Seafoam

[bangbangskeetskeet]

Who has used it on there truck?

I have been thinking about doing a can or two in the truck. When I had the heads off the pistons had a decend amount of carbon build up on them, and the compustion chambers on the heads were the same. The intake manifold had a pretty good build up of oil from the PCV system...still need to get a good catch can to take care of that...so I guess what Im asking is, is it worth it?

[kerrige]

Cost's like $5 I would say its worth it.

[Frenchy]

I'll put it this way, when I built my heads I let the valves sit in seafoam for a few hours. Went in with 20000 miles of carbon, came out brand new.

[Slammed96]

plus you get a sweet smoke show out the tailpipe for your troubles. Wait till spring and you wont have mosquitos all summer

[bangbangskeetskeet]

I'll put it this way, when I built my heads I let the valves sit in seafoam for a few hours. Went in with 20000 miles of carbon, came out brand new.

Ok well Im sold.
Now...whats the best way to administer it?

And I have also been hearing of this Berrymans B-12...any better or worse?

[Mf2racer]

Suck 1/3rd of a can up in the brake booster vacuum line. Let it sit for 5min and fire it back up and let it idle till smoke goes down. Poor the rest in the gas tank. Do it to mine before every oil change.

[ezdaar]

Its best to do this on a fully warmed up engine and CAT.
Both B-12 and Seafoam are Cat and O2 friendly under NORMAL use, what you willbe doing is NOT normal, so have the cat nice and hot so it will burn off any unburnt seafoam or B-12 that makes it through..

BE very carefull how much you pour via booster line or inject via PCV return port, LS hydrolock easy.

you would be advised to inject it in via the PCV return port behind throttle blade, as this will better distribute the seafoam through the intake and is easier to control.
as the Brake booster is known to over do rear cylinders (hydrolock) and not get any to the fronts.

The best method I have found to get seafoam in under a controled rate is to use a clear nylon tube 1/4 or bigger, long enough so that you can stand off to front or side of engine bay, comfortably.
use channel lock pliers to pinch the tube aprox 10" from the end of the hose. aka have enough past the pliers to reach bottom of can..
While engine is running, insert the tube and GENTLY relax grip on pliers until you hear and see a small amout suck up in the tube.
If the engine doesnt sputter and try to die, its not enough, if your helper has to rev engine over 2500 its to much..
Find that happy spot where engine is coughing and sputtering alil but maintains a easy rev.


My preferred method is 1/3 can at a time while helper maintains a 1500-2500 rpm, which ever gives the most smoke out tail pipes.
after pouring in 1/3 kill engine, let soak for 15-30mins, fire up engine and bring up rpm to 1500, once smoke starts begin poring in 2 1/3 can and bring engine up to RPM that produces thickest smoke.

Repeat this untill you no longer get any smoke from tail pipes. the smoke is the oil, carbon and all other junk burning off.. NOT the seafoam, the seafoam simply loosens the junk and allows it to be burnt off.
It took 4 cans + 2 cans of B-12 to clean out my 2000 161k mile 5.7.
It was a dramatic difference in average idle quality, throttle response and over all power.

Use B-12 to spray into TB and clean off back of blade. Spray it all around inside intake as much as possible. I bend the last 1" of the tube 45* to better reach into the intake.
Just becarefull and really force the tube into the nozzle so it doesnt fly out and down into the intake. B-12 is highly pressurized and will often blow the tube out.
Engine will be really hard to start with all the B-12 and gunk thats loose, once it fires, rev to 1500 to blow it all out..
____
pour a can (SeaFoam) into gas tank and half can into oil while at 1/4 tank, drive it for aprox 5 miles to mix up the mixture, then let it idle for abit, this will clean injectors out very well.
____
Change oil and maybe plugs if they get all nasty.

Enjoy a very smooth running engine..

[bangbangskeetskeet]

Excelent info! Thanks.

Dont have cats on the truck so do I still need to get it up to temp before starting the treatment?

How many cans would you recomend I get for a 240k mile 5.3?

[ezdaar]

shouldn't take more than 4, might only need one.
I have seen some vehicals clean up with under a half can...
On my 5.7,I ended up with just under half a can left before I got no more smoke from tail pipe..
just get 4 and what ever you don't use, pour it into gas tank.
Can always return unused cans.

Its better to have the engine warmed up as its the heat inside that steams up most of the seafoam which allows it to do its work.
Hot carbon, oil, etc, doesn't like cold seafoam touching it, when it does it breaks apart rapidly.

Its ultimately up to you, some ppl shy away from cold liquids touching valves and rings...
But personally I never had any problems on the countless engines I have performed this on.
You may want to pour in a half can or more into oil and DD, Not race, a few days before doing this to allow the sludge to break up.
considering you will want to change oil after running this many cans through top end.

Also edited 1st post towards bottom.. to clear up any confusion about what to pour in tank and oil.. B-12 vs Seafoam.

[double047]

Stop driving that thing like such a Grandpa!!!