and suck it up, not enough to kill the engine though, just a bit at a time, the faster the better. Once you have sucked up the last bit, kill the engine fast as you can. Let sit for 20 minutes, then crank back up, and rev the engine a bit as well. It will bellow out smoke for about 10 mins. then repeat the treatment above. all done.
Make sure you have a week to clean all that out, before taking your state inspection. keep the last 6 oz for future tank maintenance, every 3 or 5 k or so...
wait until your car is running and at normal warm temps. once it is warm , pour the foam into the glass, 6 oz. then pull the brake hose and suck it up, not enough to kill the engine though, just a bit at a time, the faster the better. Once you have sucked up the last bit, kill the engine fast as you can. Let sit for 20 minutes, then crank back up, and rev the engine a bit as well. It will bellow out smoke for about 10 mins. then repeat the treatment above. all done.
Make sure you have a week to clean all that out, before taking your state inspection. keep the last 6 oz for future tank maintenance, every 3 or 5 k or so...
#53
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#55
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i love sea foam but its just a chemical, it cant do everything a manual cleaning can do but its a start... i work in an auto parts store and everyone there lives and dies by sea foam, by the way they were all former mechs., dont get me wrong, i was a bit skeptical at first but i've used it in my 88 22re many many many times and its worked fantastically... its a hell of a lot cheaper, 8 or 9 bucks a bottle, and easier than a complete teardown and rebuild of an engine... just sayin, i've never heard a bad review on this stuff and you skeptics can say what ya want, i wont disrespect your opinion, but i'm gonna keep usin sea foam in my truck till it dies
#56
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Transmission fluid or water= same results, you just have to be careful not to hydrolock the engine. I personally prefer injection cleaning while cleaning the induction system (cleaning throttle body). Working in a shop I'm fortunate enough to have injector/induction cannisters to clean mine with.
#57
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thanks for the info. There can never be enough discussion. My truck is idling a little rough and so I was going to try a seafoam treatment myself, then replace plugs and wires.
#58
make sure you do the treatment twice, and that you get it up to normal operating temps, when you do it. Also, if you could, do a before and after pic, of one of the spark plugs, before, and after , the second treatment.
I think that could show a lot of results to us dudes here...
I think that could show a lot of results to us dudes here...
#59
THANKS RANGERRUCK!! I do agree with a lot of the folks here. If the rep want's to keep his job he has to try and tell you all the good stuff about Seafoam. There are honest people out there though. eich75 helped to sure up the truth about seafoam, by letting us know that former mechs live by the stuff. I am gonna go get a bottle right now and try it out. My truck has been sputtering lately... thinking it is the injectors. I will post results.
Once again, thanks rangerruck for your time and effort. Hope the stuff doesn't let me know of any problems I might have (don't have the time or money).
Once again, thanks rangerruck for your time and effort. Hope the stuff doesn't let me know of any problems I might have (don't have the time or money).
#60
here is the ingredients everyone
Ingredients
40-60%: Pale Oil (A petroleum lubricating or process oil refined until its color, measured by transmitted light, is straw to pale yellow. )
25-35%: Naphtha (Naptha is a common name for the industrial solvent Petroleum Ether.)
10-20%: IPA (isopropyl alcohol)
So to break it down. Naptha is industrial strength and cleans the engine parts while Pale oil lubricates parts. The Isopropyl Alcohol absorbs water and carries it out the tale pipe. Which also carries gunk with it.
As for using Windshield Fluid or Coke.
Windshield fluid (water, alchohol, ammonia) wouldn't work since the ammonia probably wouldn't be strong enough to clean anything (especially since it watered down) and the alchohol has already absorbed as much water as it can. The ammonia (without the water) would act as a clean burning fuel. Ammonia also neutralizes the nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollutants emitted by diesel engines. So ammonia would help with emissions but the water in the windshield fluid would be bad for your engine. Im am not to sure how good ammonia is for engine parts either.
As for Coke, Coca-Cola contains carbonated water, like 10 tablespoons of sugar, phosphoric acid, fructose, corn syrup, caramel, color, natural flavors, and caffeine. The only ingredient there that would do anything would be phosphoric acid. The only thing phosphoric acid does is turn rust into a water soluble iron phosphate which makes a good protective coating that can be scrubbed off. But the other ingredients I would have to say would be bad for the engine.
just a little chemistry to help with the thread.
P.S. don't leave the Seafoam bottle open. The alcohol will absorb moisture out of the air. Thus being less likely to be able to carry water out of the engine.
Ingredients
40-60%: Pale Oil (A petroleum lubricating or process oil refined until its color, measured by transmitted light, is straw to pale yellow. )
25-35%: Naphtha (Naptha is a common name for the industrial solvent Petroleum Ether.)
10-20%: IPA (isopropyl alcohol)
So to break it down. Naptha is industrial strength and cleans the engine parts while Pale oil lubricates parts. The Isopropyl Alcohol absorbs water and carries it out the tale pipe. Which also carries gunk with it.
As for using Windshield Fluid or Coke.
Windshield fluid (water, alchohol, ammonia) wouldn't work since the ammonia probably wouldn't be strong enough to clean anything (especially since it watered down) and the alchohol has already absorbed as much water as it can. The ammonia (without the water) would act as a clean burning fuel. Ammonia also neutralizes the nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollutants emitted by diesel engines. So ammonia would help with emissions but the water in the windshield fluid would be bad for your engine. Im am not to sure how good ammonia is for engine parts either.
As for Coke, Coca-Cola contains carbonated water, like 10 tablespoons of sugar, phosphoric acid, fructose, corn syrup, caramel, color, natural flavors, and caffeine. The only ingredient there that would do anything would be phosphoric acid. The only thing phosphoric acid does is turn rust into a water soluble iron phosphate which makes a good protective coating that can be scrubbed off. But the other ingredients I would have to say would be bad for the engine.
just a little chemistry to help with the thread.
P.S. don't leave the Seafoam bottle open. The alcohol will absorb moisture out of the air. Thus being less likely to be able to carry water out of the engine.