Some good reading on this thread....lol, I don't have a mazda, but I swear every Seafoam thread I find, there's different opinions and I learn something else new about the product
Some say use the PCV, others say, no don't use the PCV valve it doesn't feed all cylinders, use the brake booster, and then the other way around lol....so confusing.
I'm _thinking_ it may vary from car to car? Which vacuum line to use the seafoam in? It seems so anyways....but hell, why not do it through both lines, just to be sure you get it all? Any problems doing that? Now, let me rephrase, do the process through the brake booster first, adding the sea foam (1/3 of the can as per the instructions), shut off the engine, let it sit for 10-20 minutes (longer the better? for better cleaning? or not? lol another common misconception.....) - then turn it on, and take it for the spin to get all the gunk out...
THEN, take it back to the garage, and run it through the PCV valve/line, and repeat.
Would be interesting anyways, to see if the car still smokes....obviously, if it still smokes when added through the other line, the first line used must not feed all cylinders....or, the seafoam just doesn't get the chance to make it to all the cylinders even?
As far as Chicoloco's pinging when at high RPMs.....could be crappy oil (don't want to be mean, don't take it personal).
I know on my Optima, I always got a slight ping when I would start up the car "cold" (yea....here in Florida, where our "cold" is maybe 65-70 degrees in the morning? lol) in the mornings, but after making it to my first stop sign, the pinging stopped....what I was told is likely too heavy of oil, it's not making it to the top of the piston, so it's causing the ping.
I fixed my cold start pinging with seafoam in the crankcase (7 fl. oz. @ 1.5 oz per quart of oil) - so I'm thinking perhaps you should try increasing your oil weight, obviously don't go higher than what your owners manual recommends though....
As far as the questions about changing the oil after sea foaming - some recommend it, some say it's not necessary. The ones that recommend it say that the seafoam treatment (yes, even if you only run thru the intake or the gas tank..) can supposedly dislodge "sludge" and varnish, that could potentially get lodged into your oil/filter and also "thin out" the oil...but there's mixed reviews, as it is the seafoam sites states that the seafoam can safely be used IN the crankcase, either POST (after) oil change, or PRE (before) oil change - but if you choose to do it POST oil change, you have to monitor the oil color for darkened oil, if it gets to dark, then it's time to change it. But they say specifically to not run it in the crankcase more than 3000 miles....
Their reasoning is seafoam is actually an oil and petroleum product, which makes it safe in the oil. and can be confirmed by the MSDS sheets...but what you gotta be weary of is the sludge/varnish that gets dislodged after the treatment.
Regarding the plugs/wires needing to be changed, I have heard scenarios on other forums about plugs/wires, even o2 censors "failing" after sea foam treatments, likely due to the sea foam not burning off the carbon completely, and the carbon gets "lodged" somewhere down the line. The concensus seems to be that "seafoam" didn't break the plugs/wires, it merely broke the camels back.
Something you could try is adding a dribble of seafoam down the spark plug holes, incase there's a buldup of gunk/carbon down there...
Good idea about resetting the ECU....I never thought of that idea, BUT, my only thought is, doing it AFTER you take your crazy ride around the neighborhood blowing the carbon out at high RPMs
I've heard, resetting the ECU will put the vehicle in like a "re-learn mode" where it re-learns the driving style/technique or something, so if you go crazy driving, it could affect your mpg down the road potentially....?
And no, you don't have to change the oil twice....add the seafoam to your oil before your scheduled change....drive the car around (I drove mine to the oil change place....lol, like 20 miles away..), and then just let them do the complete LOF change....no problems.
I guess, if you're overly paranoid, you could do 2 oil changes, if you're afraid all the seafoam'ed (lol, a new word....) gunk doesn't make it out of the crankcase? As I've heard, it's near impossible to completely drain all oil....
BTW, what is an "MSP"? is that a mazda term only? Kinda curious...since some speculation now of "not using" the brake booster line IF you have this "MSP"...
Also, @zoompastu - I've heard adding "room temperature" seafoam into a "warmed up" (hot) crankcase, probably is not a good idea.....?
It kinda makes sense.....could "spike" something, from going extreme hot running temperature, to having a "cold" substance induced into the crankcase?
Now, the intake, I can agree, let the car warm up first, so the car is hot and ready to take in the sea foam.
So basically, if you do the whole process together.
Add 1/3 of the can into the crankcase/oil first.
Add a whole can into the fuel tank (or figure out how many gallons you got left in your tank, and figure 1 oz. of sea foam per gallon....
And THEN, turn on the car, and use the rest of that first bottle (that you put in the crankcase, cause the crank case shouldn't need a full bottle....depending on your oil capacity, 1.5 oz. per quart...