Seafoam? Just do it

[MidwestT4R]

I have read the threads on Seafoam for a number of years here but never did it to my 2004. But the other day I was in the local AutoZone and they had it on sale for 7 bucks a bottle. I have a V8 with 170K miles

I did it by slowly pouring the seafoam in the hose that I pulled off the drivers side valve cover and got the usual smoke, especially after I shut the engine off after pouring the last of the seafoam in, letting it sit for 10 minutes and then driving around my neighborhood. It was like a smoke screen. There are plenty of threads on this site walking through it. I did stick a funnel in the hose to make it easier to pour the Seafoam in.

The improvement in gas mileage has been amazing. Highway driving a week later at 75 miles per hour with A/C on in a completely full truck (me, kids and every space full of gear for a fishing trip) I got 365 miles before the gas light came on. This with the first 45 miles on the tank driving around town!

Now back in town the mileage is still far better. City driving and made it to 348 miles before the gas light. Again, far better than before.

So it looks like about 10-12 percent better mileage just from the treatment. If you have not done this to your truck you may want to just go ahead and do it. I am just sorry I didn't do it sooner.

 

[olegrad]

Can you take of pic of which hose you pour in exactly? Like you, I've read about it for years but hesitant to try myself. TIA.


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[Bluesky 07]

I have to take my truck in to my mechanic in the next few days. Been meaning to ask his opinion of Seafoam so thanks for the reminder.

 

[07V8]

What kind of gas do you use? Are you the original owner?

 

[snowboardwcu]

that much mileage in a V8 doing 75? where's that meme of ron burgundy saying 'i dont believe you?'

i do love a good seafoam treatment. what kind of mileage were you seeing before this? letting it sit for only 10 minutes seems like it wouldn't do much. i got about 2 mpg jump when i did my treatment, but have since lost 3/4mpg to unknown (started after a MAF cleaning, gotten horrible mileage since, not sure whats up there).

either way, glad to find another seafoam lover. :bounce:

 

[MidwestT4R]

I'll get a picture up later today.

With regard to a mechanic's opinion, I did this treatment right before our annual fishing trip. One of the guys on the trip each year is a long time GM mechanic. I told him what I did and how I did it and he told me that they do it the same way at his dealership. They only leave the last of the Seafoam in for 10 minutes with the engine off. Then take it out back and fire it up. He even laughed about another mechanic at his dealership who left the seafoam in the engine over the weekend and then fired it up. He said it looked like the building was on fire. He also recommended that I do the treatment again in about a month. He said this because I bought the car with 79K on it and had not treated it. If the previous owner did not do it he felt that it might benefit from a second treatment given the higher mileage.

As for gas I used midrange gas for the trip given the fact that I had a full load. I didn't want any knocking with that much weight in the car. I'm back on regular here in town, but watching closely for knocking as I had noticed it on occassion in the past year. Whether that is because the car had a lot of carbon in the engine or just age I don't know. Haven't been hearing it now, but I'll continue watching. I did drive on cruise at 75 for almost the entire 350 mostly flat mile drive given the fact that the speed limit is 70. The car didn't struggle. Sure, I babied the acceleration, especially from a stand still, but I didn't notice any issues. I do have to say that the truck seems a bit slower off the line with age, but there isn't any smoke out of the tail pipes.

So I will probably treat the engine again in a few weeks. Pictures later today.

 

[jacksheadache]

ChrisFix has a great video covering Seafoam and it's effectiveness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6UeJXkzDW8

that much mileage in a V8 doing 75? where's that meme of ron burgundy saying 'i dont believe you?'

i do love a good seafoam treatment. what kind of mileage were you seeing before this? letting it sit for only 10 minutes seems like it wouldn't do much. i got about 2 mpg jump when i did my treatment, but have since lost 3/4mpg to unknown (started after a MAF cleaning, gotten horrible mileage since, not sure whats up there).

either way, glad to find another seafoam lover. :bounce:

I picked up my 4runner V8 with 210k on it and did over 75MPH on the 2 hour drive home. Are they expected to explode at 75+?

 

[Bografan]

I picked up my 4runner V8 with 210k on it and did over 75MPH on the 2 hour drive home. Are they expected to explode at 75+?

+1 on this...If so, mine would have blown up the first summer I bought it with all of the 85 mph speed limits we have around here..

 

[Dpassmore]

I think he meant that much fuel mileage at 75.


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[blind squirrel]

I will chime in with my experience doing this on my acura TL a few years ago. Not sure its worth the worry and stress that comes with hearing your engine run like crap for a while and smoking out the neighborhood. Granted, I take a shot of snake's blood every morning to ensure I don't get ED when I'm older..... but the seafoam comes with risks too. A lot of people on Acurazine reported needing new O2 sensors after doing this and chasing check engine lights. There are also reports of engines burning oil after doing the treatment that didn't before. Now are these cases of people just paying attention? Like after you let someone drive your car, when you get it back now there is a new rattle? But the rattle has been there forever, you just never noticed?

My results from my acura were none really. MPG's stayed the same and no check engine light. It did sound like the engine was going to fall out while it was shuttering during "the carbon being removed".

It's tough to say if it really does work, yes I watched the video posted in this thread. But is the risk worth the reward?

Not trying to argue your results OP, just wanted to also talk about the risks too. :hatsoff:

 

[jacksheadache]

I think he meant that much fuel mileage at 75.


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Well that makes sense.. I can once again reassure myself the motor isn't going to pop in 5 miles.

 

[jfry008]

I don't really see how sucking up sea foam through a vacuum line is going to give you noticeably better gas mileage. Just doesn't make much sense mechanically/logically. The sea foam isn't passing through the fuel lines or fuel injectors.
Is the seafoam supposed to be cleaning so much carbon deposit that the car gets better gas mileage..? Is the carbon deposit restricting airflow that much?

 

[asdfman7]

:deadhorse:


Here we go, again....

 

[MidwestT4R]

Now you all had me wondering. My friend, who is a longtime GM mechanic, told me that the performance of your engine is affected by carbon deposits because the carbon deposits actually absorb some of the energy potential of the fuel. Thus, you get reduced gas mileage. Frankly, I thought that sounded odd, but since I already did the cleaning and saw the increased mileage I didn't care.

However, I just googled "do carbon deposits in engines affect performance" and got the following two hits on the first page.

The first is from an audi website

Audi Performance Website on Carbon

It goes into some interesting places on how carbon build up can affect a multitude of engine controls and affect overall performance. It appears to validate what my GM mechanic friend told me.

The second is from a government website and a much more dense academic paper on carbon build up in engines from a variety of fuels. Read it at your own risk. It's pretty dry.

Academic paper on carbon build up

Take a close look at the last paragraph in the section on gasoline fuel. Seems pretty clear that carbon build up affects performance.

I get it that some people are wary of this. I recall that our very own Blackworks, a Toyota Technician, has a commented on other threads that Seafoam treatments are just fine. Maybe he has changed his opinion, but my GM buddy said they do it all the time. Sure, you might view anything from a dealer mechanic as BS and just another way to steal your money, but my friend is a good guy who has no reason to BS me.

Bottom line, it worked for me. For those who didn't see any change it may be that your engine did not have enough carbon build up to affect performance. Apparently, mine did. Bottom line is that you will all have to decide on your own what sort of risk you want to take working on your 4Runner.

 

[MidwestT4R]

OK. Picture time.

I have a 2004 V8. I used this particular hose because I saw it referenced on another thread.

This is a picture of the driver's side of the engine.



The circled part is where the hose attached to the valve cover of the engine. It pulls off very easily, but the inside diameter is pretty small. You will likely need a funnel.

Here is a pic of the hose removed with the funnel in.



I had my son start the engine and I slowly poured the Seafoam into the funnel. The RPM's jumped up and down as the engine computer adjusted to the Seafoam. My son didn't have to touch the gas pedal to keep it running but I can certainly see how you might flood the engine if you pour too fast. I can recall mine almost died when I accidentally dumped a bigger splash into the funnel. My GM mechanic buddy told me they try to keep the RPM's to 1500. Whether you can do that or that it even matters on a Toyota I cannot say. Just keep in mind that the engine will start smoking while you are doing this. Nothing like afterwards when you drive it around, but plenty enough.

When I felt that the bottle was almost empty I gave my son a heads up to turn off the engine on my command. As soon as the last bit poured into the funnel I told him to cut the engine. Then left it to marinate for 10 minutes and fired it up and drive it around town. It was a smoke show. I did not get any warning lights, though I wondered if you actually flooded the engine with too much Seafoam that the computer would throw a code. Mine didn't. It took about 4-5 miles of driving for the smoke to completely go away.

Good luck

 

[CXS]

Back in the old days we used ATF. It's cool to see all the smoke and all but I'm of the mind that if you're running fine you don't need to use anything along this line. I've never used anything and my truck runs fine even now that it's over 200k. If you want to use it, do it but don't be surprised if you do foul things like plugs & sensors.

Just my 2¢

 

[snowboardwcu]

yeah sorry definitely meant that mileage at 75mph. the v8 will do way more than 75mph.

i got 19.9mpg doing 60mph for a full tank. i prefer 80mph and 16.0mpg :biggrin2:

 

[Ruthven13]

I can't really speak for auto engines, but on small engines I have seen it make a big difference. On my motorcycle that had not been run for a few years that would barely run, I put it in the gas and it quickly cleared yp and ran fine. Same thing for lawn equipment...

 

[Jagerzel]

yeah sorry definitely meant that mileage at 75mph. the v8 will do way more than 75mph.

i got 19.9mpg doing 60mph for a full tank. i prefer 80mph and 16.0mpg :biggrin2:

Hell yeah pushed 80-85 steady from DC to Jax for 750mi and that was just to keep with the flow of traffic. I did throw in some mid grade because it's the same price below the Mason Dixon line as regular above it. Debating this sea foam thing, would love better has milage but truck runs too good to mess a good thing up -

 

[geurillawarfare]

Now you all had me wondering. My friend, who is a longtime GM mechanic, told me that the performance of your engine is affected by carbon deposits because the carbon deposits actually absorb some of the energy potential of the fuel. Thus, you get reduced gas mileage. Frankly, I thought that sounded odd, but since I already did the cleaning and saw the increased mileage I didn't care.

However, I just googled "do carbon deposits in engines affect performance" and got the following two hits....

I have taken apart enough modern engines to question the usefulness of this product.

In my experience, unless it's direct injected or carburated, I don't expect much carbon buildup at all. It's usually pretty clean starting at the injectors, and past.

I would wonder if the seafoam treatment actually causes a relatively short term shift in the behavior of the O2 sensor, which results in an effective change in A/F mix, resulting in short term increase in fuel economy?

As far as burning oil after something like this... I have first hand experience, sort of related. Any excessive amount of non-lubricant fluid condensing on your cylinder walls will wash off lube oil and potentially cause galling of the piston skirt. Galling can eventually result in a nice, friendly little aluminum snowball creeping up to the edge of your oil control ring and holding it in just a bit. Suddenly, you're burning a lot of oil. I've seen this in vehicles that had a leaky fuel injector. Had one in a GM 3800 that leaked bad, all the time. Started suddenly. It bled off the fuel pressure when engine off and caused a VERY rich cylinder and severe misfiring when engine running. Customer ran it like this for a couple days. That cylinder ended up burning a lot of oil and eventually the bottom end needed refreshing to fix it.

Keep in mind that in every related bad experience of mine, the piston galled quickly and the oil burning was obvious within hours of engine operation. So, if you've done the treatment and a few weeks later you're not burning oil... I think you're OK. I wonder if pre-heating and vaporizing the fluid would result in less liquid sneaking down the cylinder wall. It seems that you're just trying to quench the cylinder with a mist of this stuff, get it to whet the entire face of the piston and inside of combustion chamber, wait a few minutes for it to soak, soften, and expand, then restart and let that tasty flame front burn a layer off.

Has anyone else put a camera down in their cylinders? Not sure if you guys realize it but those little chinese USB cameras on the end of a USB cable are like 10 bucks now. Just remember to give the last 6" of the friggin thing a nice wrap of electrical tape just in case that plastic head isn't crimped to the cable well. The last thing you want is to have to fish some nasty little communist electronics out of your capitalist combustion chamber.