Who has used seafoam in the crankcase?

[MolaKule]

I am suggesting that one use alternatives rather than a full can of SeaFoam.

I don't sell or promote any product at this time. I attempt to educate our great readers.

AutoRX is a very gentle and long-term cleaner that has an ester chemistry that has shown some friction reduction and AW qualities.

LC uses a hydrocarbon-based solvent system with AW properties as well.

Read the respective literature and make your own decisions.

 

[Oilgal]

Thank you MolaKule.

 

[02zx9r]

I think we are all in agreement that molakule is an "expert" and his thoughts/input/suggestions are highly regarded. Also I believe we all agree that auto-rx is a terrific product that does what it claims and is not a right now type cleaner.

 

[leftlane]

I have seen several people on other forums say you dont have to drain seafoam out of the crankcase because it will evaporate away. I have also seen people say that b12 is stronger than seafoam despite being cheaper. Are these beliefs not the case?

I have poured seafoam in the crankcases in my vehicles for both the 5 minute quick drains, and the 50-100 mile drains to get the varnish out and both worked well, and the oil stays much lighter in color now too.

 

[Gary Allan]

I imagine that a good bit of Seafoam will volatilize at temp, but regular fuel doesn't rid itself from the oil ..even with extended hot operation.

I haven't used b12 ..but harsher might be the operative word (I don't know). I imagine they all do their job in the prescribed manner. I just limit my solvent type stuff to the intake side of things.

 

[ziggy]

I would NOT put B12in crnakcase... it states that on the can. Ive used Berryman B12, 2 times before an oil change, few years ago, as a flush...scary stuff. MY 95 neon was about 30 minutes cool, when i poured it into crankcase...engine was still hit..lots of scary aluminum being crimpled noises came outta the oil fill hole.. got me real nervous.
Thier is a post here, in the archives, of a guy in Arizona, state emission worker, who put seafoam at prescribed amounts, 1 1/2 oz. per quart, along with Castrol syntech 5w 30, on some sludged-up engine... He pulled the head off after x miles, and it was spotless! He had pics of it here.
Im currently using castrol 5w30 and seafoam 1 1/2 oz. in my sisters fiances, sisters car, 96 ford taurus. She neglected it for years, had 176,000 miles on it.

 

[Craftsman]

Originally Posted By: ziggy

Im currently using castrol 5w30 and seafoam 1 1/2 oz. in my sisters fiances, sisters car, 96 ford taurus. She neglected it for years, had 176,000 miles on it.


Would love to hear the results!

 

[Loogie]

I am curious as well, because my mom-in-law's car is sludged...I can see it looking into the valve cover. Yuck!

Interestingly, I only recently started changing her oil, and used the Mobil Clean 5000. When I drained it after 6 months, it looked like black paint. I was floored. Hopefully that means it is cleaning the engine a bit. I just changed her oil again and told her to bring it back to me in 3 months so I could check it out. I may very well treat it with Seafoam or Auto-Rx.

 

[Jaymus]

I do agree with the oil being black is a good sign in the way that it's doing it's job. It might be a bad sign that the engine is dirty.

I believe some kind of Kendall was used in my 1986 F-150, due to the sticker on the window when I got it. I'm sure the old man that owned this truck before me changed his oil when it was due. The truck is in great condition. But, my Castrol GTX 10w-30 gets black well under 1000 miles. Kind of scary, lol. I don't know if it's the Castrol cleaning it better/picking up what the Kendall left behind or what.

And there's something about Seafoam that's always made me nervous, lol. Not saying it does or doesn't work, just saying, I haven't tried it.

 

[leftlane]

Jaymus my oil used to be the same way. It would turn black around 500 miles on one of my vehicles. After seafoaming the crankcase the oil is the color of tea after 4k miles which never was the case before. Try using a better filter like wix if you dont already and that could help too.

 

[BarkerMan]

In a previous post in this thread someone said that solvent not left in long enough to do damage is ok. How did you figure this one out? How would one know if there was any damage beyond of course a dramatic engine failure? The fact that an engine survives something like Seafoam or B12 is not the kind of endorsement that makes me want to try it.

 

[MillerMan]

update, I now have about 500 miles on my motoroil after the short time period/small amount of seafoaming. The M1 oil looks very clean yet on the dipstick at this point.

but this may not mean much since the motor was somwhat low mileage and not a sludged up case

 

[Cmarti]

I have used Seafoam and B12, as 5 minute flushes in old beaters years ago. I did not have the stones to use Seafoam longterm as directed. B12 has taken the instructions to add it to the crankcase off the can.

Seafoam is petroleum based, and B12 has fair amounts of acetone and toulene. I have quit using both in the crankcase. I still use Seafoam as a fuel stabilizer for power equipment, and an intake cleaner in cars and ATV's. I have no proof it did anything, but they did not blow the cars up when used as quick flushes.

Sit a dirty spark plug in a shot glass full of each, and the B12 is MUCH more agressive on the carbon deposits than the seafoam.

 

[MGPD03]

I've added an entire can to the crankcase of a 2000 CVPI with a 4.6l out of curiousity.

My patrol car had 156k and was due for retirement so I figured, why not? I added a full can to the six quarts and ran it roughly 3k miles. The car was ran hard and idled for long periods of time with no adverse effects.

Heck, I even know the guy that got the car after it was retired and he has put another 40-50k miles on it with no problems.

Would I do this with my POV...? Nope.

 

[BrianWC]

Originally Posted By: Cmarti

Sit a dirty spark plug in a shot glass full of each, and the B12 is MUCH more agressive on the carbon deposits than the seafoam.


Exactly. B-12 is a lot stronger. I've used it in the past but in noooo way recommend it for a car you care that much about keeping.

As for the crankcase indications, that must be a recent omission. It used to always state crankcase use. I still buy the stuff, but for combustion chamber cleaning, not crankcase use. On the same track, I noticed that Gunk Engine flush changed their warning for "Not for use in turbo cars" to "not for use with oil cooled turbos."

Never had too much luck with LC20 but perhaps I was doing something wrong. Arx has always worked but it's certainly not a "right now" solution as someone else said.

 

[98REDBIRDLS1]

I'm from the old school...I usually put 1/2 qt of transmission fluid in my oil and drive for about 50 miles to clean my engine. It has always worked well for me. Is this a bad habit?? Technically, isn't atf a type of cleaner??

 

[BrianWC]

It's not hurting but it's not help it. Nothing spectacular about tranny fluid that's going to do anything except thin out the oil a tad.

 

[98REDBIRDLS1]

whenever i've done it the oil comes out blacker than the devil's soul. I learned this from my dad who has been a mechanic since he was about 12 yrs old. He's 50 now.....just was curious to see what the experts thought of this method. I love seafoam through the brake booster line. I have never tried it in the crankcase though. I heard it was bad on gaskets and seals.

 

[panthermike]

Originally Posted By: 98REDBIRDLS1
whenever i've done it the oil comes out blacker than the devil's soul. I learned this from my dad who has been a mechanic since he was about 12 yrs old. He's 50 now.....just was curious to see what the experts thought of this method. I love seafoam through the brake booster line. I have never tried it in the crankcase though. I heard it was bad on gaskets and seals.


I've heard the same thing about the seals.

Anyone else want to chime in on tranny fluid for the same useage?

 

[BrianWC]

There's been plenty of chiming in on previous threads. Try searching old posts of molakule's. He's a pretty authoritative source. If he says modern ATF is not that useful for cleaning out an engine, you can take it to the bank.