Originally Posted by FyreDaug

I havent been here very long but I see a new thread almost every day asking questions about seafoam
Pale oil, is refined oil until its clear, Naptha is octane booster and IPA is isopropyl alcohol.

Now this is the recommended usage on 1 can of seafoam.

FIRST AND FOREMOST, seafoam will break down oil, it is not meant to be driving with, you will cause more harm to your engine than you are doing good, and its mostly long term. Will dig into that more in a second

What you are supposed to do, and what I would recommend you do, is just suck a whole can through a vacuum line. Dont worry about the 1/3 1/3 1/3 thing.

1) Because injector cleaner that comes in its own bottle will work better than a little bit of seafoam in the gas tank
2) You are mainly trying to clean the combustion chambers
3) its BAD for your oil.


Now if you have your heart set of cleaning out some of the gunk on the inside of your oil pan, and you wish to use seafoam do THIS, and only this:

Warm engine up to normal operating temperature, the fans will kick on, let them turn off then turn the car off. Pour it through the valve cover and wait 5 minutes before you start the car up, you need to let the seafoam trickle down and saturate your oil.

Now another important thing to do, is turn all load off the car, turn off your fans, the ac, dont turn your steering wheel, and make sure all electrical devices are off. And make sure your oil is topped up to the appropriate level. Run the car for roughly 5 minutes at idle, 10 max. Do not blip the throttle, and DO NOT DRIVE AROUND at high rpms on the interstate with seafoam in your oil. After you turn the car off, let it sit for a few minutes 1) to cool down and 2) to let the seafoam trickle back down and re-saturate the oil, since seafoam is part oil itself (the reason why it smokes so much) it will bond with your regular motor oil to an extent, but the octane booster and the iso will break down your oil, and also break down any carbon deposits in your crank case.

One reason the proper oil level is essential is because you need to have good oil pressure to circulate everything, and enough pressure to throw the gunk the seafoam is taking off the walls into your oil filter. There are lots of precautions to take, and take it from a mechanic.

And then drain the oil and change the filter immediately


So back to the reason why you should only use it in your vacuum line (or better yet, the idea im going to suggest next) is because its meant to be burned, the reason its loaded with octane booster is so you dont detonate when you throw all this oil into your CC, and the iso is mostly there to do the cleaning. This is where you will see seafoam actually do something, and there also seems to be some misinformation on how you are supposed to use it too.

If you are going to do the vacuum line method, you should have 2 people doing this. And you should do it from the brake booster line. Pop that sucker off and listen to how bad your engine will run with it running lean (another reason for the octane booster) and chugging along. Get your buddy to hold the throttle at 1500rpm when you do this: With the full bottle of seafoam open, stick that sucker into the bottom of the bottle, and let it suck it all up. It'll chug away and smoke will pour out. Timing isnt crucial, but just before its all sucked up I tell the person to let off the throttle just to slow down the usage, and when its done, instantly turn the engine off. Again, you must do this at a normal operating temp engine. And ideally, let it sit overnight. If its not an option, 2 hours will make some of a difference. Next time you start it (with the vac line on obviously) it should chug and smoke like crazy.

Then go for a drive involving some wide open throttle, LOTS of engine braking (5000rpm in first gear off the gas, letting it slow down, causes lots of vacuum) and some constant speed driving on the freeway. 5 minute drive would probably be enough.


Now as for the other way of using seafoam, since weve determined its hazaardous to use in oil, and pointless to use in gas, let get a bottle of distilled water, the better the water, the better it is. Seafoam comes in a 16oz(1pt) container, and a rough translation of that I think would be ~500ml.

And you will want to mix 2.5 parts seafoam to 1 part water, so that means, add 250ml of distilled water. So get a spray bottle, capable of holding 750ml of fluid and add the seafoam and water to this bottle. Since it is water and oil, make sure to shake it occasionally. This is the ONLY WAY I personally use seafoam, and I can stand by the fact I know it works as I use it on vehicles all the time. The spray bottle you choose has to be a very fine mist, I got an old bottle from a hair salon place that works absolutely awesome. Ok, heres what you do, this can be a 2 person job if you want it to be, but I manage by myself.

1) Start car up, get to operating temp
2) Pull off air cleaner assembly while warming up, just enough to see the throttle body clearly
3) With the car idling normally and the fans just kicking off, get your spray bottle ready, you will use this WHOLE mixture.
4) Hold the throttle plate open enough that it starts bypassing the IAC, which is probably about 1500rpm again, a little more doesnt hurt, but going over 2000 is kinda pointless.
5) Spray in long consecutive sprays, and try to do it constantly enough that there isnt a big gap between the full depressed position of bottle, and going for the next spray, make sure to still keep the mixture, mixed
6) Depending on how much you are spraying at a time (bottle dependant I think) the idle will be fluctuating while its doing this. You will want to keep the idle as solid as you can with your hand holding the tb open a little (or just get a buddy to do this with his foot) just to keep the rpms the same-ish

Best part of this method is its working right now, you dont need to let the car sit and cold start it later, after the seafoam has saturated through the rings and into your oil while it was sitting there, no this will be burning it instantly and cleaning it instantly. There is no chance of hyrdrolocking your engine this way, so dont be afraid, the more you can spray at once without having the idle go crazy low is the best medium you can do.

And if you are going to put any of this in your gas tank, put a WHOLE bottle for a half tank of gas, meaning if your tank is full, put 2 full cans into it. Or just save your money and get some real gas treatment stuff to clean out your injectors etc and get the same effects.

Seafoam can do wonders for you if you do it right, but seriously be careful how you use it in your oil