seafoam

[thisisntjared]

Originally Posted by aych

alot of people dont recommend the brake booster cuz of its large size.

the bottle recommends the brake booster. i have never ever heard of a car hydro locking from seafoam.

ive never had problems with the cat, and you are supposed to have the car warmed up before the treatment, so the cat should be piping hot. i bet the seafoam would clean the cat, too.

[Improbcat]

Originally Posted by JV-Tuga

Does anyone know how that works?

On their website it says: "Make sure exhaust is well ventilated when using Sea Foam in these various ways as fumes will be extreme for a short time." That leaves me a bit worried that this will blow gunk down the pipe that will clog up the catalytic converter, which is a pretty expensive part, from what I hear.

I've used seafoam on several cars. The smoke is the seafoam itself burning off, there is no solid component to it. As such I don't see how it could clog the cat.

[93dagsr]

Originally Posted by Improbcat

I've used seafoam on several cars. The smoke is the seafoam itself burning off, there is no solid component to it. As such I don't see how it could clog the cat.

the carbon falling off?

i heard on clubcivic.com that you really shouldn't use seafoam if your car is over 150,000 miles? what do you guys think? (i did it to mine not too long ago with 180miles on the tach)

[Danronian]

Originally Posted by 93dagsr

the carbon falling off?

i heard on clubcivic.com that you really shouldn't use seafoam if your car is over 150,000 miles? what do you guys think? (i did it to mine not too long ago with 180miles on the tach)

I think there is no justified reasoning to that. I've always heard of dealers doing intake manifold steam treatments (basically the same thing as seafoam, but by using water) on high mile cars to get them to run smoother.

It's just using the steam produced from the seafoam liquid that cleans out the intake and the combustion chambers. I used it on my civic with 120k mi on it, and I have a friend who has been using it for years without an issue.

Using it on my VX made the idle go lower than it every was. Must have cleaned out the IACV a bit better!

I would use the brake booster "nipple" that protrudes from the back of the intake manifold. I stuck a funnel on there and poured it very slowly into there so the idle would dip but not 100% stall. If you pour it all in there at once you can hydrolock the motor. No motor is designed to injest a large amount of liquid without damaging/stalling the motor. Just think, the motor compresses what is in the cylinders. It can't compress a liquid, so something will "give."

[JV-Tuga]

Originally Posted by Improbcat

I've used seafoam on several cars. The smoke is the seafoam itself burning off, there is no solid component to it. As such I don't see how it could clog the cat.

Right, however, with my limited knowledge of this stuff I figure the catalytic converter to be a sort of scrubber that either traps or converts noxious gases into less noxious forms or reduces their presence in the exhaust that actually exits your muffler. If residue accumulated over time gets released all at once into the exhaust will the cat be able to handle it or might it become somehow clogged or at least less efficient at what it does? The way I picture it it seems like there is some likelihood of that happening, maybe not as a general rule, but at least in some cases.

It's like if you break a beaver dam and it floats downstream. Won't it potentially cause problems if and when it gets deposited somewhere else?

Sorry if it is a totally ignorant concern but, like I said, my knowledge is very limited. Bear with me.

[GasSavers_theCase]

I personally don't get SeaFoam, just because it makes you exhaust smoke doesn't mean it's "cleaning" the engine.

After all, SeaFoam is just Isopropyl Alcohol, Naphtha, and Pale Oil, that's it.

Link to the MSDS:

http://www.seafoamsales.com/pdf/MSDS_SFTT_US.pdf

Sounds to me like a lot of the "Placebo" effect is working here, but then again I've never used it. Lots of people swear by it, I may even try it some day.

[ihatemybike]

I seafoamed Green about a month ago. It was setting code for random cylinder mis-fire. Common prob for high mileage Astro vans from the late nineties, caused by sticky fuel injector poppets. GM has a FSB regarding this in which the solution is to run a solvent through the fuel system. This will easily cost over $100 for them to perform. A $7 can of Seafoam cleared up the problem with one treatment and the van runs great.

[VetteOwner]

Originally Posted by theCase

I personally don't get SeaFoam, just because it makes you exhaust smoke doesn't mean it's "cleaning" the engine.

After all, SeaFoam is just Isopropyl Alcohol, Naphtha, and Pale Oil, that's it.

Link to the MSDS:

http://www.seafoamsales.com/pdf/MSDS_SFTT_US.pdf

Sounds to me like a lot of the "Placebo" effect is working here, but then again I've never used it. Lots of people swear by it, I may even try it some day.

lol 2 of those 3 ingredients you listed ARE solvents...

i could say the same claim about steam cleaners "just because it makes steam doesn't mean its cleaning anything" statement but it doesn't make it true cuz we all know that statements false lol.