Seafoam FTW!

[Fanzotti]

I dunno, maybe it's just a placebo effect... I didn't notice any difference when I tried it last year, although it was cool to see a huge cloud of smoke going through my neighborhood :D. I think I scared some old Viet ladies walking by.

Still had lopey idle and whatnot. If you're looking for a cure in driveability issues, ur better off saving money for a tuneup. Buying a new distributor rotor helped a lot more than teh foam ever did. If you already have new parts then I guess you should try this.

I'd have to guess the lopey idle is caused by a vacuum leak/bad ignition components. You can't expect this stuff to cure that.

[CorvallisBMW]

I used it on the 325iS, it didn't really make a difference at all. But I had run a virtual cornecopia of additives through that engine when I bought it a few years back...so maybe it was already pretty clean inside.

I will try it on the 'vert this week and see what happens. I think it's best to suck it through the vacuum hose that leads from the FPR to the manifold. You could also poor some strait into the sparg plug holes. Oh and maybe put a full bottle in your gas too.

Q: Do you need to change your oil after Seafoam treatment?

[DuMa]

I used it on the 325iS, it didn't really make a difference at all. But I had run a virtual cornecopia of additives through that engine when I bought it a few years back...so maybe it was already pretty clean inside.

I will try it on the 'vert this week and see what happens. I think it's best to suck it through the vacuum hose that leads from the FPR to the manifold. You could also poor some strait into the sparg plug holes. Oh and maybe put a full bottle in your gas too.

Q: Do you need to change your oil after Seafoam treatment?

only if you put it in the oil crankcase. but i would just change the oil anyway

[brandondan1]

I'd have to guess the lopey idle is caused by a vacuum leak/bad ignition components. You can't expect this stuff to cure that.

True, but I think some people go buy this stuff thinking it's some kind of magic potion and it'll cure their problems. Even the description on the product says it'll smooth out idle and whatnot irrc.

If you don't have service records for your car then I wouldn't buy teh foam is all I'm saying. You'd be better off spending money on new components first.

[Fanzotti]

True, but I think some people go buy this stuff thinking it's some kind of magic potion and it'll cure their problems. Even the description on the product says it'll smooth out idle and whatnot irrc.

If you don't have service records for your car then I wouldn't buy teh foam is all I'm saying. You'd be better off spending money on new components first.

I hear ya. All my maintenance stuff is done. i'm just hoping it'll smooth it out even more. Like I said my M20 runs pretty smooth, I'm just hoping this will smooth it out even more.

Kinda sucks though, I was hoping this would fix my bad control arm bushings.

[Tavern Gnome]

I just sea foamed my car and I'm very impressed! I put one whole can through the long vac line off the intake and I just put another can in the gas tank. So far its great! My car actually broke traction at the top of 1st gear and its an auto!

[Jscotty]

I have been researching this a little bit and I learned that if you suck up an entire can in one shot you are just wasting it. They reccomend using 1/3 of the can because you want to get just enough in there to soak down the intake and the valves and every thing else that it comes in contact with. If you use any more than that, it will just go right out the tailpipe. However, you can repeat the application 2 more times (with the other 2/3 of the can) and get more effective results.

And from what I read, it's pretty much the same way with adding it to the gasoline. Once you put Seafoam in the gas tank, you ought to do short trip driving so that the chemicals can have a chance to soak into the dirty parts of the fuel system (when you are not driving) and then get flushed out on the next trip. Then its gets another dose of the chemical the next time you shut the car off. They said that typically people will put a can in the tank and then drive on a long trip thinking that running it through the system continuously in one tank of gas is the best way to do it but they see no difference because it never had a chance to sit and dissolve all of the dirt in the fuel system.

[uofom3]

that shit works. You'll notice it.

[CorvallisBMW]

I have been researching this a little bit and I learned that if you suck up an entire can in one shot you are just wasting it. They reccomend using 1/3 of the can because you want to get just enough in there to soak down the intake and the valves and every thing else that it comes in contact with. If you use any more than that, it will just go right out the tailpipe. However, you can repeat the application 2 more times (with the other 2/3 of the can) and get more effective results.

And from what I read, it's pretty much the same way with adding it to the gasoline. Once you put Seafoam in the gas tank, you ought to do short trip driving so that the chemicals can have a chance to soak into the dirty parts of the fuel system (when you are not driving) and then get flushed out on the next trip. Then its gets another dose of the chemical the next time you shut the car off. They said that typically people will put a can in the tank and then drive on a long trip thinking that running it through the system continuously in one tank of gas is the best way to do it but they see no difference because it never had a chance to sit and dissolve all of the dirt in the fuel system.

That's exactly what I did last night...Got the engine totally warmed up, put in 1/2 bottle, let it sit for ~30 mins, put in the other half, let it sit for ~30 min, put a whole bottle in the gas tank and then drove around, smokin out the neighborhood for like 20 minutes. Then parked her and let her sit overnight. This morning, she ran like a dream!

Also, use Chevron gas.

[markseven]

Should I Use It?

My engine was rebuilt about 35K ago and has run on Chevron/76/Shell premium exclusively. I change the oil and filter / air filter regularly.

Will SeaFoam help my engine?

[Jscotty]

I am going into day 3 of being seafomed on the beater and it seems to be running better gradually as I drive it. Today I was merging into traffic on the interstate so I had to floor it going up the onramp and the car just took off! I was very impressed! But the other thing that concerned me was that I heard a rattling noise as the tach got into the range of the 4's. So again, I wonder if that first treatment dislodged a solid piece of sludge into an oil duct or if I have a worn camshaft bearing that was using the sludge to keep everything in place.

So now I am contemplating whether I ought to leave well enough alone and be happy or if I should administer another treatment. I have not added any to the crankcase yet being that I have not changed the oil in a while (I am probably 6000 miles overdue) and the valve cover is leaking so once I fix that and change the oil I am probably going to run a whole bottle of seafoam in the crankcase with new oil to loosen everything up and then I will go back and change the oil again and run the reccommended amount.

[86espowa]

Damn, i need to pick this shit up. and use it.

so the line that comes off the back of the head and goes to the fuel pressure regulator is a good place to suck it up at?

[CorvallisBMW]

Damn, i need to pick this shit up. and use it.

so the line that comes off the back of the head and goes to the fuel pressure regulator is a good place to suck it up at?

yes. Pull the line off the FPR and put in in the bottle.

[vivalegreg]

not to sound like a negative nancy or whatnot but i heard from a teacher of mine that all seafoam is is pretty much alcohol and that all it does is give you a quick fix and then fucks more stuff up in the long run ie fuel injector windings and also if you put it in your gas all that crap shit at the bottom of your tank just gets loose and put through your system...

i used a whole can once when i had my ix in texas and it ran a lot better at first...but then the same shit kept happening.. the next few days..it seemed like i put it in, it ran well once, and then that was it. maybe i need to put 1/3 can in at a time and run it...let me know what happens to all your cars after these treatments and maybe my mind will change..

this also comes from the same teacher that says you should never use any kind of fuel injector cleaner/ crap at all, because gasoline since 1995 has had additives and detergents in it to continuously clean your engine and just adding more then neccessary can hurt it

[CorvallisBMW]

this also comes from the same teacher that says you should never use any kind of fuel injector cleaner/ crap at all, because gasoline since 1995 has had additives and detergents in it to continuously clean your engine and just adding more then neccessary can hurt it

I have heard people say that, but I don't necessarily believe it. I think there are some very good products out there such as the Chevron Techron additives, and the Lucas additives. They both have a very long history and are active in motorports, so I don't think they could be a total croc.