Sea Foam Cleaning

[mazdaspeed32007]

so i decided to run sea foam through the egr hose into the intake mani. it was a vac hose because it was sucking more air than madonna's front teeth. i put in about half the bottle while the engine was running slowly until i shut her down. i let it sit for 5 minutes like the bottle says and when i started it up.....nothing. no smoke. just a little smell of sea foam through the tail pipe. i went for a 5 minute drive and let it run its course pretty good and even at WOT no smoke. not even a puff. wierd? i know it was going into the cylinder because it would idle high when it pulled the sea foam then it would bog a little until the hose was emptied...then i would put a little more and you know the rest of the story. even when i got back from the run i let it idle for 5 minutes. idk....anything odd about this? or was my motor just clean? i would figure smoke just from the sea foam itself at least. the car just hit below 50,000 and i was doing an oil conversion/change, tranny fluid change...and the reg 50,000 maintenence s*** but i found this one odd maybe someone has an answer. i added a little into my gas tank for s**** and giggles. they say you can add to the crankcase but ill wait for that one until i need another oil change if i decide to do it at all. anyway....

 

[SNike05]

Means your engine didn't have carbon buildup thats all. It was clean.

 

[js_protege_03dx]

how much and where can u get this sea foam stuff from?

 

[SNike05]

Napa, car quest, autozone, pep boys about $13 a bottle iirc

 

[js_protege_03dx]

Napa, car quest, autozone, pep boys about $13 a bottle iirc

really, ive neva really seen them on the shelfs?
but thanks for the info

 

[mazdaspeed32007]

Means your engine didn't have carbon buildup thats all. It was clean.

thats what i fig. thanks. well, good to know that after 50,000 miles my motor is sparkling. sweet.

 

[Sport6]

Means your engine didn't have carbon buildup thats all. It was clean.

Its not just carbon that makes the smoke, the seafoam itself will cause smoking.

This is where I put the seafoam in (entire bottle). I undid the clamp that I am pointing to and put the hose in the bottle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aob1RTv5ggA
This was my result after only 20,000.

Not sure why you didn't get any result at all.. rather odd.

 

[karl hungus]

haltech's forum has a great how-to in the speed6 section. seafoam goes into the break booster vacuum hose (near the firewall and the top right corner of the tmic shroud).

i seafoamed at 7k miles and got a crazy amount of smoke. was your car warmed up when you did it? i did 3/4 in the vac hose and 1/4 in the crankcase followed by an oil change.

 

[MikeHTally]

Wow, I would hope an engine with only 7K wouldn't need a Seafoam treatment. My Ram got one at about 93K, and my daughter's Camry just got one at 111K. Both smoked a bit, but not severely and a second treatment on the Ram produced no smoke. I decided once a year (8K-10K) should be sufficient.

 

[mazdaspeed32007]

i still have half the bottle left. ill run it through the hose shown tomorrow after work. i hope i dont have sea foam pooling somewhere now....

the egr runs from the back of the firewall down the side of the intercooler, under the intercooler, then into the intake manifold. i pulled the hose i used further up the hose than the hose your pointing at....im assuming its the one with the yellow clip that you used. any suggestions on where this sea foam went then? the pic thats up i used the egr hose to the left of where he's pointing. i believe it says 6J16 on it. if it should have smoked....??

i dont think any vehicle should use a treatment more than every long while. i plan on doing it every 40-50 thousand. im sure certain seals that use "sludge" in the oil and oils that come stock in the motors metal shouldnt be flushed completely from the motor.

 

[mazdaspeed32007]

yea so ran just under half the bottle of sea foam through the break booster line....same result. no smoke....just the smell and stutter before it shut down. idk. maybe my motor was clean and the smoke was caused by the sea foam in yours was a mixture of the sea foam and sludge burning out? im clueless. i figured the worst case sceneario for my egr sea foaming is some got down into the throttle body and will or has already gone away. but it did the same as before so i assume it all went well.

 

[PCspeed3]

I was told that its a good idea to change spark plugs after a seafoam. But then again I am too scared to do it cuz of my cat in the Cobb DP. Dont want that to get clogged....

 

[SNike05]

Yes, it is recommended to change the plugs. I do the third treatment. 1/3 in the brake booster, one 1/3 in the oil, 1/3 in the gas. After that I change the oil and plugs.

No smoke means no dirt. Simple as that. To prove it, do it twice second time there will be no smoke; like someone mentioned.

Your engine is clean dude be happy. Shell gas and more highway driving would cause this result.

 

[mazdaspeed32007]

Yes, it is recommended to change the plugs. I do the third treatment. 1/3 in the brake booster, one 1/3 in the oil, 1/3 in the gas. After that I change the oil and plugs.

No smoke means no dirt. Simple as that. To prove it, do it twice second time there will be no smoke; like someone mentioned.

Your engine is clean dude be happy. Shell gas and more highway driving would cause this result.

you very correct. all i run is shell and i drive nearly 80 miles highway each day. lol. wow what a prediction. nice one.

i ran about 1/3 hrough the egr hose, 1/3 through the gas tank, and because i though something went wrong another 1/3 through the break booster. im changing my plugs when they come in the mail and im doing the sea oam through the crankcase in 4000 miles when i change my oil again. thanks for the help guys. i felt something was wrong like the sea foam should have made smoke itself but now im glad how i hang on to one type of gas and how i treat my car is keeping the car in top shape. awesome.

 

[js_protege_03dx]

would it be ok to jus put it in the gas tank and the brake booster vacuum hose? half and half?
i jus did a oil change like 3 weeks ago and dont want to have to it again till i have 2. and also would i have to change the spark plugs? i really want to do this treatment but dont want 2 mess my car up some how
where is the brake booster vacuum hose any ways?
i have a 03 mazda protege dx
thanks

 

[mazdaspeed32007]

you don NEED to change your spark plugs after but its good to have a fresh plug in there after running the sea foam through and having all that s*** burn through your motor. its possible you fowl a plug in the process but thats just me guessing again. im changing mine but after the sea foam my plugs are fine. (though i had nothing to burn off so my plugs are fine)

yes youll be fine running 1/2 and 1/2. i would run 2/3 through a vac line and 1/3 through the tank, but it all depends on how much gas you have in your tank. 1oz per gallon of gas or something like that. it says on the bottle. you can use pretty much use any vac hose that enters your intake manifold. they all pull the same vac pressure and spit it all into the intake manifold to be pulled into the cylinders. run it until you put your 2/3 can and shut the motor down. let it sit for 5 mins. then start her back up and BAM! tons o' smoke. or in my case....a confused man. lol.

 

[js_protege_03dx]

ok thanks 4 the info, ima try it my next pay check
ill post results

 

[mazdaspeed32007]

ok thanks 4 the info, ima try it my next pay check
ill post results

you should video tape the action. mine was lame but some people get some awesome smoke screens. lol. im going to video tape my g/f's focus when i do hers next weekend. ill post here when i do it.

 

[js_protege_03dx]

o i will

 

[Wehrmacht]

I've had experiences with Sea Foam on my 190k mile 1994 BMW 325i... it smoked predictably like a banshee... I'd be a lil more hesitant with vehicles less than 100k miles, no amount of carbon could be power robbing you at 50k miles - its a total waste!

Judging by the running shell gas only and all I'd say you were just following your pattern of great ownership - but at some point you just gotta let the kid go to kindergarten. Ya dig?