Sea Foam - Engine Cleaning Product

[Ryan King]

Seafoam that car. I swear by the stuff. I purchased a lousy running 1989 Astro van for 200 dollars and after a bottle of Seafoam she ran like a champ. I ran half a bottle through the engine and then drown the engine with the rest and let it sit overnight.

It smokes like crazy though, like Bill said, don't do it in a parking lot or around complaining neighbors. My neighbors thought it was hilarious.

Kenny was really endorsing this product on Farrar's topic. I had never heard of this before and after reading through the website I feel like it might be a good idea to try some on my DeLorean.

I have noticed that my fuel consumption isn't as good as it used to be. I also need to smog my car soon, so I figure trying to tune it up would probably be a good idea.

Has anyone used this on their DeLorean???

http://www.seafoamsales.com/

EDIT - To see how its used...click this link - http://www.seafoamsales.com/how-to-use-sea-foam-motor-treatment.html

Scroll down to "4 Cycle Engines" and click "Cleaning Varnish and Carbon Deposits - Fuel Injected Engines"

It recommends you use a Vaccum line? Anyone have any ideas on which one to use?

[Delorean Industries]

No. No. No. Do not use this.

[Ryan King]

No. No. No. Do not use this.

Why......?

[Delorean Industries]

First you have a stage II that was recently done.
Second its a great way to destroy an engine and unless you are putting it through a GM cookie cutter 3.8 you are probably going to do more damage then good.

[Ryan King]

First you have a stage II that was recently done.
Second its a great way to destroy an engine and unless you are putting it through a GM cookie cutter 3.8 you are probably going to do more damage then good.

Its at almost 35,000 miles already. Then if not seafoam, what would Josh recommend for cleaning out a fuel system?

[TTait]

I'm not Josh but, I think I know the answer here.

On a car that's been running, I'd change the fuel filter, drain and wipe down the tank if needed, and do an ultrasonic cleaning of the injectors, then check them for spray pattern.

Modern gas keeps things pretty clean in a running car.

I've previously published (and could again) a procedure to flush the lines with B12, but with that you quickly flush then start running gasoline through it - even then it could trash an accumulator and it never touches the FD, FV, WUR or CSV (FD etc are totally bypassed during the flush). That is for cleaning out a system with 10 years of tar in it, not for a running car. You do it before you replace the accumulator or filter.

[Kenny_Z]

At 35k there hasn't been enough of a build up of carbon for Seafoam to do anything. I didn't Seafoam my D because she only had 26k on the clock when I bought her and she was running well. That van was running rough and Farrar's description of the trouble reminded me of how it was acting.

I don't think Seafoam is good for catalytic converters either. I didn't care about the van's since it had 3 rust holes already ;)

[Ryan King]

At 35k there hasn't been enough of a build up of carbon for Seafoam to do anything. I didn't Seafoam my D because she only had 26k on the clock when I bought her and she was running well. That van was running rough and Farrar's description of the trouble reminded me of how it was acting.

I don't think Seafoam is good for catalytic converters either. I didn't care about the van's since it had 3 rust holes already ;)

The website states that it actually helps Catalytic converters

[tiger38117]

I can't speak about using in in a D, but I did run it through a neglected '89 Corvette I owned last year, and it definately made a positive difference in how it ran.

[Michael]

Seafoam is great stuff for cleaning out neglected engines, and although they say you can run it through a fuel system(and we have with different cars) I don't know if I would do it in a Delorean.

First, engine crankcases. This stuff really works magic in a sludged up crankcase. We put it in and run it 500 miles then do an oil change. You would not believe how sludged up negelected engines get, but there is a catch. If it's really bad the oil pickup screen will clog up, so upon watching the oil drain out, if it looks "chunky" then pulling the oil pan and cleaning it, along with the pickup is necessary. I believe the Delorean does not have a screen on the pickup, but you would want to pull the pan anyway(not a small job) to keep it from getting back into the passages.

Fuel system: I don't know if I would want anything going thorugh the fuel distributer from the tank. If this stuff does what it says it does, and knowing how gunk likes to accumulate in the tank, I think you are asking for trouble.

[DMCMW Dave]

.

First, engine crankcases. This stuff really works magic in a sludged up crankcase. We put it in and run it 500 miles then do an oil change. You would not believe how sludged up negelected engines get, but there is a catch. If it's really bad the oil pickup screen will clog up, so upon watching the oil drain out, if it looks "chunky" then pulling the oil pan and cleaning it, along with the pickup is necessary. I believe the Delorean does not have a screen on the pickup, but you would want to pull the pan anyway(not a small job) to keep it from getting back into the passages.
.

The PRV has two tiny filter screens behind the chain tensioners that can clog up. The oiler holes in the rocker arms are also ridiculously tiny. I would avoid trying to de-gunk an engine like that. I've heard of the oil pickup clogging even without a screen on exceptionally sludged engines.

[Kenny_Z]

I've never put it in a crank case or fuel tank. I was afraid that it'd cause some issues with the engine bearings on an unknown engine. I generally use it to remove carbon deposits on valves. You can tell when an engine needs it, the power just isn't there and you sometimes will get pops from fuel igniting in the exhaust.

The van had 168k miles on it when I bought it. It was sluggish to the point of laughable and I could hear the engine choking on its own exhaust. After the seafoaming I could get her to chirp the tires going into second gear. I thought about keeping that van but about a week later the brake lines blew before I could change them and I nearly took out my neighbor's fence. Thankfully I was in the yard. I knew I wasn't going to take her on the highway until I fixed those but I figured I had a little time to collect the parts.

[Chris4099]

I just did it to my D late last year (it has just over 40K miles at the time). I too would only use it for cleaning the intake of carbon buildup. Modern gas should do a good job keeping the fuel system clean (I try to use Top Tier fuel all the time) and I haven't let my engine's oil get to the point of having sludge buildup.

The way I did it was I got the aerosol version. I took off the air cleaner and revved the engine to about 2K RPM. I then sprayed the air meter flap (it does splash a little so I put rags around it to keep most of it off the surrounding area). If the engine starts to shudder, back off for a little bit and then resume spraying. Once I sprayed half a can, I killed the engine and let it sit for a few minutes per the directions. I then restarted the engine, revved it like crazy and then took it for a short drive. The whole time doing this, white smoke will be billowing out the exhaust. After it was all said and done, the engine did idle a little better and it felt like it was up on power a bit.

The only other thing I then did was change the oil a few days later. I've heard others recommending this because some of the Sea Foam could work it's way into the oil. So I simply did this before my scheduled oil change. No problems since and I'm glad I did it.

[DMCNY]

I'm not really a firm believer in the "mechanic-ina-can" products, but earlier this summer the DeLorean seemed to devolop a slight buck under acceleration.

I dumped some of this in the tank...

http://www.bg-international.net/?categoryId=1894&itemId=1200

It was like night and day. The car has much more power now and is very smooth under any type of acceleration.

I've used BG products for many years now and have always been impressed with thier products. I once was even able to free up a sticky valve with thier fogger system.

[Chris 16409]

I dumped some of this in the tank...

http://www.bg-international.net/?categoryId=1894&itemId=1200


Can you buy this in stores? I was under the impression that BG products were provided for shop service only.

[DMCNY]

Can you buy this in stores? I was under the impression that BG products were provided for shop service only.

Thats true. Many service centers feature BG Products though and most won't have a problem just selling you product straight off thier shelf. MI 3000 Plus is something you simply dump in your tank anyway, and you don't really need a service center to do that for you.

Just do a Google search for service centers in your area that offer BG products.

Here is a quick search/result I came up with for the Fresno area, and they feature BG products.

http://www.leesservice.com/

[mluder]

My car sat garaged and undriven for 10 years. Toby up at DMCNW did a fuel, coolant, and brake resotration for the previous owner just before I bought the car. He instructed the owner and subsequently me to use Seafoam in the tank to help clean out the injectors - the previous owner didn't want to spring for new ones.

At Toby's suggestion, I have run through probably 8-10 cans. I run the tank down to where I feel safe - i.e. as empty as possible without taking a chance on the fuel guage's poor low level reading leaving me stranded. Then pour Seafoam in just before re-filling with premium gas.

I can't say for certain - but I seem to have had no ill effects - and the one time I didn't put the Seafoam in the car ran really rough.

Just my experience.