| Author | Message | ||
     Ridenusa4l |
Hey guys just wanted to say that I ran some seafoam through my 1125r's throttle bodies and OMG that engine was FILTHY!!! i filled my neighborhood with white smoke from all the carbon build up untill it was clean, then poured the rest in the tank...and ITS A CRAZY DIFFERENCE!!! the thing is a different animal!! so i HIGHLY recommend running some seafoam through your bikes and see and feel the difference! just take off the airbox and and filter to expose the throttle bodies (or body if its an XB) and just a little bit at a time in the TB and give it a little throttle. It is a much more thorough way of deep cleaning the valves and pistons than putting it in the tank, but with what you have left in the bottle throw it in the tank afrerward. It was seriously staggering how much came out of an engine with about 15k on it. do NOT do this in a confined space! must be outdoors. Jake | ||
| 86129squids |
Ummm- didja do that following the instructions on the bottle/package?! Got pics? | ||
| Scottorious |
I couldnt say for sure but I think the white smoke was mostly the seafoam burning. | ||
| Brumbear |
The stuff is fantastic I regularly run it through the throttle body of my van I burnt a valve with bad fuel at 102,000 miles so I started using the foam once every 2 months that was 100,062 miles ago  | ||
| Ridenusa4l |
Squids- the bottle for a car usually says the best way to the intake is per the vaccum tube on the brake booster or pouring it into the intake...and since we have direct access to the valves and intake track with the down draft TB's i just poured LITTLE at a time like probably a milliliter or so at a time in each TB. And no i dont have pics...didnt think about it at the time lol. Basically take the airbox and filter off so that you see the TB and proceed to sparingly pour a little SF on the top of the TB and give it a little throttle to get the SF through it and so not to stall the engine lol. Scott- It is the carbon in the engine, becuase after a certain point after you pur enough in it and clean it all out, the smoke stops coming out. Essentially the more smoke = the mor carbon in the engine. I did my ranger same day and i had done it a few thousand miles ago and not a bit of white smoke came out lol. Bear- IT IS GREAT STUFF! | ||
| Jim2 |
Seafoam makes a spray bottle with a long flexible plastic hose that can be placed between the air cleaner back plate and the throttle body opening. Just start the engine, set idle up a tad and start spray the contents. It's metered so you get the right amount in over time. Yes, good stuff. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
Been doing the same thing with the same results with water for decades. | ||
| T9r |
Anyone have experience with BG44K fuel treatment or injector cleaner? | ||
| Kenm123t |
I have used Seafoam works great on the usual things I used a alcohol deposit cleaner in my S1W that cleaned all of the goo out of the tank and carb. Clogged the fuel filter in less than 2 gallons replaced it and refilled the tank with non alcohol Sunoco and its clean and the filter is clear no gunk sitting in the shell. | ||
| Jcjohnson33 |
Didn't they used to use tranny fluid back in the day to do the same thing? By using a vacuum line on a carburetor to suck in tranny fluid? | ||
| Mikef5000 |
Water works fine for steam cleaning the combustion chambers, but seafoam is nice because it can be used as a full 3 phase process: Put just shy of half bottle in gas tank (with full tank of gas). Put just shy of half bottle in oil (at the end of oil life). Ride through that tank of fuel. Then run the remaining seafoam through a vacuum line or directly into the throttle body. When it's done blowing white smoke, change the oil, and fill it up with fresh gas. In theory, it's all cleaned out inside. | ||
| Syonyk |
Wait, it stops blowing white smoke at some point? I assumed that was the seafoam burning off.  | ||
| U4euh |
T9r, had a friend who works at a dealership work on my Explorer. He ran that stuff through my truck, Two cans through the vacuum lines and a 3rd in the tank. The engine is a different monster!!!!! | ||
| Ridenusa4l |
U4 +100! that can is one of the best 10$ you can spend! Jake | ||
| Hughlysses |
Didn't they used to use tranny fluid back in the day to do the same thing? By using a vacuum line on a carburetor to suck in tranny fluid? Another good "old mechanic's trick" I read about and tried is to mix brake fluid and water 50/50 and shake like hell, then slowly pour that into the intake of a running engine. Then you shut it off before it has a chance to all burn off and let it soak for an hour or so to soften any remaining carbon. The mixture is pretty foamy, and you wind up with a combination of a pretty good solvent (brake fluid) and steam (water) that supposedly scours your combustion chambers. That said, I have also had very good results with Seafoam. | ||
| 86129squids |
Hmmm... Getting ready to pick up the GL, with a mechanic's bill of over $400. Money well spent. Carbs looked like they were underwater... he already mentioned using this stuff. My old '92 Nissan PU needs an oil change, a tuneup, and dang it, probably a timing chain... Will apply the Seafoam as needed and then budget for the serious work. | ||
| Blackm2 |
IMO, any additive is a marketing ploy. I have never added anything to any vehicle of mine other than routine maintenance. There is always going to be carbon buildup and you will never break it all down with a chemical additive. One of my vehicles is a Jeep ZJ with over 278,000 miles, with only the front Dana 30 recently getting new Timken bearings. Never had so much as an injector changed, and it's always had Walmarts Super tech 20/50 in it's veins. | ||
| Sifo |
I've heard of pouring rice down the carb before as a way to remove carbon build up. I can't say that I've ever actually seen it done, but supposedly it's hard enough to blast the carbon off, but soft enough not to hurt anything. I've never had a vehicle that had problems due to carbon build up though. | ||
| Hughlysses |
My favorite "additive" story is pouring Bon Ami kitchen cleanser down the intake of a running engine. At various times Caterpillar and Chevrolet (on early small-block V-8's) recommended this to help "seat" the rings to reduce oil consumption. Bon Ami contains a fine abrasive which will supposedly "lap" the rings to the cylinder walls quickly. I've never tried that one, but in retrospect, I think it might have been worth a try on a couple of vehicles I've owned! | ||
| Etennuly |
Hugh, I have done the Bon-Ami down the carb trick. I had an old chevy truck with an 85,000 mile 307 that sat for some time. It would just not stop smoking on acceleration. First let it sit over night with some trans fluid down the carb as you shut the engine off. It will loosen the rings. Next day fire it up, warm it up at least until the white smoke clears. Then pour little bits of the powder down the carb as you keep it revved up slightly. It will clean the cylinder walls and rings. When I did it I could actually hear the rings scraping.....then I poured a little motor oil down the carb to re-lube the top end. That powder will absorb any kind of moisture including oil and fuel. This is an old mechanic's trick to sell old clunkers. It's benefit lasted about a week. Worn out rings/pistons/cylinders only really get fixed one way.  GM used to make a "Top End Cleaner" that was water based. A half quart would go down the carb with a warmed up running engine. It would usually stall. pour in the rest down the carburetor and leave it set for a couple of hours. Then fire it up and immediately go run the snot out of it down the road. It worked great at removing carbon build up. It put out an awesome white cloud of smoke that I heard eventually got GM sued over the product. The cloud was very thick and could cover a quarter of a mile that would hang a long time if there was no wind. Driving up behind a car being "serviced" could be dangerous.  | ||
| Thumper74 |
Mopar still makes a combustion chamber cleaner... Similar effect. | ||
| 86129squids |
DAMN, Vern, you're a motorhead's motorhead... Given your past, THIS may explain the Ben-Gay and springwater effect!!!   | ||
| Etennuly |
Yes Brad, I have little fear of mixing a couple of chemicals to clean things out!  Back on topic.....Seafoam is the best product I have seen thus far that will actually clean injectors. I recently acquired a set that had gas left in them from their removal. Goey brown dried out gas. I soaked them in Seafoam for several days and it seems to have cleaned all of the gunk off. Injector cleaner did nothing for the three days they soaked in it. A buddy of mine had a true hotrod pickup back in the mid 70's. It had a 355 with 12-1 pistons, ported heads and cammed as far as a solid lifter cam could go. As his street vehicle it would kill spark plugs every other week. To get the carbon out of the cylinder heads he would fire it up, rev it to about 3000 rpm and squirt a water hose in the carburetor slowly until it quit. The he would fire it up and run the crap out of it, then put in the new plugs. This was a then new '75 short bed chevy pickup with a Muncie four speed with Mickey Thompson 14" wide rear tires that would wheelie through first gear. The guy had a '68 Nova that was even faster though. Aaaaahhhhhh.....good times!  I ran a '71 Camaro RS with a home-brewed 327 that was pushing 400 hp with a turbo 400 transmission, with a shift kit and a B&M shifter, with a Ford 9" race car floater rearend. My solution for cleaning it out was to run it wide open in high gear for a few miles. That cost me a 95 mph speeding ticket one night. Good thing he wasn't sitting on the previous straight stretch of highway! He got me rounding a corner as I was slowing down. |
