When would you use SeaFoam and when would you use Auto-RX or some other internal cleaner? Does it matter? They both do pretty much the same thing?

I'm not looking for any miracles, but if it won't accomplish anything, you know. 169K on one engine, 225K on another. No consumption on the 169K and slight (1.5 qts in 4K to 5K) consumption in the 220K. RX says if you use as directed and then swap to conventional you'll come real close or completely stop consumption. huh.

Until this board I've never heard of seafoam, or if I did I didn't any attention since most of the treatment stuff on the shelves only treat the register and don't do much for the engine.

Thanks.

 

Seafoam will not do **** unless you replace the blown plenum gasket you have.

 

Just so you know, I changed your thread title because, although provocative, it doesn't really convey the subject of your post nor will it be found by a search to help others with similar questions. The search function is only as good as the information we provide for it. Keep that in mind when you start new threads.

 

I don't have a blown gasket. If I did it was replaced before I purchased the truck. If it was replaced by the dealer I'm guessing I'll have to replace it again anyhow. I plan on doing that this summer regardless and maybe the kegger mod...the same time I replace the heater core. haha!

But I've bought enough snake oil in the last 30 years that now days when you see "claims" of does this, does that one has the tendency to say "BS"!

Will do MS. I'll keep titles un-cryptic from here on out.

 

No worries.

My hesitation with Seafoam and similar additives is that they DO work. In an engine that has some or a lot of built up crud in it that can be a serious problem. Loosening that crud up can cause it to go from where it wasn;t doing any harm to where it can. Like into the oil pump or lifter galleys thereby blocking some tiny oil passage and causing an even bigger problem. I have seen myself how this happens. I did an engine flush on my Power Wagon and within days I started punching pushrods through rocker arms (they were stamped steel back in the '70s). Several lifters became plugged up by the engine flush and stopped pumping oil through the pushrod to the rockers and rocker shaft. They would dry out, overheat and sieze on the shaft and then SNAP!, the pushrod would punch through the seat. Haven't used any kind of oil additive or flush since and I follow strict maintenance procedures to prevent sludge buildup. Some think that running Seafoam through the intake cleans the engine and they point to all the smoke that ensues from the process, but is that really from cleaning the engine or is it just the Seafoam being burned off? It's sometimes hard to admit that the stuff we spend money on really doesn't do what we expected of it, but as far as additives go, not one has been proven by any independent testing to be of any real benefit. Proper care and maintenance go a lot further than some miracle in a can, IMHO.

 

lol...........

 

I saw THAT one coming. I'll be sure to look DOWN the TB this weekend. But it doesn't feel under powered, is getting better than 11MPG's. It's not using oil, if it is, it's not enough to see on the dip-stick (Johnny!) I don't know if there are other signs of the blown gasket...

The 225K engine has been in the "family" since double digits. Oil has been changed regularly. Some times I'd hit it at 3k, sometimes at 5100. I don't think it's ever hit 6000 between oil changes.

 

Hope you're running synthetics to let it go that long. What many people don't unhderstand about oil is that there are additives in it to help cope with combustion by-products. Some break down the water vapor and acids that form naturally, some are anti-shear/wear compounds that protect the engine under load. These additives diminish over time leaving the engine unprotected. This can happen even if the oil still looks somewhat clean. Many of these additives require constant operating temperature to do their job, and short hop driving that doesn't maintain operating temperature long enough will break them down faster. Unless you are using an oil designed for extended length intervals (as with most synthetics) you are doing more harm than good to your engine.

 

Seafoam really does work to clean out the intake if the plenum is blown. When I had my 318 with a badly blown plenum I tried it. The first 1/3 of the can didn't do much but the 2nd and 3rd try did. It made a night and day difference in performance and the intake was noticeably cleaner than before. Unforunatly the plenum was still leaking so the power only lasted a few days. It may clean off the back of the valves too.

 

I would think that someone who has been driving around for some time with a blown plenum would probably benefit from running Seafoam through the intake, but as you said, without actually fixing the problem the benefits would be short lived. My real concern with this practice is that by flushing all this gunk through the engine and into the exhaust you may be putting your catalytic converter and emissions devices at risk and/or shortening their service life. Not to mention putting all that smoke into the atmosphere.