Seafoam?

[James_T]

Hey fellas,

Before my upcoming oil change in around 500 miles, I decided to run some seafoam through my engine, much to the dismay of others opinions. Well, I went ahead and poured it into the larger hose on my intake, which is the PCV(?) vacuum hose, and normally, I would have expected some stuttering on the engine's part, but nothing. I got no response whatsoever. I poured about 3/4 of the can into the hose, with no stutter whatsoever. There was also no smoke afterwards as well.

Do you guys have any idea where the seafoam went? Did I make a mistake and pour it into something else?

 

[ric]

not sure exactly what hose you poured it into, but Seafoam does work...

 

[12guns]

I also like seafoam, works well for "decarbing" the engine. Never added it to the oil though. You may need to get a pic of the hose you dumped it in. One the V8 the PCV valve hose is on the left (drivers side) top front side of the block or manifold cover. When I poured it in the engine stuttered but kept running. I turned it off for a few mins, the cranked it back up and smoked the neighbors out! That white color smoke is the carbon burning off the engine parts. I would find out for sure where you dumped it. Did you have suction on the hose that you dumped it in? It should if it was the PCV hose.

 

[James_T]

It's currently pouring where I am, so after it stops, I'll snap a pic.

The hose I used was about .5 inches in diameter, and had a "slight" amount of suction. It wasn't a huge amount though. It's just worrying to me, since I poured quite a large amount in, with no engine response whatsoever. My engine stayed stable at 750 rpms the entire time.

 

[James_T]

I used the hose I am holding in the second picture, which goes to the top of the intake manifold on picture 3.

Any info on that?

 

[shorepatrol]

Looks like you poured it in through the valve cover, not the intake. No big deal

 

[James_T]

Looks like you poured it in through the valve cover, not the intake. No big deal

So, would that mean it would now be mixed in with the oil?

 

[shorepatrol]

Yep, no big deal. It won't hurt anything. It's made to go in the crankcase or in the intake to clean things up.

 

[Nuke]

I'm curious what the issue was that you were trying to resolve. I've used SeaFoam many times in a number of vehicles (in the fuel but not in the crankcase) mainly to resolve some fuel system issues. I do, however, use another good fuel system cleaner like Techron every 10,000 miles. Otherwise, I think I've added something to a crankcase twice after owning 14-15 vehicles and over 1,500,000 miles; both times to resolve a sticky lifter.

 

[Koz]

The best product I've have used (other then Seafoam) is this. It is alot easier to use and is VERY effective.

AMSOIL - P.i. Performance Improver (API)

Koz

 

[drewm]

I decided to try Seafoam in the crankcase of 2008 4Runner V8 following the instructions on the can. I put half the can first, drove for lunch, everything was fine and then put the rest of it in the crankcase in the evening. I found later from the official website (Using Sea Foam Motor Treatment in crankcase oil - Sea Foam Sales Company) that I should use 1 1/2 oz. per a quarter of oil (V8 has 6.2 liters of oil ~ 6.55 quarters * 1.5 equals 9.8 oz. of Seafoam). Also one of FAQs explains that it's fine if the whole can of Seafoam is added in the crankcase as long as oil is changed after 100 miles maximum (What happens if you add the whole can of Sea Foam Motor Treatment to your oil? - Sea Foam Sales Company). I was driving for couple days and on the third day I started hearing whining noise with small vibration around 60 km/h. It happens if I drive for some time first like 10-15 kms and then the noise appears. I brought my vehicle for dealership the next morning, they changed the oil (it was exactly 100 miles with Seafoam) and lubricated the drive shafts (They noticed they were dry even I lubricated them in September). The technician could not replicate the noise, everything was fine to them underneath the vehicle as well. The noise disappeared at first, I was driving for couple days and today I could hear again, it's not exactly the same, more like an airplane flying along the vehicle.

What could be the source of the noise? Why it happened almost the same time I added Seafoam? I own the vehicle since August and never had this airplane noise before. Was something damaged because of Seafoam or is it coincidence?

Please help, I could not believe something would happen after Seafoam as it's so safe according to the manufacturer.

P.S. 2008 4Runner has 211500 kms or 131420 miles mileage

You could do the stethoscope trick and attempt to figure out from which part of the engine it is coming from, but you probably won't know what that noise is until the engine seizes or other issues come up. From what you're describing it sounds like a bearing. Most likely a camshaft one, but only a real mechanic hearing it could tell for sure. Yes, it was probably the seafoam that caused it.

Knowing what seafoam does, I'd personally want to drain the oil much much sooner than 100 miles. I'm not even sure I'd want to drive it in that state. Then again I'm more of a fan of letting a good synthetic oil's cleaning agents clean up an engine. I'm not a big fan of additives, except maybe techron. If an additive was that good it would already be included in fluids.

 

[ASUMTNEER]

So, would that mean it would now be mixed in with the oil?

Just be sure to change your oil rather quickly, <100 miles.

 

[28.]

I use Seafoam on my 4 wheelers and have only used it on my sons' now gone GTP through PCV.. Works great.. You can also add it to your gas which is what I do on the first and last run on my 4 wheelers after changing oil and filters and after each oil change on my Runner which comes about 2 times a year(spring and fall).. Do it once a year after first oil change on our Land Cruiser since it only gets about 3 to 4 thousand miles a year.

 

[Atlanta_man]

Seafoam does one thing very well. But it is not related to anything mechanical.

 

[drewm]

The noise did not appear this morning. I could hear it only when I drive and if I park and put 2000 rpms it is not present, engine works just fine, no vibration or any type of noise. Does it still relate to the camshaft bearing? And how Seafoam would affect the camshaft bearing anyway? Seafoam manufacturer would be in court for over 50 years now if someone could open the engine and prove that their product did the damage. It still does not make sense to me.

I'm pretty sure on the can it says "not liable for damage"

Seafoam loosens up trapped gunk which can easily clog up your oil filter which causes oil to use the pressure bypass, causing said gunk to clog up your oil squirters causing no oil to get to certain parts of your engine. When that happens your bearings will run totally dry and destroy themselves. That is mostly likely what happened in your case.

The Seafoam formula is guessed to be most likely kerosene diluted in a bit of oil. Think of it as dumping gasoline into your oil, which may actually clean similarly well, but I'd never want to lubricate an engine with it. In addition to that, the lubricating properties of seafoam are nowhere near oil, and using too much of it in your oil can cause bearings to fail as they need a specific weight oil to function, not kerosene.

Reading around the internet, there's good and bad stories. Yours just happens to be one of the bad.

 

[541joseph]

^^
Agreed. Id never bring a can of seafoam near my crankcase. Just doing regular oil changes cleans your engine every time you change it. I know of at least 2 engines in the last year that got taken to one shop because juffy lube put seafoam in the oil and ruined the cam and main bearings.

 

[Atlanta_man]

S-foam's active ingredient is jet fuel. (yes, that's kero).
Actually it is kero with some more 'cheap light hydrocarbons'

Big mistake to put any (secret ingredient) solvent into the crankcase (or gas tank, or intake).

Especially if you know the oil change history of the engine and it does not indicate neglect.

It does work to clean things up like any solvent would. Unfortunately, clean (in most engine areas) does not mean anything will work better.

remember the saying: "first do no harm"

but hey, it makes smoke so it must be doing good !

 

[Derek G]

I wonder if anyone read the official statement of using Seafoam: Using Sea Foam Motor Treatment in crankcase oil - Sea Foam Sales Company

What you say is the same if someone puts water in a can and sells it with a note to put it into engine oil to clean the internal buildup. It would be a suicide. There is no logic here what you say. I described the sympthoms and was looking for help as to what might be the source of the noise. I was not looking for speculations.

If you're not looking for speculations then don't come on the forum asking us to speculate on what you're problem may be based on symptom descriptions on things we can't see or hear. This forum is here to assist others based on other members experience. If you don't like the answer from other members based on YOUR testimony describing the problem, don't ask for help.

 

[chitown40]

Try not to take offense to this UGN.

Seafoam is a great product and can used for many things, but one thing I am absolutely sure of is that there is no mechanic's handbook, shop manual, corporate repair procedure, etc that says, "For problem X, use Seafoam to fix it".

There are way too many people who have no idea what they're doing or don't have enough knowledge of how an engine operates to be pouring seafoam or other chemicals into their crankcases and intakes. If you did it to try and "improve performance" on a vehicle that was most likely running fine previously, then well therein lies the problem.

Does any vehicle manufacturer state you should put anything except oil into the crankcase? I highly doubt it.

The people on here "speculating" are using common sense. An engine running at high temps with critical tolerences requires proper lubrication. Kerosene and other thin fuel-like products, like Seafoam, do not provide lubrication.

Here's a perfect way to disprove all of the seafoam threads. Take off your intake manifold. Look at the carbon build-up. Pour seafoam on it and let it pool and sit on there for a minute. Now pour it off. Did the carbon disappear? Nope. I'm sure it's right where it started. So how does one expect seafoam when induced through the intake that probably sees contact with the intake manifold for about 1 second max, to actually clean anything? Think about that one.

The same goes for adding it to the crankcase. If you add too much you lose lubricity -- that's it. For the amount of time seafoam recommends to run it in your engine, it's doing nothing. A good synthetic oil has more cleaning agents in it than seafoam.

Now, putting it in a fuel system, especially one that has ethanol-added fuel that sits for long-periods of time, well, it may help with some of the varnishing effect, but it still will gum up.

I use Seafoam as a cleaner when I'm manually cleaning engine parts. I also use it in small engine fuel. But that's it.

The smoke you see coming out of the exhaust is the engine just burning the seafoam. A brand new car with no deposits will do the same. Back in the day we used to pour ATF in someone's carburator (just a little) to give them the white smoke cloud scare. Funny as all hell and relatively harmless in small amounts.

My .02

 

[Derek G]

I think you haven't read the posts either but rather quick on replying what you believe is true. If someone has nothing to say on the specific problem don't bother saying anything else just for the sake of saying something. If someone has trouble reading the explaination and pay attention to details it's not my problem either. Eveything people see is "Seafoam" and they have made a judgment without asking for more details.

I read every thread in the post. You didn't like the answers you got from people trying to help you and got defensive about it. If you already know the answer and or don't like the advice or insight given regarding your problem, then don't ask the question.