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YACT: Lets talk about Seafoam

J

jmolayal

Senior member
So my Tiburon just turned 100k miles and I keep hearing great things about using Seafoam. I bought a can, and I'm looking for some advice on using it. Should I put half into the vacuum line (Where is this line?), a quarter into the oil fill and a quarter into the gas tank?

Besides a lot of smoke, anything else I should expect? For reference, I've got the 4 cylinder version of the Tiburon, and it seems to be running strong after a recent change of water pump and timing belt.

Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks gang!

- Jaison
 
if it's running strong, why do you want to risk something happening to it? I tried Seafoam on a truck I bought used that had sludge problems and it didn't do anything to fix it. I didn't do the vacuum line thing (I think some people try their brake vacuum hose) but instead poured it into the crankcase directly.
 
Seafoam works pretty damn good but on a car only 4 years old i don't really see why you would need to. On my 37yr old car/engine it worked really well but your car is not even old yet.
 
Originally posted by: zerocool84
Seafoam works pretty damn good but on a car only 4 years old i don't really see why you would need to. On my 37yr old car/engine it worked really well but your car is not even old yet.
Click to expand...
Because today's cars carbon up faster.

I've taken the head off a mid-90's Ford and the intake valves had nearly 1/2" of carbon on them already....at 16k miles.

OP's car has 100k.

Personally, I'd recommend BG products.
 
Not a bad product at all. As mentioned, BG's products are good too, but if you already have the can in hand, use the Seafoam.

Follow the directions to the LETTTER, you can use the brake vacuum line (Goes from top of engine to brake booster), just make sure to reconnect the hose correctly after you are done.

I don't see (unless you don't follow the directions of do something very stupid) that you will hurt anything..
 
Originally posted by: zerocool84
Seafoam works pretty damn good but on a car only 4 years old i don't really see why you would need to. On my 37yr old car/engine it worked really well but your car is not even old yet.
Click to expand...

What car/engine is that out of curiosity zerocool84?
 
Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Originally posted by: zerocool84
Seafoam works pretty damn good but on a car only 4 years old i don't really see why you would need to. On my 37yr old car/engine it worked really well but your car is not even old yet.
Click to expand...
Because today's cars carbon up faster.

I've taken the head off a mid-90's Ford and the intake valves had nearly 1/2" of carbon on them already....at 16k miles.

OP's car has 100k.

Personally, I'd recommend BG products.
Click to expand...

Why would todays cars carbon up "faster"? Computer controlled fuel injection is a very
accurate means to deliver the exact amount of fuel for any situation. Possible that ford
you took apart had a lot of short trips and rarely got up to full operational temp. That
would also jibe with a mid-90's car with only 16K on it.
 
Originally posted by: BUTCH1
Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Originally posted by: zerocool84
Seafoam works pretty damn good but on a car only 4 years old i don't really see why you would need to. On my 37yr old car/engine it worked really well but your car is not even old yet.
Click to expand...
Because today's cars carbon up faster.

I've taken the head off a mid-90's Ford and the intake valves had nearly 1/2" of carbon on them already....at 16k miles.

OP's car has 100k.

Personally, I'd recommend BG products.
Click to expand...

Why would todays cars carbon up "faster"? Computer controlled fuel injection is a very
accurate means to deliver the exact amount of fuel for any situation. Possible that ford
you took apart had a lot of short trips and rarely got up to full operational temp. That
would also jibe with a mid-90's car with only 16K on it.
Click to expand...

They carbon up due to the higher temps, mostly. The different overlaps of the camshafts contribute, too.

The Ford I worked on was a mid-90's T-Bird, and that WAS during the mid-90's. The car was less than a year old at the time. We were cleaning valves like that all the time.
Same reason that EGR valves and ports get clogged up today.
 
Originally posted by: SuperSix
Not a bad product at all. As mentioned, BG's products are good too, but if you already have the can in hand, use the Seafoam.

Follow the directions to the LETTTER, you can use the brake vacuum line (Goes from top of engine to brake booster), just make sure to reconnect the hose correctly after you are done.

I don't see (unless you don't follow the directions of do something very stupid) that you will hurt anything..
Click to expand...
I don't recommend under any circumstances sticking the brake booster vacuum line into a can of liquid. It's too big a line. Could hydraulic a cylinder. Seen it done.
You need to find a smaller vacuum line to suck the fluid up.
 
Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Originally posted by: BUTCH1
Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Originally posted by: zerocool84
Seafoam works pretty damn good but on a car only 4 years old i don't really see why you would need to. On my 37yr old car/engine it worked really well but your car is not even old yet.
Click to expand...
Because today's cars carbon up faster.

I've taken the head off a mid-90's Ford and the intake valves had nearly 1/2" of carbon on them already....at 16k miles.

OP's car has 100k.

Personally, I'd recommend BG products.
Click to expand...

Why would todays cars carbon up "faster"? Computer controlled fuel injection is a very
accurate means to deliver the exact amount of fuel for any situation. Possible that ford
you took apart had a lot of short trips and rarely got up to full operational temp. That
would also jibe with a mid-90's car with only 16K on it.
Click to expand...

They carbon up due to the higher temps, mostly. The different overlaps of the camshafts contribute, too.

The Ford I worked on was a mid-90's T-Bird, and that WAS during the mid-90's. The car was less than a year old at the time. We were cleaning valves like that all the time.
Same reason that EGR valves and ports get clogged up today.
Click to expand...

Yes EGR ports and valves do get gunked up but not@16K, that motor on the T-bird must have been modded
out or something. I worked on 60's and 70's cars, that used breaker points and were carbureted and those
crankcases got dirty much faster than todays cars.
 
Originally posted by: Zim Hosein
Originally posted by: zerocool84
Seafoam works pretty damn good but on a car only 4 years old i don't really see why you would need to. On my 37yr old car/engine it worked really well but your car is not even old yet.
Click to expand...

What car/engine is that out of curiosity zerocool84?
Click to expand...

Still stock engine from my 1970 VW Bug. I used Seafoam when I first got it and it cleaned a lot of stuff out of it. It is a great product if you know how to use it.
 
Damn, I saw this thread yesterday and was hoping it wouldn't get any replies until I could chime in. 😛

Do not put any of it in your oil, unless you are going to change the oil immediately after.
 
Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Originally posted by: BUTCH1
Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Originally posted by: zerocool84
Seafoam works pretty damn good but on a car only 4 years old i don't really see why you would need to. On my 37yr old car/engine it worked really well but your car is not even old yet.
Click to expand...
Because today's cars carbon up faster.

I've taken the head off a mid-90's Ford and the intake valves had nearly 1/2" of carbon on them already....at 16k miles.

OP's car has 100k.

Personally, I'd recommend BG products.
Click to expand...

Why would todays cars carbon up "faster"? Computer controlled fuel injection is a very
accurate means to deliver the exact amount of fuel for any situation. Possible that ford
you took apart had a lot of short trips and rarely got up to full operational temp. That
would also jibe with a mid-90's car with only 16K on it.
Click to expand...

They carbon up due to the higher temps, mostly. The different overlaps of the camshafts contribute, too.

The Ford I worked on was a mid-90's T-Bird, and that WAS during the mid-90's. The car was less than a year old at the time. We were cleaning valves like that all the time.
Same reason that EGR valves and ports get clogged up today.
Click to expand...
I'm sorry, but do you even know what you are talking about? I know you are a mechanic, but you are way off here.

Carbon does not form due to higher temps. It forms due to lower temps. Butch is exactly right, a modern automobile will have much, much less problems with carbon buildup than an engine from eras past.

The only reason for carbon buildup to happen in a modern, computer controlled engine is because of improper driving habits and short trips.

Folks, you need to open your throttles up once in a while.
 
Can I use this on a BMW?

The manual says to never use this stuff, but it also says to never change the transmission fluid.
 
Originally posted by: Aimster
Can I use this on a BMW?

The manual says to never use this stuff, but it also says to never change the transmission fluid.
Click to expand...

If the manual says to never use this then I would go with what the manual says. Otherwise you might be replacing an engine in a few months.
 
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: Aimster
Can I use this on a BMW?

The manual says to never use this stuff, but it also says to never change the transmission fluid.
Click to expand...

If the manual says to never use this then I would go with what the manual says. Otherwise you might be replacing an engine in a few months.
Click to expand...
lol, his manual doesn't say not to use "Seafoam", it probably just says not to use additives and such.

 
Originally posted by: Eli
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: Aimster
Can I use this on a BMW?

The manual says to never use this stuff, but it also says to never change the transmission fluid.
Click to expand...

If the manual says to never use this then I would go with what the manual says. Otherwise you might be replacing an engine in a few months.
Click to expand...
lol, his manual doesn't say not to use "Seafoam", it probably just says not to use additives and such.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm sure it doesn't mention it specifically but I still wouldn't use it if the manufacturer recommends against it. You definitely want to go by what the manufacturer tells you to put in your engine...or not to put in your engine.
 
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: Eli
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: Aimster
Can I use this on a BMW?

The manual says to never use this stuff, but it also says to never change the transmission fluid.
Click to expand...

If the manual says to never use this then I would go with what the manual says. Otherwise you might be replacing an engine in a few months.
Click to expand...
lol, his manual doesn't say not to use "Seafoam", it probably just says not to use additives and such.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm sure it doesn't mention it specifically but I still wouldn't use it if the manufacturer recommends against it. You definitely want to go by what the manufacturer tells you to put in your engine...or not to put in your engine.
Click to expand...
For the average layperson, I would agree.

For someone like me, I just laugh. 😉 As long as you understand what you are doing and such, you won't hurt anything.

I'm generally against additives, but Seafoam is one of the only ones that I will use. It's not so much an additive, as just a cleaner.
 
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