Seafoam

[timdayii]

Okay, normally I don't buy "snake oil" type stuff, they seem like a waste of money, but this Seafoam stuff works!!!    I have just over 65K on my 04 and thought she needed some love, so I am replacing all the fluids over the next week or so.  I seafoamed the intake yesterday and I should have back the truck a little further out of the garage!  There was white smoke all in the garage and going out the garage door.  I was surprised at how much it did smoke, but after a quick drive on the freeway, it stopped.  I put an entire bottle in the gas tank too and it seems to have much crisper throttle response and the MPGs are already starting to climb.

So the oil change is done, the rear end fluid is replaced and the seafoam treatment has been done.  On to the tranny, t-case and front diff this weekend! 

[ramonday]

Did you change plugs or wires after doing the Seafoam?

Not sure about rjg5, but I didn't change mine after the treatment. If you take your time pouring the Seafoam into a vacuum hose that goes to the intake, you shouldn't run a risk of fouling anything. Think of it this way: the Seafoam reacts to carbon and then gets exhausted out. If you don't flood the intake all at once, the Seafoam should react and exhaust more than quickly enough to prevent any fluid fouling of plugs.

[ramonday]

Okay, normally I don't buy "snake oil" type stuff, they seem like a waste of money, but this Seafoam stuff works!!!    I have just over 65K on my 04 and thought she needed some love, so I am replacing all the fluids over the next week or so.  I seafoamed the intake yesterday and I should have back the truck a little further out of the garage!  There was white smoke all in the garage and going out the garage door.  I was surprised at how much it did smoke, but after a quick drive on the freeway, it stopped.  I put an entire bottle in the gas tank too and it seems to have much crisper throttle response and the MPGs are already starting to climb.

So the oil change is done, the rear end fluid is replaced and the seafoam treatment has been done.  On to the tranny, t-case and front diff this weekend! 

Are you going to try the 1.5oz of Seafoam per quart of oil in the crankcase for treatment? Quite honestly, if you've only got 65k, and if you have used synthetic, I wouldn't. Shouldn't be any sludge to speak of.

[Shanes 02 Avalanche]

He is right about using Synthetic. I did Seafoam in the oil for the first time on mine at 146k. I had no sludge or anything else in my oil. My dads Rodeo, which run Dino had a bunch of sludge. this is the only reason I ran it through my AV. I did however get stuff in my oil the first time I seafoamed my intake. So everytime I Seafoam my intake, I do an oil change. As for the sparkplugs, I have never had an issue with fouling out mine. And I have been using Seafoam for a while.

[timdayii]

I have run strictly Mobile 1 synthetic in it from the 3K mile mark.  I was towing a boat on a regular basis up until I moved to Hawaii.

I think I will just spend the 9 bucks every other month or so to dump a can of seafoam in the tank.  I am not sure the quality of the gas out here and it seems to be cheap insurance and would keep it form getting so built up in the injectors and all. 

Thanks again!

[Avalanche Maverick]

After a full tank of fuel and getting my E3 and MSD wires the AV runs a little better.
I had Bosch Plat +4 and when i changed they were burnt. They only had about 11,000
miles on them. I was told they were burnt because of the build up they burned off
with the seafoam. which i guess is good. I havent really been on a trip in since i have
done all this just back and forth to work and one trip to Houston. Thought I would
have a few more trips in going to boys football games but with everybody wanting to ride
I have to takes the Wifes SUV i did the seafoam to it and it gets better mpg per tank. Not
sure about the way it drives cause i only drive the ford when i have to.

[GRUMPE]

I would like to do the seafoam thingy also. 

I will be doing an oil change shortly so I would like to do the seafoam first.

When should I do the oil change once the seafoam has been added?  Right away or could I wait a week or so without any harm.

I am thinking two cans of seafoam.  One for crankcase a half for the oil and the other half for the gas tank.

Thanks,
RON

[Shanes 02 Avalanche]

You need to do the oil change right after the seafoam. Only use about 12 ounces thru the vacuum hose. Put about 6-8 ounces in the oil and run for about 2-5 minutes. No more than 5 minutes. Then do the oil change and go and drive the Av up into the 3000+ RPM range. What ever you do do not drive with Seafoam in the oil.

[misura]

My brother tried that in his 02 silverado. Flooded out. Started truck back up and BAM! blew it up good.Cracked block, manifold, very fubared.

Misura

[Shanes 02 Avalanche]

Don't do both at the same time. Do the vacuum hose first. Then the oil, I think I only did mine for less then a minute because I was scared of blowing my engine. I have done the crankcase in my Av twice and once in my dads Rodeo. "REMEMBER THAT SEAFOAM IS A CLEANER AND WILL STRIP ALL THE LUBRICATION OFF YOUR ENGINE, IT ALSO BREAKS DOWN YOUR OIL". That is why you only do it for a very short period of time and never rev the engine. I kept mine at idle.
As for the gas tank you use 1 ounce per gallon.

[ms38w]

You need to do the oil change right after the seafoam. Only use about 12 ounces thru the vacuum hose. Put about 6-8 ounces in the oil and run for about 2-5 minutes. No more than 5 minutes. Then do the oil change and go and drive the Av up into the 3000+ RPM range. What ever you do do not drive with Seafoam in the oil.

why not drive with seafoam in the oil???  I don't remember seeing that on the can!!!  Maybe that's why my oil pump is malfunctioning.......

[Shanes 02 Avalanche]

Think of Seafoam in your oil as Acetone is in your paint. it cleans your parts but destroys the paint in the process. So when you put Seafoam in your oil it cleans all the oil ports and bearings and such from all the sludge that builds up. So you oil gets thinned out and loses its lubricating abilities. That is why I never run my on the road with Seafoam in the oil. It is only good for running in your gas tank, for cleaning out the fuel system.
That is what whenever I an about to do an oil change I will do the vacuum hose first, to clean out the valves. Then run it through the oil before I drain it. This has always worked out for me.

[ramonday]

Think of Seafoam in your oil as Acetone is in your paint. it cleans your parts but destroys the paint in the process. So when you put Seafoam in your oil it cleans all the oil ports and bearings and such from all the sludge that builds up. So you oil gets thinned out and loses its lubricating abilities. That is why I never run my on the road with Seafoam in the oil. It is only good for running in your gas tank, for cleaning out the fuel system.
That is what whenever I an about to do an oil change I will do the vacuum hose first, to clean out the valves. Then run it through the oil before I drain it. This has always worked out for me.

 :thumbsup:x2 on the running Seafoam in the oil and then draining it. It will be extremely thin.

Something else I wanted to add about the Seafoam treatment for the intake: you might want to check your spark plugs afterward. I ended up fouling my #2 sparkplug (passenger side furthest front) about a thousand miles after my treatment. I had some el cheapo Champion coppers and that might have been the issue, but just wanted to throw that out there. I took them all out and put in NGK platinums and have an extremely smooth idle, now. Probably won't have the fouling issue, either, after a Seafoam treatment because of the higher burning temperature.

[GRUMPE]

You need to do the oil change right after the seafoam. Only use about 12 ounces thru the vacuum hose. Put about 6-8 ounces in the oil and run for about 2-5 minutes. No more than 5 minutes. Then do the oil change and go and drive the Av up into the 3000+ RPM range. What ever you do do not drive with Seafoam in the oil.

Thanks so much for the info.  I was planning on doing the seafoam then drive it to get the oil change done.

Guess I won't be doing that.

Thanks again,
Shane


RON

[anglarry04]

seafoamed the honda yesterday.    it did smoke a lot but unsure if it was fro the seafoam or not.   sometimes the honda smokes a lot.  I will say it smoked soon as I started it, but then got worse as I poured it.  I cant belive how easy it was.   Gonna do my av soon as my boss lets me take my recuperaton time.

[ramonday]

seafoamed the honda yesterday.    it did smoke a lot but unsure if it was fro the seafoam or not.   sometimes the honda smokes a lot.  I will say it smoked soon as I started it, but then got worse as I poured it.  I cant belive how easy it was.   Gonna do my av soon as my boss lets me take my recuperaton time.

Seafoamed my dad's Tundra this past weekend and it smoked 10x worse than my Avalanche. You'll be disappointed on the Avalanche smoke show, but you'll love the results. If you develop a rough idle a few days after the treatment, then you've probably fouled a sparkplug. Replace it and you'll be astounded by the smooth idle and acceleration. I get about 1.5 mpg more since the treatment and the power increase is actually noticeable.

[anglarry04]

can't wait to try.   Maybe this week.   Just started my time off.   And the av is due an oil change.   I been using synthetic since I bought it at 64,000 miles, currently at 77,000

[GRUMPE]

Thanks so much for the info.  I was planning on doing the seafoam then drive it to get the oil change done.

Guess I won't be doing that.

Thanks again,
Shane


RON

I want to do this but am afraid after reading post about fouling up the spark plugs etc.  Believe me with my luck I will foul them all and will have more problems then when I started.

I wanted to do the seafoam in the oil also but I do not do my own oil changes so I'm out ther also.

Maybe I'll just do the gas thingy.  I can't screw that up.   Right   

RON

[D-Loc]

I want to do this but am afraid after reading post about fouling up the spark plugs etc.  Believe me with my luck I will foul them all and will have more problems then when I started.

I wanted to do the seafoam in the oil also but I do not do my own oil changes so I'm out ther also.

Maybe I'll just do the gas thingy.  I can't screw that up.   Right   

RON

I usually dont do my own oil changes either but i was thinking and if u took it to the place u get it done u could probably do it in the parking lot or something, if I end up doing this I might take that route. As for the spark plugs if something does happen thats a pretty simple fix.

[ramonday]

I usually dont do my own oil changes either but i was thinking and if u took it to the place u get it done u could probably do it in the parking lot or something, if I end up doing this I might take that route. As for the spark plugs if something does happen thats a pretty simple fix.

I think the reason I fouled my plug after the treatment was because it was a very cheap, copper plug. Honestly, I don't think platinum plugs would foul after Seafoaming the intake.

[anglarry04]

thats probably right.   I have ngk iriduims in the honda and they came out well.   Not sure what I have in the av

[ramonday]

thats probably right.   I have ngk iriduims in the honda and they came out well.   Not sure what I have in the av

If they are originals, then they are definitely platinum, probably Densos or Delcos. I think the dumbest thing I've ever done was put cheap copper plugs in my Avalanche. They would probably work okay if you gapped the crap out of them, something like .65 or higher, but then they would just start blistering and wear out even sooner. Do the Seaform intake clean and then install new NGK TR5GP, gapped to .40 (I've never seen them gapped from the factory to exactly .40...most were around .30), with a little dielectric grease in the boot, and you're idle that you had when it was new will come back. You'll also see a great power gain, especially mid-range.

[jimbo53188]

Think of Seafoam in your oil as Acetone is in your paint. it cleans your parts but destroys the paint in the process. So when you put Seafoam in your oil it cleans all the oil ports and bearings and such from all the sludge that builds up. So you oil gets thinned out and loses its lubricating abilities. That is why I never run my on the road with Seafoam in the oil. It is only good for running in your gas tank, for cleaning out the fuel system.
That is what whenever I an about to do an oil change I will do the vacuum hose first, to clean out the valves. Then run it through the oil before I drain it. This has always worked out for me.

seafoam has the oil change procedure on thier website, open the pdf file labeled"in crankcase oil"     
http://www.seafoamsales.com/technical-information/gasoline-engines/index.html

[GRUMPE]

seafoam has the oil change procedure on thier website, open the pdf file labeled"in crankcase oil"     
http://www.seafoamsales.com/technical-information/gasoline-engines/index.html

So from this, if I am reading it right.
Add 1 1/2 ounces per quart (6) for the av, total of 9 ounces of seafoam, then I can drive a min. of 30 minutes or 30 miles before I get the oil changed out.

This would let me do what I wanted to, add the seafoam the go get the oil changed, correct.

Sorry for the stupid question.  Just want to make sure.  Better safe then sorry.

Anyone know off hand what the cost for those NGK TR5GP plugs go for.  I thought I read where they are hard to get off and that there was one that was super hard to get to?

Thanks,
RON

[anglarry04]

Anyone know off hand what the cost for those NGK TR5GP plugs go for.  I thought I read where they are hard to get off and that there was one that was super hard to get to?

Thanks,
RON

curious myself...I might check today if i get time.   Not sure when I am gonna do the av

*UPDATE*   Just checked the internet.   Advanced auto parts sells these plugs for $2.79 each.  Their part number is 3186