Well, recently I've come upon a product called Sea foam, and I'm yet to find a bad review about it. Before trying it out, because I'll have to ship it to my country, as it's not sold here some how, if anyone here has actually tried it and has seen any benefits?
It's a waste of your time and money.
[QUOTE=Concur;40009426]It's a waste of your time and money.[/QUOTE]
Do you have any reasons why? I've read over 30 reviews which state that their car's run smoother in idle, and accelerate smoother too.
I don't know if it made my car perform better but it definitely cleaned the top of my valves off very well.
[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/5698103/Cars/1996%20Cobra/2012-11-06%2014.17.41.jpg[/img]
i have 2 intake valves per cylinder, and 1 of them is closed until 3400rpm. when i seafoamed it I held it at 2000rpm so the second valve was closed and not getting the seafoam. pretty sure the difference is obvious.
I've used it and it's worth it.
It is generally a waste of time and money to put any more additives to oil. Modern oil has enough additives in it, and to dilute it with aftermarket "cleaners" will only makes things worse.
However, it does have benefits to be placed into the fuel tank and into vacuum systems, etc. I prefer Marvel Mystery Oil in the gas tank though because it does the same thing as Seafoam does, just less harsh. It doesn't break apart sludge in a flash, but it dissolves it slowly. It also doesn't leave residue in the exhaust tract like the catalytic converter like Seafoam does. Gumout by Gunk is also pretty good, (the same thing) but they don't give you enough for the price, unlike Marvel Mystery Oil.
I prefer Marvel Mystery Oil.
Ive used both sea foam and mmo before, sea foam is a bit harsher from my understanding.
Mmo is more of a safer, slower, oil like cleaner. Its also quite a bit cheaper.
What i do is, about 400-500 miles before an oil change, add a full bottle of mmo to my gas tank and half a bottle to my oil. Then 50 or so miles before the oil change, add the rest of it to the oil. Ive done this a few times now and it has made a pretty noticeable difference.
I've used the bottle of Chevron Techron before, and it actually fixed my old car's fuel gauge problem. Before, it used to get stuck at 1/4 of a tank, after, it started to work like normal. I'm guessing it dissolved the sludge that formed around the sensor.
I used it once in my old 88 vic, didnt notice a different in anything.
that's cause its a vic
you could run it on recycled bluejeans
I wouldn't put mix it with engine oil. However, I seriously recommend you to use it via your vacuum lines and use it as a top engine cleaner. I did it thru my brake booster vacuum line, while I cannot say if it improved performance, it did however made my engine sound ALOT smoother and maybe even a bit more responsive. If you are going to use it in your gas tank.. I would change out the fuel filter with 500miles. So a better choice would be like Chevron Techron, which imho is a better choice.
Also remember if you are to use it as a top engine cleaner, via vacuum lines. I would swap out the spark plugs with old ones (if you have any)... or do not use Seaform after you installed new spark plugs. Or do it before spark plug change. Seaform does dirty up your spark plugs, which should be no surprise as if you did the procedure correctly.. your exhaust should be shooting out black and white smoke like a goddamn fog machine.
Forgot to mention, ive tried the seafoam in the vacuum lines.
First time i did it was at 190k miles, never used a cleaner before. Got a tiny bit of smoke out of the exhaust, totaly not worth the time and money.
What i prefer to do is take off my air cleaner box, get throttle body cleaner, rev the car to 1500, and spray it into/around the inside of my throttle body. This cleans my map sensor, iacv, and butterfly which the seafoam all misses. Seafoam now comes in a spray can, but its still expensive.
I just did that spray trick, it got rid of a whistle that my iacv was making.
Did you after you finished pouring 1/2 to 2/3 of a can of seafoam.. you shut off the car right away and waited at least 30mins (More is better, I usually wait 1 to 2 hours)... you have to shut off the car right after your done before all the seafoam gets "cycled" out the running motor. Also, you must wait and give it time for the seaform to illterally foam up and spread to all the hard to reach areas in your motor.
[QUOTE=Super Sheep;40017594]Did you after you finished pouring 1/2 to 2/3 of a can of seafoam.. you shut off the car right away and waited at least 30mins (More is better, I usually wait 1 to 2 hours)... you have to shut off the car right after your done before all the seafoam gets "cycled" out the running motor. Also, you must wait and give it time for the seaform to illterally foam up and spread to all the hard to reach areas in your motor.[/QUOTE]
I ended up pouring a full can in, shut it off, waited half an hour, started it, and there wasnt much smoke at all
I'm getting mixed signals between getting and trying it not. Sea foam is not an additive, its a petroleum product so its safe in oil and the engine
I run seafoam in my gas, and just put it in my oil. Huge difference. No more surging idle, smoother idle, etc.
And yes, I'm changing my oil soon.
I have a rough idle in my car, maybe this might fix it. I guess it's worth trying, it's like $10? Thanks for the suggestions guys.
Do it if you want to, it shouldn't hurt anything if you do it right.
[editline]26th March 2013[/editline]
Just don't expect miracles.
[QUOTE=Ruzza;40045742]I have a rough idle in my car, maybe this might fix it. I guess it's worth trying, it's like $10? Thanks for the suggestions guys.[/QUOTE]
See if you can find a guide on how to clean the iacv in your car. I had an issue with mine being dirty, whistling and not working right. A very dirty iacv can cause very poor idle.
In my case, the fsm said to just spray carb cleaner into the throttle body, towards the iacv, while the engine is running. Afterwards, my whistle is gone and its running smoother.
Do a proper tune up, don't rely on snake oil. That and it has the tendency to foul plugs when you shoot it in the intake/vacuum. (And if you're stupid enough you can even hydrolock the darned thing.)
Spark plugs are cheap, air filter is cheap, cleaning your MAF sensor with maf cleaner is cheap, changing vacuum lines is cheap, taking time to clean your throttle body like you should is cheap and worth it.
[QUOTE=WolvesSoulZ;40052497]Do a proper tune up, don't rely on snake oil. That and it has the tendency to foul plugs when you shoot it in the intake/vacuum. (And if you're stupid enough you can even hydrolock the darned thing.)
Spark plugs are cheap, air filter is cheap, cleaning your MAF sensor with maf cleaner is cheap, changing vacuum lines is cheap, taking time to clean your throttle body like you should is cheap and worth it.[/QUOTE]
Some of these products arent snake oil.
When used properly (in my case, mystery oil in the gas and oil and spraying carb cleaner in the throttle body) it can do wonders.
In my case, ive done a fairly big overhaul in the past 6 months, and after all of it, i still had some power/running issues.
New coil pack, plug wires, cleaned the plugs, new knock sensor, new tps sensor, air filter, fuel filter, cleaned and added grounds.
Ive had the mystery oil in for 250 miles and i can feel a pretty good improvement. The carb cleaner was an instant improvement.
Lucas mystery oil or seafoam should only be used in the maximum 500 miles before you change your oil, too. It mainly helps with gunked up lifters, the lucas I mean (If your lifters are on their way out, ticking, tapping, knocking, or whatever, and that lucas "fix" it, it means you should look into buying a new set of lifters and changing them all. )
Everytime I read people doing overhaul, nobody mention changing all of the little old vacuum lines, couplers and tees, which would probably be the main cause most of the time of the rough idle most have. I also never see anyone mentioning they cleaned their maf sensor, if they have one.
If you have a throttle body, it is also, as said, wise to clean up it entirely with a tooth brush.
In your case I can see the carb cleaner helping.
I believe seafoam now also offers it in a spray can too? That might be a good option for anyone not daring enough to pull a vacuum line and let it sip it through that way. Having hydrolocked my motor previously with pissy injectors and fuel flooding, I'm extremely wary about letting any liquids near my intake, but I would love to give this a try. The spray version you are supposedly meant to spray into your intake via the throttle body, which seems more sensible.
Only question is, how much should you spray, for how long etc etc. You could just dump a can in your gas tank but I'm not sure how overall effective that could be.
[QUOTE=WolvesSoulZ;40053976]Lucas mystery oil or seafoam should only be used in the maximum 500 miles before you change your oil, too. It mainly helps with gunked up lifters, the lucas I mean (If your lifters are on their way out, ticking, tapping, knocking, or whatever, and that lucas "fix" it, it means you should look into buying a new set of lifters and changing them all. )
Everytime I read people doing overhaul, nobody mention changing all of the little old vacuum lines, couplers and tees, which would probably be the main cause most of the time of the rough idle most have. I also never see anyone mentioning they cleaned their maf sensor, if they have one.
If you have a throttle body, it is also, as said, wise to clean up it entirely with a tooth brush.
In your case I can see the carb cleaner helping.[/QUOTE]
The mystery oil i use is made by Marvel. What im doing this time is adding 8oz 500 miles before the oil change, and the other 8oz maybe 100 before. My valves do tap a bit, but its common for subarus to have slightly noisy valves. Im not looking to cure the noise, just do a general cleaning. As i said, theres a noticeable difference already.
My car has a MAP sensor. The inlet is near my iacv. Doing the carb cleaner spraying most likely cleaned that as well
I did check and maintain my vacuum lines recently. This is also a good heads up for others, i forgot to even mention it.
For me, my oem vacuum lines checked out good except for one oem spring clamp that lost some of its spring and was letting air/oil out. I replaced it with a hose clamp and its now sealing properly.
Most cars have MAP sensors, hell my car even has two.
To everyone ; test your vacuum lines & intake gasket area with carb cleaner sprayed around ; if idle bounce/surge you've found a vacuum leak.
A can of MAF cleaner is cheap as hell and it takes like 5 seconds on most cars to clean it. Hell, my tacoma is two screws and then lift and spray. That with a new air filter usually helps quite a bit.
I'm one of those lucky few who dont have a mad sensor, cars carburetored. I understand that seafoam is not a miracle worker, I've replaced my timing belt, fuel filter, air filter and oil recently, so I'm considering not putting seafoam into the oil, I will next time I'm changing my oil.
Also what is hydro lock, I've heard you can't on many forums but some people say they've managed to hydro lock their car?
[quote=wikipedia]Hydrolock occurs when a volume of liquid greater than the volume of the cylinder at its minimum (end of the piston's stroke) enters the cylinder. Since most common liquids are incompressible the piston cannot complete its travel; either the engine must stop rotating or a mechanical failure must occur.[/quote]
[QUOTE=Ruzza;40057302]
Also what is hydro lock, I've heard you can't on many forums but some people say they've managed to hydro lock their car?[/QUOTE]
It's so much pain.
Wouldn't you just need to remove the spark plugs and crank the engine?
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