Auto RX vs. SeaFoam Motor Treatment

[blackdiamond]

This weekend I will be taking delivery of my "new" 1989 Toyota 4Runner with a freshly rebuilt 22RE engine. My friend that rebuilt the engine showed me one area that had not been "hot tanked" and still had some residual junk in it. He suggested running some SeaFoam through to get everything cleaned up. I have no idea if he even knows about the Auto RX product.

My question is this: How are they similar and how are they different? It seems that Auto RX is a very specific engine cleaning treatment and the SeaFoam seems to be advertised as a "miracle product" that has various applications. Any product that works "miracles" in more than one system seems too good to be true in my opinion.

 

[Tempest]

This has been gone over many times, here. A search should reveal many threads.

 

[sprintman]

RX it.

 

[Thatwouldbegreat]

ARX

 

[SargeGTO]

Auto RX is much more thorough than SeaFoam.
Pull your valve covers. Take a picture. SeaFoam it. Pull em again. Take a picture.
Now AutoRX it and do the same thing. You'll be sold on AutoRX. Furthermore the maintenance program with AutoRX delivers desired results plus.

 

[unDummy]

Rebuilt? and areas that aren't cleaned? Am I missing something here?

Pick an oil, an oil change interval, and just drive it. There should be no need for anything in a rebuild. And, if it is a rebuild, consider a quick 1st OCI to remove any machining or assembly dirt.

 

[blackdiamond]

Quote:

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Rebuilt? and areas that aren't cleaned? Am I missing something here?

Pick an oil, an oil change interval, and just drive it. There should be no need for anything in a rebuild. And, if it is a rebuild, consider a quick 1st OCI to remove any machining or assembly dirt.

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To be honest this didn't make sense to me either, so I think I figured it out. When my buddy mentioned SeaFoam we were standing looking at the engine hanging on the hoist. I just assumed he ment in the oil, BUT thinking back, I think it was a fuel system part that he was refering to and probably was talking about a fuel treatment. This would make way more sense. I always run Top Tier fuel and may add an extra dose of Techron from time to time or might just run some tanks of Shell V-Power.

 

[JohnBrowning]

It is not hard to remove the intake manifold on a 22RE I would take it off and clean it out. They make spray cleaners just for aluminum intak manifolds and throttle bodies.

 

[Craftsman]

I'm just wondering here but...

why not ask your friend what type of residual junk are we talking about?

If he is talking about the fuel system, then I don't know if AutoRX would do any good.

I just don't know why that the first thing that comes out of people's mouths sometimes is AutoRX... It does the product a disservice when it is not used when it is suppose to...

Next thing you know someone will recommend using AutoRX to shampoo the outside of an old engine to clean it. I'm not saying that it won't clean it but I don't know how much good it will do for the seals and the valves...

 

[mdocod]

Seafoam is in the category of cleaners that use petroleum distillates. Like kerosene. It's supposed to penetrate and dissolve stuff.

ARX is very different. It contains fatty acids, ester oils. The way it cleans is somewhat beyond my comprehension, as I understand it, it is supposed to slowly convert existing contaminations into something that is more apt to attract itself to the host oil than to the metal of the engine. The deposits are supposed to be semi-absorbed into suspension and carried to the filter. The process is slow, gentle, safe, and (usually) effective.

 

[mechtech2]

If the crud is in the intake manifold, no products can help. It is probably from the pcv system. It has to be manually cleaned out.

 

[xiayu]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
If the crud is in the intake manifold, no products can help. It is probably from the pcv system. It has to be manually cleaned out.


Sea Foam can be put directly into the PCV I thought?

 

[MMasz]

ARX and SeaFoam are different animals. ARX is a slow cleaner while SeaFoam is a stronger solvent type cleaner. If you have never done an engine cleaning before I'd recommend going the ARX route. Later once your engine is clean, you can do the SeaFoam or MMO cleaning method frequently discussed here.

 

[Trav]

Quote:
ARX is a slow cleaner
No one can deny that claim!

 

[sprintman]

And that's what I like. 14 months up on my BMW and nearly finished the clean phase.