How To Use Seafoam To Clean Your Engine
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i should probably look at doing this as my car has nearly 100k km on it, and the idle isn't near as smooth as it used to be.
to confirm what's been said by others for the seafoam OR gm top end clean:
- pour it in slowly through the brake booster - about 1/3 the bottle, correct? - while revving the car so that it does not stall out
- once you've done this, do you keep the car running for a few minutes, or shut it off as soon as it's done sucking in 1/3 the bottle?
- let the car sit for 10 min, then start it up, let it idle a few minutes, and go for a drive to clear everything out. do you need to take the car to higher revs when doing this, and if so, how high?
- reset the ecu (ie, unplug both batt terminals for a few minutes and pump brakes a few times) and you're good to go
how soon after doing this can/should you change the oil? should you change/do anything else? also, does this help anything with the egr valve (i'm guessing not), or should you clean this at the same time to achieve optimum results?
to confirm what's been said by others for the seafoam OR gm top end clean:
- pour it in slowly through the brake booster - about 1/3 the bottle, correct? - while revving the car so that it does not stall out
- once you've done this, do you keep the car running for a few minutes, or shut it off as soon as it's done sucking in 1/3 the bottle?
- let the car sit for 10 min, then start it up, let it idle a few minutes, and go for a drive to clear everything out. do you need to take the car to higher revs when doing this, and if so, how high?
- reset the ecu (ie, unplug both batt terminals for a few minutes and pump brakes a few times) and you're good to go
how soon after doing this can/should you change the oil? should you change/do anything else? also, does this help anything with the egr valve (i'm guessing not), or should you clean this at the same time to achieve optimum results?
MyZmZm said:
As soon as you get it in there, shut her off, and dont worrie about hydrolock.
Wait 10 min for it to soak in, (you can even toss a bit in the crankcase BEFORE you change the oil) then turn her on, let her rev for a min or 2, then take her for a ride keeping her low in the revs at first, but after a few min, bring her high up. go back home and change the oil ( recoment passing a Qt through the syustem with the plug out letting it drip right out, then closing the plug and doing a filter/oil swap..
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Thanks! That's what it sounded like, just wanted to make sure.Rac3rX said:
So this is something that I could ask the shop to do when I next take her in for an oil change... If I end up doing that myself, how long is it safe to drive her around prior to getting the oil changed?
Anyone have an answer to my question on the egr valve?
MyZmZm said:Thanks! That's what it sounded like, just wanted to make sure.
So this is something that I could ask the shop to do when I next take her in for an oil change... If I end up doing that myself, how long is it safe to drive her around prior to getting the oil changed?
Anyone have an answer to my question on the egr valve?
Yeah ALOT of places do this job quite often, but its $$$$$ that you could save just doing it yourself, and you really dont need any special tools.
F-up????
If you intend on doing this portion then bringing her to a place to do a oil channge I wouldnt sugest it, becuae they may make you wait for alot longer then you want the seafoam in your system.
If you follow the guidance of this board, you shouldt f-up, and you need to chanfge the oil right after doing this process, anyways (Right after)
MUST change oil right after, very important.
The EGR should get cleaned up a bit, but it will not be as efficient a clean, as if you were to remove it and clean it out disasembled.
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the shop i go to is pretty good, and they specialize in mazdas (one of the owners is a mazda master tech) so i'd trust them... but if i were to do this myself, could i wait until the next day to take the car in for the oil change? or would that be waiting too long?Rac3rX said:
would you suggest doing the egr before or after the seafoam, or would it really matter?
oh for real... i had it idle and suck in for about 1/4 the bottle then reved to 3k ish for the othee 1/4 then threw 1/4 in the oil and 1/4 in the gas tank with a lil more than 1/2 tank.
then let it sit again. hm i have this feeling i did it wrong. it still makes that ticking sound
then let it sit again. hm i have this feeling i did it wrong. it still makes that ticking sound
NO dont do it then bring it to the shop the next day, you want too get the seafoam out right away, not even a few hours.
awsmp5
It sounds like you did it fine, noises could be due to something else.
Any audio?
It apears from your sig you auto X, what do you do to prevent oil starvation? I know people who put in a half qt extra to be safe with no issues. Without attention there there is posibilities of oil starvation leading to f-ed rod bearings.
awsmp5
It sounds like you did it fine, noises could be due to something else.
Any audio?
It apears from your sig you auto X, what do you do to prevent oil starvation? I know people who put in a half qt extra to be safe with no issues. Without attention there there is posibilities of oil starvation leading to f-ed rod bearings.
yeah i guess maybe it does starve the engine of oil... but how do i know when it does? my engine's got this ticking sound going on. its not the audio cuz its pretty obvious that its coming form the engine. i don't think it sounded like that a while ago, but i could be wrong.
i'm at 55k miles
i'm at 55k miles
I've got 54k on my mp5 and 45k on my ES it will allways have a slight ticking to it because its a solid liffter motor. if its realy loud as if it sounded like an engine without oil then I would take it in. But if its real slight I wouldn't worry about it. Its about time for you to do the timing belt so You could inspect the valve train, put in the new belt, and toss in the mazdaspeed cam with new lifters and you'ld be set.awsmp5 said:
zoompastu said:I've got 54k on my mp5 and 45k on my ES it will allways have a slight ticking to it because its a solid liffter motor. if its realy loud as if it sounded like an engine without oil then I would take it in. But if its real slight I wouldn't worry about it. Its about time for you to do the timing belt so You could inspect the valve train, put in the new belt, and toss in the mazdaspeed cam with new lifters and you'ld be set.
sounds like it's time to switch to synthetic with a can of restore, keeps the motor pretty dang quiet till the next oil change, plus, it's a good oil change indicator, my motor normally starts tickin about 3k into the restore and synthetic
but that combo will quiet her up and smooth her out some...
i ran some seafoam through my engine the other day since i have been having a low idle/stalling issue when starting the car. i pulled the pcv out, stuck a piece of emissions hose (vacuum hose) to the t-bar, and let it suck up the seafoam. i did have to keep trying to rev the engine from the cable, but it seemed to work pretty well.
i haven't had any issues since that day.
i haven't had any issues since that day.
Why is this thread NOT in the HOW TO section ?!?!?
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4 realz ya'll!
Today I put less than 1/2 a pint (1 pint is whole bottle) into the brake booster line.
Used a cup and a straw in one hand and revved the engine at the TB with the other.
It's part way finished sucking it up the straw from the cup when I notice some smoke creeping into the engine bay.
I looked back around the hood to find ...
A Huge SMOKE SCREEN !!!
She was pouring out gray/white smoke.(stoned)
I turned it off and let it sit for 20 mins or so.
Meanwhile: Reconnected the brake booster, poured the other 1/2 pint or more into the cup, put most into the gas tank and a little into the crankcase.
Started up and revved it as smoke poured out for like 2 or 3 minutes
*SO do this in a well ventilated area!, I smoked up my whole street!
Turned it off, disconnected both battery terminals, touched them and counted to ten.
Pumped the brakes, waited 10 mins and reconnected terminals.
She started up and idled nicely.
Revved to get the rest of the smoke cleared and took off.
Seems to be a lil crisper on the throttle.
We'll see if it fixes my cold start issue too!
^
^
^
4 realz ya'll!
Today I put less than 1/2 a pint (1 pint is whole bottle) into the brake booster line.
Used a cup and a straw in one hand and revved the engine at the TB with the other.
It's part way finished sucking it up the straw from the cup when I notice some smoke creeping into the engine bay.
I looked back around the hood to find ...
A Huge SMOKE SCREEN !!!
She was pouring out gray/white smoke.(stoned)
I turned it off and let it sit for 20 mins or so.
Meanwhile: Reconnected the brake booster, poured the other 1/2 pint or more into the cup, put most into the gas tank and a little into the crankcase.
Started up and revved it as smoke poured out for like 2 or 3 minutes
*SO do this in a well ventilated area!, I smoked up my whole street!
Turned it off, disconnected both battery terminals, touched them and counted to ten.
Pumped the brakes, waited 10 mins and reconnected terminals.
She started up and idled nicely.
Revved to get the rest of the smoke cleared and took off.
Seems to be a lil crisper on the throttle.
We'll see if it fixes my cold start issue too!
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