seafoam enigne? when and how

[Crooked Letta]

Or we could just not worry about it too much. How about the guy with almost 180k on his fist with no catch can?

I agree with this to a point if you are leaning towards removing the head and using a walnut media to clean. Buildup is normal on a DI engine and lets not forget we are running a turbo vehicle not N/A. If there is no perceivable difference in performance I wouldn't bother. Not sure how many people have even measured the performance difference between a built up on valves and after cleaning. When it starts causing problems like misfires or a rough idle then it needs to be done.

 

[LedRobster]

I agree with this to a point if you are leaning towards removing the head and using a walnut media to clean. Buildup is normal on a DI engine and lets not forget we are running a turbo vehicle not N/A. If there is no perceivable difference in performance I wouldn't bother. Not sure how many people have even measured the performance difference between a built up on valves and after cleaning. When it starts causing problems like misfires or a rough idle then it needs to be done.

The issue is that it's a slow process, you're not really going to notice it until 40 or 60K when you get the valves cleaned and really notice the improved throttle response and smoothness. Carbon build up is sneaky like that.

Also, I think if you have the right tools, you don't need to pull the head to clean the valves, just the intake manifold. That's coming from BMW-land though, every engine is different.

My experience with catch cans is that they're great at collecting water and maybe a half ounce of oil per full can. A lot of that is climate dependent though.

 

[StuttersC]

Do not seafoam your engine. It's harmful to the oil seal on your turbo. There's a thread around here that goes more in depth on this.

I am searching for the thread. I am curious how a petroleum based product is bad for seals that see other petroleum based products regularly?

From another forum posting an email response regarding SeaFoam in a turbo charged car...

Oh, the internet and forums! Thank them for recommending Sea Foam, scorn them for being so unknowledgeable.
Sea Foam is a 100% blended petroleum oil product, so it is an OIL product, NOT A CHEMICAL like available retail oil system "FLUSHES" are.
Originally formulated and marketed starting in 1940 to cure problems in fuels and oils commonly occurring in the small engine industry, it is unique because it is OIL. Unique because you can NOT damage internal components when Sea Foam is used within the parameters printed on the product container and available on the internet.
This 100% OIL blend is specifically for drying moisture in gasoline gas/oil mixes & Diesel fuel and oil (yet not a chemical), adding lubrication to fuels and other lubricants for protection, cleaning fuel and oil residue back into liquid, cleaning carbon deposits off cylinder heads, pistons, valves & ring lands, and stabilizing fuels for up to 2 years.
NO CHEMICALS!! No affects on plastics, rubber products,gaskets, o-rings, seals or other components.
Used as a pre cleaner to doing an LOF service or as a "Quick Cure" for minor oil residue problems, Sea Foam can also be used as an after service additive to continue to re-liquefy old oil residue and keep moisture out of your oils. Sea Foam does NOT thin out your oil, has no affect on its lubricating properties, and works with synthetic oils also.
As a pre service cleaner or residue quick problem solver, always drive the engine a minimum of 30 minutes before doing your LOF service.
After putting Sea Foam into your crankcase at recommended amounts, Monitor the oil for color and clarity to determine when an oil service should be done, since Sea Foam is a high detergent cleaner, your LOF service WILL be necessary sooner than normal until residual old oil residue is eliminated.

 

[OCS12]

I am searching for the thread. I am curious how a petroleum based product is bad for seals that see other petroleum based products regularly?

From another forum posting an email response regarding SeaFoam in a turbo charged car...

My reason for no longer using Seafoam, may be coincidence, but I'm 2/2 for radiator leaks after using it. Not sure if the motor runs crazy hot when using it, or just bad luck. Either way, I'm done with it.

 

[frankiefiesta]

I've had the idea of dropping seafoam or similar product in where the symposer delete goes. This way it doesn't come in contact with the turbo... is this a stupid idea??

 

[M-Sport fan]

walnut blast. I did my fiesta at 19k. Valves were already pretty bad. Installed a catch can with the blasting and will check again and reblast at 40k

What is the process of this procedure; does the head have to come off the block, and if not, how do they get all of the walnut abrasion material, and loosened carbon particles, out of the combustion chamber, and make sure it does not end up in the turbine blades?

 

[M-Sport fan]

Would be interested to see how they are at 40K. In my experience, catch cans do not make a negilible amount of difference to carbon buildup on DI engines.

Did you mean to say "catch cans do not make a significant amount of difference" above?

 

[Quisp]

What is the process of this procedure; does the head have to come off the block, and if not, how do they get all of the walnut abrasion material, and loosened carbon particles, out of the combustion chamber, and make sure it does not end up in the turbine blades?

Vacuum. MM is mostly pale oil.

 

[MitchsFiesta]

Head stays on. take out the plugs and manually move each cylinder to TDC, cover all other intake ports and blast while putting a vaccum in it to collect the walnuts and carbon and repeat. Sometimes I use some liquid cleaner at the end to get some of the walnut dust out.

I have done 20+ cars using this method. They all still run with no reports of damage to the turbos. The exhaust has a nice roasted walnut smell afterwards. Makes the shop smell nice! I dont think the walnut shells are hard enough to damage turbine blades. You can smash them up into a fine powder pretty easily and they are combustible. The only risk you run is if you do it wrong with the intake valve open, you can get enough walnuts in there to lock the motor up. I always spin the motor by hand when I am done to make sure that it won't lock up.

I recently did a similar experiment on a n54 bmw (D.I. motor, turbo, dual variable valve timing, ect). Blasted and did a catch can and 20k later the valves were still dirty.

 

[Joker328]

I am searching for the thread. I am curious how a petroleum based product is bad for seals that see other petroleum based products regularly?

From another forum posting an email response regarding SeaFoam in a turbo charged car...

I don't know about the seafoam itself, but I think part of the concern with turbos is the bits of carbon buildup flaking off and making their way to the turbo and causing problems there. I've also heard that's a myth, so who the hell knows. Personally, I wouldn't bother unless I noticed a problem or had the manifold/head off for some other reason and noticed a lot of buildup, in which case I would probably splurge for walnut blasting instead.

 

[StuttersC]

My reason for no longer using Seafoam, may be coincidence, but I'm 2/2 for radiator leaks after using it. Not sure if the motor runs crazy hot when using it, or just bad luck. Either way, I'm done with it.

Yes, bad coincidence...

Basic trouble shooting would rule out Sea Foam as the cause of a radiator leak...Sea Foam shouldn't make your engine run "crazy hot", something you should have noticed anyway. This is the kind of misdiagnosis that people point to and say, "See, it ruins you car..."

There is no supporting evidence that Sea Foam in your engine caused your radiator to leak.

 

[StuttersC]

I've had the idea of dropping seafoam or similar product in where the symposer delete goes. This way it doesn't come in contact with the turbo... is this a stupid idea??

I would go in the fuel tank, spray into the intake manifold, and you can add some to your oil itself. Basically what I have seen and did myself on another car was got close to a low tank of gas at an oil change interval. Put it in the tank and then filled up gas. Did a third of a can in the intake and a 1/3 of can in the oil. Drove about 200 miles like that and did an oil change. No issues.

I did not do before after pics. I wanted to try it out as it was something easy to do and basic enough to figure out. Following the directions and there is no issue.

 

[StuttersC]

I don't know about the seafoam itself, but I think part of the concern with turbos is the bits of carbon buildup flaking off and making their way to the turbo and causing problems there. I've also heard that's a myth, so who the hell knows. Personally, I wouldn't bother unless I noticed a problem or had the manifold/head off for some other reason and noticed a lot of buildup, in which case I would probably splurge for walnut blasting instead.

Sea Foam itself is an oil based product that can break up carbon deposits. It works. I doubt a piece of carbon would damage the turbo.

 

[frankiefiesta]

I would go in the fuel tank, spray into the intake manifold, and you can add some to your oil itself. Basically what I have seen and did myself on another car was got close to a low tank of gas at an oil change interval. Put it in the tank and then filled up gas. Did a third of a can in the intake and a 1/3 of can in the oil. Drove about 200 miles like that and did an oil change. No issues.

I did not do before after pics. I wanted to try it out as it was something easy to do and basic enough to figure out. Following the directions and there is no issue.

The issue with putting it in the fuel tank is that our cars are direct injection. The seafoam would then be sprayed onto the pistons, and wouldn't clean the valves.. am I wrong?

 

[StuttersC]

The issue with putting it in the fuel tank is that our cars are direct injection. The seafoam would then be sprayed onto the pistons, and wouldn't clean the valves.. am I wrong?

That is correct. That is why you would go through the intake (about the throttle body) to hit the valves and anything in the manifold.

If the injectors shot fuel on the valves, we wouldn't have the issue as bad as it sounds like [MENTION=2728]CP-E Mitch[/MENTION] stated.

 

[frankiefiesta]

That is correct. That is why you would go through the intake (about the throttle body) to hit the valves and anything in the manifold.

If the injectors shot fuel on the valves, we wouldn't have the issue as bad as it sounds like [MENTION=2728]CP-E Mitch[/MENTION] stated.

Understood, that's why I suggested shooting it through the symposer delete. It's right next to the throttle body.

Sorry for any confusion

 

[StuttersC]

Understood, that's why I suggested shooting it through the symposer delete. It's right next to the throttle body.

Sorry for any confusion

No worries. I've never looked at where the symposer goes. I don't know if there is enough vacuum to pull anything in.

Sea Foam will act like a fuel treatment additive in the fuel tank anyway. So, it doesn't hurt to run it there either.

The car I did it on, I did all three spots. I couldn't tell a seat of the pants difference.

 

[OCS12]

Yes, bad coincidence...

Basic trouble shooting would rule out Sea Foam as the cause of a radiator leak...Sea Foam shouldn't make your engine run "crazy hot", something you should have noticed anyway. This is the kind of misdiagnosis that people point to and say, "See, it ruins you car..."

There is no supporting evidence that Sea Foam in your engine caused your radiator to leak.

Yep, that's why I said it could be a coincidence. However, I saw no noticeable gain from using it, and obviously had bad luck, so no reason for me to risk it anymore.

Seafoam will always have its haters and it's fan boys, of which I'm neither. I'll just stick with my plan which is running an OCC, then walnut blasting when the time comes.

 

[totusPorcus]

on my 2014, if you take off the plastic engine cover, on the rubber manifold on the left, there is a hex screw attached sensor of some kind, i think it might be a map sensor. i did pull this off and sort of let it partially closed and did a small amount it there. was a bit of a pain because i had only this tiny applicator bottle with a needle like proboscis that i squired some into this hole while the motor was idling. check engine light came on as expected which i reset later with a laptop / odbdII interface. the tiny bottle is used for applying solvents and similar cleaning liquids to firearms cleaning patches. on an aside, a lot of shooters use seafoam to remove carbon from rifle barrels. removal of carbon from a rifle barrel is an absolute must unless you dont care about accuracy.

as to 'will you be able to tell a difference as carbon builds up in your head'. maybe not. its like putting a frog in a cold pan of water and then turning on the heat. it sort of slowy builds up and you dont notice it until late in the day and maybe it isnt a problem in this car. but it is in others and is something i would like to nip in the bud.

as i mentioned earlier you might be able to use the stratified fuel adding system to achieve the goal. one thing i am pondering is modifying the car to run on e85. i suspect that you could use a cobb access port, and the stratified system and convert the car to run on e85 with the stratified unit supply additional fuel up front and it would provide some cleaning to the head. i converted my wrx to run on e85 and i started by adding bigger injectors, and pump and then tuning the more or less stock car to run on e85. once i got comfortable with that i added a bigger turbo, turbo back and bigger top mount. im considering taking the same path with this car.

 

[Goingnowherefast]

Head stays on. take out the plugs and manually move each cylinder to TDC, cover all other intake ports and blast while putting a vaccum in it to collect the walnuts and carbon and repeat. Sometimes I use some liquid cleaner at the end to get some of the walnut dust out.

I have done 20+ cars using this method. They all still run with no reports of damage to the turbos. The exhaust has a nice roasted walnut smell afterwards. Makes the shop smell nice! I dont think the walnut shells are hard enough to damage turbine blades. You can smash them up into a fine powder pretty easily and they are combustible. The only risk you run is if you do it wrong with the intake valve open, you can get enough walnuts in there to lock the motor up. I always spin the motor by hand when I am done to make sure that it won't lock up.

I recently did a similar experiment on a n54 bmw (D.I. motor, turbo, dual variable valve timing, ect). Blasted and did a catch can and 20k later the valves were still dirty.

How long do you think you can do the job in? Book time etc.