Sea foam smoke questions

[pasadena_commut]

How long does a car smoke when it is treated with Sea foam through the intake manifold? If the gas is treated first will it reduce the amount of smoke when the intake is done later, or will it just smoke less for a longer time as the gas goes through the motor?

What causes the smoke exactly anyway?

Is it that the treatment knocks chunks of carbon off the injectors, valves and so forth and these don't burn very well when they pass through the motor and the catalytic converter (because if they did you couldn't see the resulting CO2 or CO) so the little burning carbon particles form the smoke?

Or is it the Sea foam itself that causes the smoke?

[blynzoo]

It eats carbon deposits of your cylinder walls and pistons, like brake cleaner would.
The black smoke is a mix of the burning sea foam and the carbon coming out.

If you suck up the foam, let it sit for 15, and then start it up, it will foam HEAVLIY (like call the cops heavily) for about 2-3 minutes, then lightly for the next 15 or so.

[SkinnyJoint]

suck up the foam?

[Nomad]

He meant sck up the "seafoam" brand liquid and then it'll smoke for a good 3-5 minutes.
Rev up and down and it'll smoke really good. Try to pick a windy day. You could try to do it at the top of the local mall parking deck but someone might call the fire department.

[SkinnyJoint]

i understand what the seafoam is and does but im confused with the work suck up.... like what is this in reference to suck it up..... ive alwasy put it in my gas so like suck it up from the gas tank.... see u can see how im confused

[Jack Daniels]

I would never put that shit into my engine.

[pasadena_commut]

suck up the foam?

Through a vacuum line such as the one for the pcv. See this thread:


http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86552

[SkinnyJoint]

thanks man

[Revs]

On vehicles this old there should be no need to de-carbon the engine. As long as your engine is running fine there should be no carbon build up inside. I have seen the inside of much older higher mileage engines that were well tuned and seen no carbon buildup.
To be sure take the spark plugs out and peer inside the cylinder with a flashlight, you should be able to see the piston tops and they will look clean, no chunky carbon at all.

I hope for the sake of your engines that your changing the oil immediately after doing this as this cleaner will get past the rings and thin out your oil.

[SkinnyJoint]

on vehicles this old??? its only 3-4 years old... thats not that old

[Jack Daniels]

On vehicles this old there should be no need to de-carbon the engine. As long as your engine is running fine there should be no carbon build up inside. I have seen the inside of much older higher mileage engines that were well tuned and seen no carbon buildup.
To be sure take the spark plugs out and peer inside the cylinder with a flashlight, you should be able to see the piston tops and they will look clean, no chunky carbon at all.

I hope for the sake of your engines that your changing the oil immediately after doing this as this cleaner will get past the rings and thin out your oil.

How can you be against it if you've never tried it? ;) It might make your P5 run like a raped ape. :D

[apocman]

Well, MSP's run rich so we may need to do it more than others...

[Djaries]

I would never put that shit into my engine.
Well its only the #1 rated engine cleaner in the world! This stuff is awesome! and now in canada!

[MSPRO]

Well, MSP's run rich so we may need to do it more than others...

All I know is that for the past month or two my car has been acting funny, hesitating, bucking, doing all kinds of crazy carp. I did Sea-Foam to it this past weekend and now it runs totally different. It pulls hard again and hasnt been hesitating at all, in fact I had the boost controller on the other day b.c it was warm and it pulled like it used to. I did it sometime during the summer and it worked pretty good then too.

[i12drivemyMP5]

How can you be against it if you've never tried it? ;) It might make your P5 run like a raped ape. :D


OK, I'm confused. In your previous post you said you wouldn't put that shit in your motor but now this & the affinity for raped apes is becoming a little concerning. I guess I am just missing the entertainment value of that. Not sure I want the car to run that way either. I'm picturing some violated animal racing away holding it's bleeding ass while it wimpers. ??????????????????

[Beemer_Killer]

Seafoam for carbon deposits? whatever happened to running a lil race fuel?

[Jack Daniels]

All I know is that for the past month or two my car has been acting funny, hesitating, bucking, doing all kinds of crazy carp. I did Sea-Foam to it this past weekend and now it runs totally different. It pulls hard again and hasnt been hesitating at all, in fact I had the boost controller on the other day b.c it was warm and it pulled like it used to. I did it sometime during the summer and it worked pretty good then too.

I would probably go the route of changing my plugs and maually cleaning my fuel injectors if I were experiencing those problems. Oh, and fuel filter too.

[Jack Daniels]

OK, I'm confused. In your previous post you said you wouldn't put that shit in your motor but now this & the affinity for raped apes is becoming a little concerning.

I was basically re-quoting him from the acetone thread. ;)

I'm picturing some violated animal racing away holding it's bleeding ass while it wimpers. ??????????????????

Spot on. :D

[MSPRO]

I would probably go the route of changing my plugs and maually cleaning my fuel injectors if I were experiencing those problems. Oh, and fuel filter too.

well yeah its getting to the point to do a lot of stuff to the car, I have almost 93k on it after all , it also has a slight boost leak somewhere that I havent found yet

[Jack Daniels]

Let me add something constructive. There may be times when a 'top engine' cleaner may be warranted. In all my years of driving, owning, modifying and working on cars I've never had the need to do so. Using this stuff as regular maintenance is possibly doing more damage than good. Engines don't nessarily need to be 'clean' on the inside. I understand that carbon buildup can cause pre-ignition, but once again, I've never ever had a problem with that. My wife's Regal GS currently has 100000 miles and still runs like a raped ape. ;) My '74 Porsche's engine doesn't know what clean is. It's on the original motor and still going strong.

Maybe ya'll aren't driving your cars hard enough. Redline every day is the only way.

[i12drivemyMP5]

I'm going to go along with this. I've never have had a vehicle that shit built up in that bad. I have a 400k toyota truck that has had the shit driven out of it in every way & never had any carbon build up in the engine that bad or at all. I might do it once in a great while but not regularly.

[RaiderMP5]

Seafoam is not just for the carbon, but it cleans the fuel system, including injectors. It works pretty good, I have had good results in the past.

[pasadena_commut]

In all my years of driving, owning, modifying and working on cars I've never had the need to do so.

Hence the last part of the original post:

Or is it the Sea foam itself that causes the smoke?

If most of the smoke coming out of the engine as a result of the Sea foam treatment is burning crud then you can tell if it is actually doing something. If it is just the Sea foam itself burning then you can't tell squat. I recall seeing a post somewhere (can't find it now) where somebody treated their car and then did it again a few thousand miles later and saw no smoke. That would support the idea that the smoke is primarily burning crud and not burning Sea foam. That is not inconsistent with the observations that there isn't much carbon on the pistons - the crud could be coming from the valves for instance. There are also anecdotal reports of the intake manifold treatment cleaning off EGR and oxygen sensor surfaces, and EGRs definitely tend to get dirty on P5s:

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94788

I do worry a bit that the Sea foam might also remove the lubricant on parts that are supposed to be lubricated. For instance the rods on which the VICS and VTCS valves are mounted.

[apocman]

SeaFoam is petrolium based. have you ever felt seafoam or deepcreep (seafoam in a spray can) its oily feeling...

[apocman]

I wish we had pictures of what one members idle selniod looked like and my o2 sensor. They both looked like chunks of coal, due to how rich the MSP runs... Our AFR's go into the 9's for pete sakes!!! so I know your experience on other cars may lead to certain beliefs, but when it comes to owners of MSP's, SeaFoam is our best friend...

[Diehonda]

Instruction on use of Seafoam:

1.5 oz of seafoam per quart of oil. I hate search nazi's but it is on here somewhere.

You can pull the PCV line or the brake booster vac line and put the seafoam in a babyfood jar or similar and use the hose to SLOWLY suck up the seafoam with out the engine dying. You may need someone to press the gas a bit to keep the rpm's high enough. Go slow enough to not kill it but fast enough for it to not pass rtight thru the engine. You will know because the exhaust will be smoky white. Once all of it is sucked up immediately turn the engine off. Wait fifteen to twenty and start it up. Drive around somewhere for a bit to pass the carbon build up thru the exhaust. It will be cloudy as hell, 007 cloudy. You may want to get off of a major road so you don't get pulled over and bothered by the cops.
If the buildup is bad enough you may have to do it twice the first time. Then do it every other oil change or so. Seafoam recommends every 30K

In your crankcase 1.5 oz per quart of oil. DO NOT drive over 100 miles with it in the crankcase. it will thin the oil a bit but not much. If you have over 100K be careful because it will clean the valves, lifter, and seal very well. Any junk clogging a posible leak will be cleaned also, exposing leaks. You don't want that headache. Then just change your oil and filter and you are good to go.

Gas tank - full can treats up to 25 gallons.



Debate it all you want. It is the real deal. I have used it several times on several cars.

[Jack Daniels]

I wonder what it does to o2 sensors and catalytic converters.....

[pasadena_commut]

I wonder what it does to o2 sensors and catalytic converters.....

The vendor claims that it's O2 sensor safe and "cleans catalytic converter odors". It's some sort of hydrocarbon mix ("100% pure petroleum") and the worst that could do is temporarily foul the cat until it all burns off.

http://www.seafoamsales.com/motorTuneUpTechGas.htm

(EDIT: apparently it has used a lot of volatile hydrocarbons and that got the company into some trouble with the California Air Resources Board:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/enf/casesett/sea.htm
)

[Diehonda]

^ yep, and when (on my previous car) I installed a hi flo cat it had that new cat smell. After about on e hundred miles it still gave off this burnt something or other scent when I parked it after a long drive. Ran seafoam thru my gas and intake and presto, no smell. Cures that sulfur smell too.

[Jack Daniels]

The vendor claims that it's O2 sensor safe and "cleans catalytic converter odors". It's some sort of hydrocarbon mix ("100% pure petroleum") and the worst that could do is temporarily foul the cat until it all burns off.

http://www.seafoamsales.com/motorTuneUpTechGas.htm

'cleans catalytic converter odors'???? WTF does that mean?

Look, I'm sure if the vendor could get away with it, they'd claim it cures cancer too. :) I'll just continue to do things the way I've always done them. Good fuel, good oil (Mobil1 these days) and regular maintenance. My cars seem to last a very long time with few repairs using this method. I've never, ever used fuel or oil additives or any top engine cleaner. (shrug)

[Diehonda]

'cleans catalytic converter odors'???? WTF does that mean? (shrug)


Some cars, unlike any Mazdas that i have heard of have a sulfur scent issue. Some bad enough to warant a recall. Seafoam can be used to reduce if not cure the issue with cars that are not recalled yet still have the problem. Off hand I can't think of which model it was but Chevy and Toyota both have cars that have this issue.

[pasadena_commut]

Off hand I can't think of which model it was but Chevy and Toyota both have cars that have this issue.

That would actually make some sense since they build their own branded variants of essentially the same car in the NUMMI plant in Fremont California. http://www.nummi.com/home.html

[Revs]

How can you be against it if you've never tried it? ;) It might make your P5 run like a raped ape. :D

Funny guy(screwy)

[Jack Daniels]

Funny guy(screwy)

I'm smart and have a sense of humor! ;)