Sea Foam = happy car

[NUTWEAVE]

after searching this forum and finding nothing useful about Sea Foam, but hearing great things from other forums, i decided to give it a whirl. i picked up 2 bottles from NAPA for 5.99 a bottle. i went home, pulled my car out of the garage, and let it run for a bit. once it was up to operating temperature, i diconnected the brake booster vacuum line and stuck the hose inside the bottle of Sea Foam. the engine started hesitating and bogging...then smoke went everywhere. i had to close my garage door, it got pretty bad. my car is a 2001 GSR with 37k miles....didn't think i had that much carbon in my motor...but i guess i was wrong. after going through about half the bottle, i pured the rest into the crank case. i turned the car off for 5 minutes and let the sea foam eat away at the carbon. i started it back up 5 minutes later. it was kind of groggy, still smoking like hell. i drove it around the block and it started getting better, but got real groggy around 5500rpms. once i got all the Sea Foam through the system, the car feels a lot better. my car would usually hesitate/bog at very low rpms from a dead stop. now it doesn't. it also just feels a lot more responsive. i thought i'd post my little experience with Sea Foam....see if any of you guys use it. CLIFFS NOTES: Sea Foam made my car happy!!

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[djay86]

you closed your garage door while your car was running?

[Xymox007]

Originally Posted by djay86

you closed your garage door while your car was running?

I think he means the rear of the car was facing the opening of the garage. Hence, smoke was entering the garage.

[jDMJeRk]

Originally Posted by djay86

you closed your garage door while your car was running?

Who cares if he did!
But more on the topic:
Ive never heard of such a thing! WTF does it do? Just cleans the carbon out? What if i did this to my 172k LS motor on my teg for fun?
Thanks!
Hopefully this helps out other ht'ers!

it sounds so sketch

[NUTWEAVE]

i pulled my car out of the garage...i'm not totally retarded.

sea foam eats away all the carbon from your intake manifold, to your valves, etc...

it's not like that fuel system cleaner crap that doesn't work. this stuff actually works. you find a vacuum line coming off your intake manifold (i chose the brake booster line). the line will have a vacuum and try to suck up stuff...so you put the line in the Sea Foam bottle and it evenly distributes it to all runners and combustion chambers. no it does not hydrolock your car, it is combustable. trust me, i know many domestic owners who swear by it, and after using it today, i also swear by it.

there are only 2 fluids i actually have faith in. one is GM Syncromesh FM, and now Sea Foam. you can purchase Sea Foam from your local NAPAs, i also think Autozone carries it. here is a link for more info.

http://stevenbigler.tripod.com/scoutco/id12.html

[Xymox007]

Originally Posted by NUTWEAVE

one is GM Syncromesh FM

Tell me more about this GM Synchomesh FM, if you don't mind. Where do you buy the stuff? What is the process for using it? (I.E., how much of it do I need? Simple directions would totally rock!)

http://www.honda-tech.com/zero...49469 <-- link I found.

Thanks, bud.


Modified by Xymox007 at 1:09 AM 2/4/2004

[BolivianDc2]

i've heard about this before, don't they use it at dealerships?

[NUTWEAVE]

ok i did some reading....

you're not supposed to submerge the line into the Sea Foam bottle...hehe. they say it's possible to hydrolock it if too much enters the motor. i guess i got lucky. they say you are supposed to slowly pour it into the line.

other than that error, i was accurate.

i dunno if they use it at dealerships or not. i just always heard about it from domestic friends but i never really looked into it. then i came across a Sea Foam topic on offtopic.com and people were saying how it helped them out and what not so i thought i'd try it out to see if it really did work.

if you want info on the Synchromesh, just do a search for it. there are tons of threads about it on h-t. but that's for your tranny, not your motor.

[NUTWEAVE]

ok here's a how-to for a Camaro...pretty much identical except for location of brake booster and what not.
_____________

1. Park car in a well-ventilated area.

2. Start car and run until it reaches closed loop (generally 5-10 minutes, and above 160°).

3. Open hood.

4. Find black hose that runs from the middle of the driver's side of the intake manifold into the black box on the firewall. This is the brake booster hose.

5. Remove the hose end from the black box; you'll hear the vacuum and the car's idle change.
* If your car stalls out, then use the middle hose that attaches to the passenger side of the throttle body. It's an L-shaped piece of hose, that connects to a black box mounted on the pass. side of the intake manifold. Pull the end connected to that box, and use that for sucking the liquid in, detailed below.

6. Place end of hose into the top of the Carbon Cleaner bottle. Allow it to suck liquid out until the engine starts to idle noticeably lower; then remove the hose from the bottle. Do not pour enough to stall the engine yet.
* Warning: Sea Foam does not recommend sticking a vacuum line into the bottle, but rather pouring the liquid into the line by using your thumb over the top of the bottle to regulate the flow. This prevents too much liquid from being drawn in and possible hydro-locking. It is your choice how to do it, at your own risk.

7. Repeat the above until between 1/3 and 1/2 of the liquid has been used.

8. Now let enough of the liquid be sucked in until it stalls the engine.

9. Turn off ignition.

10. Replace black hose end into brake master cylinder (the black box on the firewall).
* If you used the throttle body connection, reconnect it back to the black box.

11. Pour the remaining 2/3-1/2 of Carbon Cleaner into crankcase (through the oil filler tube). If you want to be exact per its instructions, you can measure out about 7.5 ounces to add to a full oil supply of 5 quarts. This turns out to be between 1/3 and 1/2 of the can.

12. Pour other full bottle of Carbon Cleaner liquid into gas tank.

13. Remove intake bellows from throttle body and push up out of the way.

14. Have someone (or something) press the gas pedal all the way down, or manually move the throttle cable assembly under the hood, until the throttle blades are fully open.

15. Spray Sea Foam Deep Creep into throttle body, fully soaking the blades, the bottom, top, and up and down into the intake manifold behind the throttle body. Use a good amount.

16. Wipe off excess liquid and visible deposits from the throttle body and blades with a shop or paper towel (especially around the edges of the blades), and reconnect intake bellows.

17. Let car sit for a total of 15 minutes from the point you stalled the engine (however much of the 15 minutes is left after you've done steps 9-16).

18. Start car (it will be harder than normal).

19. Immediately take the car for a spirited drive, being sure to rev high as well as put a load on the engine to make best use of the Sea Foam in the oil valleys and lifter and ring areas. Enjoy the fogging of your neighborhood. Then take it to the gas station and fill up the tank with 91+ octane (as always).

[BolivianDc2]

Originally Posted by NUTWEAVE

19. Immediately take the car for a spirited drive, being sure to rev high as well as put a load on the engine to make best use of the Sea Foam in the oil valleys and lifter and ring areas. Enjoy the fogging of your neighborhood. Then take it to the gas station and fill up the tank with 91+ octane (as always).

i like that part

[bboynekro]

what if your car has a broken idle control valve and idles in a loop of 1500rpm?

[obd2gsr]

you know u can do this with ATF rite? but interesting post with good instructions.

[deepgreengsr]

or just spray carb cleaner in your spark plug holes(plugs removed) and into your intake mani when the engine is running. I would changge your oil after running sea foam to. the detergents can stay in there. and they arent as slippery as oil

[bert039]

Originally Posted by NUTWEAVE

4. Find black hose that runs from the middle of the driver's side of the intake manifold into the black box on the firewall. This is the brake booster hose.

You used the brake booster hose? I read that the brake booster hose might be too big to use and that you should use a smaller vacuum hose. But it worked out ok for you?

[90integraGSgray]

water is what the honda dealers use. it does the same thing. They just use 2 ppl... one in the car, and the other under the hood. The person in the car pushes the peddle to the floor, and the other dumps the water into the vacum hose. This way you have no detergents left behind.

[NUTWEAVE]

Originally Posted by bert039

You used the brake booster hose? I read that the brake booster hose might be too big to use and that you should use a smaller vacuum hose. But it worked out ok for you?

yeah it worked fine for me. as long as you limit the amount that goes in, you should be fine.

[Hellraver]

This scares me ...... But im very tempted to try it since i have 80k miles.

[slomob18b]

bump for more testimonials!

[rapid_roy]

Funny, I could have sworn I mentioned it here before.

Fellas, this stuff is ****ing magic for older engines. I have been using it for 3 years now, twice a year in my Integra, motorcycle and my GF's 626 (and her Accord before that). I swear buy it. If it wouldn't kill me I'de put it in my coffee.

On the Integra I have tried the vacuum line that connects to the throttle body and removing the intake and squirting it right into the throttle body. Either way works, except that squirting it in makes a mess as some of it drips out.

If you put it in your oil there are 2 schools for how long you should leave it in there. Some say put it in your oil, drive around and then change it and some say put it in there and leave it for a few days or until your next oil change. I have tried both methods and can't tell a difference between the 2.

On a motorcycle (or a car with a carb), just pour a little bit into each carb (or single carb) in order. If you have s single carb engine, pour slowly. My bike runs rich and is constantly fouling plugs and knocking at low rpm's under load. All I do is put a little in the tank and it's fine, cleans it right out.

Try it once and you will believe.

Cheers,
Sean

[dip-set]

yes bump for more info...so on a teg what vacuum hose is used for this...pic possibly?

[rapid_roy]

Don't have a pic of it but it's the one that connects from the valve cover to the throttle body.

Cheers,
Sean

[dip-set]

this one.?...also would i use this hose on any honda/acura if i were to do it?



take the end off the pcv valve correct and allow it to suck it in till its about to stall,and from there?

[rapid_roy]

That's the one. My bad, it goes to the intake manifold, not the throttle body. Sorry for the confusion.

Within seconds of it getting in there, the engine will stall so you'll need another person, or be crafty enough to hold the bottle and hose and manipulate the throttle linkage to rev the engine.

Cheers,
Sean

[BolivianDc2]

couldn't you use any line that connects to the IM? brake booster or PVC