Seafoam, uh oh's.

[Raudermaster]

Nothing major, worked great, used about a half bottle through the PCV. I notice that the engine feels tighter and much peppier, revs climb faster, however, on startup, warm or cold, it puffs out a bit of white smoke :confused:. I'm sure I got everything out of the system, blasted it on the highway all the way home last night, and yesterday afternoon when I did it I took it out and made sure to go WOT. What could this be?

[Richy04]

It will go away,

I did an intake cleaning with it and it did that for a day or two as the stuff was laying around everywhere and often it wont move especially if you get it in the air cleaner housing or pcv hose. I did it on my Saturn and that happened. Keep driving it and it will go away.. Richy

[Paul]

I have not noticed that in mine (I seafoamed Fri night, and again Sunday night). But I drove mine up to 105-110 after - maybe that got it pulled through? :D

[Raudermaster]

Alright, well it looks like I'll have to stretch her legs tonight on 495 and make sure it's all gone...

[vkirkend]

And what is the Seafoam good for???

[hot-rauder]

It cleans out the carbon build up in your motor adn what not.... it is some really nice stuff i hear... we'll see this weekend.

[sd8683]

Where are you gonna do it Adam, I wanna try it out I've heard good things about seafoam, maybe i'll tag along if you don't mind, let me know

[wchain]

Seafoam through the vacuum/pcv really simply removes some of the oil residues and gunk in your intake manifold. Most of the product has evaporated by the time it reaches anywhere near the heads.

It works, but only as far as the seafoam will travel via the PCV hose, throughout the intake, just like some people do it through a brake booster hose, but if you want to remove the gunk and buildup in your entire intake, you need to dismantle it and clean it with a solvent and a wire brush.

Imagine the velocity of the seafoam that goes through the intake and how quickly it evaporates.

Does it make a difference? Yes, you usually can feel it. Does it 'clean' the intake, not really. I use it myself as well, and I think its a good product and it works but it doesn't completely clean things.

[Joe Walsh]

Seafoam works great!

I get the engine good and toasty with some spirited driving;

Empty the Seafoam into a large cup/coffee can;

With the engine idling, I pull the PCV hose and stick it into the Seafoam and let the engine suck up all the Seafoam.

Then I quickly turn off the engine and let it 'soak' for 30 minutes. (Sometimes the engine will stall from injesting all the Seafoam.)

Start the engine back up, rev her up in 'Park' and watch the FRIGGIN' ENORMOUS CLOUDS of billowing white/grey smoke roll through the neighborhood!*....:eek:

Then I take it out on the highway and run it hard for 15 minutes to clear out all the residual Seafoam.

Usually I get a noticeably smoother idle after a Seafoam treatment.

*If you like your neighbors, do this in an open public parking lot AWAY from everybody.

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

According to the guys on this board, it gives you like 20 hp. I frankly don't buy it. A lot of people perceive changes because they want to, not because they are actually happening. If someone has heard that "everyone else" is getting great results, they are going to want to feel the same.

Thank you Wchain for a scientific explanation, instead of magical voodoo.....

I wonder how much of the horrible smoking is just the effect of you burning seafoam....and nothing more.

I'll try it on a throw away car, not the MM, and see what happens.

[sd8683]

Who said it ads 20HP?? That's just wishful thinkin!

[ts-pa]

[quote=VicsEvilBrother;614727]...Thank you Wchain for a scientific explanation, instead of magical voodoo.....

I wonder how much of the horrible smoking is just the effect of you burning seafoam....and nothing more...[quote]

I kind of disagree with Wes on how fast it may evaporate. The clouds of smoke might be an indicator. As a "head cleaner" nothing beats disassembly as Wes described.

I also put about 1/4 to 1/2 in the oil before an oil change to thin out any oil gunk.

[wchain]

I wonder how much of the horrible smoking is just the effect of you burning seafoam....and nothing more.



Most of the smoke is seafoam/oil residue.

[dreydin]

According to the guys on this board, it gives you like 20 hp.
yea okkaaayyy

[wchain]

I kind of disagree with Wes on how fast it may evaporate.

If you can imagine how fast the air is moving through the intake, combined with intake air temperatures, I dont think much of that ever makes it that far.

Seafoam ingredients:

Isopropyl Alcohol (rubbing alcohol), pale oil, and naptha.

How fast do you think that stuff evaporates, pour a little out onto a paper towel, now imagine the velocity of air going through your intake and then at 100 degrees F.

[ts-pa]

Wes, I agree, it does evaporate quickly.
I didn't word my sentence well. Here is what I was thinking...

If it just evaporates too fast to be effective, what is all of the smoke from?

[Raudermaster]

I brought her up to about 115-125 last night, and I think I got the rest of the stuff out of the system. I started it up this morning and no more white smoke. Like I said, definately revs quicker, seems more eager to wanna spin/chirp the tires now. An older woman did have my car before I bought it (original owner.) God only knows how many times it saw above 70mph.

[wchain]

Wes, I agree, it does evaporate quickly.
I didn't word my sentence well. Here is what I was thinking...

If it just evaporates too fast to be effective, what is all of the smoke from?

Has to be from what residue from the intake that it does get, plus the seafoam vaporizing and leaning out the mixture.

[Marauderjack]

I did mine today and left it in the intake for 30 minutes or more.......started real hard and idled like it was running on 4 cylinders but smoothed out after about 30 seconds??:eek:

I backed out and idled down the dirt portion of out road (300 feet) and accelerated when I reached the pavement with it shaking and spewing white fog like a giant DDT sprayer.....I couldn't even see the end of the road behind me!!:confused::shake:

After it cleared up a little I ran it a bit harder and after about 5 miles I got into boost......MORE SMOKE......white mixed with some ugly black soot!!:cool:

After returning home and running it up to about 5600 RPM's (7.5 PSI) in first gear it seems to idle better and while coasting down the RPM's hang at 1500 or so instead of falling back to 1000??:confused:

I'll see how it runs tomorrow and probably treat my 408W stroker in the Cobra to see how it does??:bandit:

Marauderjack:burnout:

[Blackened300a]

I put some seafoam in to the gas tank of my crown vic and it seems to run a bit better, over the weekend Ill throw some in the PVC and really clean it out. I think it needs it with 85K on it.

[O's Fan Rich]

If you can imagine how fast the air is moving through the intake, combined with intake air temperatures, I dont think much of that ever makes it that far.

Seafoam ingredients:

Isopropyl Alcohol (rubbing alcohol), pale oil, and naptha.

How fast do you think that stuff evaporates, pour a little out onto a paper towel, now imagine the velocity of air going through your intake and then at 100 degrees F.

With that info, I'd bet my Methanol Injection keeps things nice and tidy inside there!

[Marauderjack]

I put together a small hose with an adjustable clamp so I could meter it in at a slow enough rate not to stall the engine.....ran a half a can in and then gave it enough to stall......and let it sit.

I expect enough gets in there in liquid form to sit on the pistons and soften up the crud but who knows??

It does make a BIG smoke screen and the engine runs like crap for 5 minutes or so.....I may pull a plug or two and see how they look (clean or still dirty) in the AM.

Stay tuned.........:D

Maruderjack:cool:

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

LOL I ran a small can of sea foam through the PCV on a piece of crap 1993 Saturn w/ the DOHC 1.9L, that I bought the other day. Car has 77k miles on it. After 30 minutes of run time it is still blowing white and it smells horrible. I smoked up my entire apt. complex for the first 10 minutes. The car is just starting to run normal again but I hope the smoking eventually ends.

[Raudermaster]

Just take her out on the highway and put it to the floor. All my white smoke went away as soon as I kept it pegged for a good minute or so.

[Joe Walsh]

With that info, I'd bet my Methanol Injection keeps things nice and tidy inside there!

OH YEAH!!!

Alcohol/water mix injection will keep the engine's insides very clean.

I ran water/rubbing alcohol injection on my old 1979 Turbo 2.3 Mustang* to keep it from detonating because it only had a primitive two step ignition retard under boost.
I also bolted in a 'Test Tube' to replace the old plate style catalytic converter. Remember when those 'Test Tubes' were 'legal'? heh heh heh...:D

Anyway, when I took it apart, the intake manifold, valves and piston tops looked almost brand new.

*(remember the carburated Turbo Mustangs???...I almost wish I had kept that one!)