Seafoam in crankcase

[James909]

I tried doing a search but couldn't find a solid answer. I have a 92 X with 157,000 miles. Tonight I plan on seafoaming the engine through the brake booster to remove carbon buildup. I was wondering if it is a good idea to put some in the oil as well? I can't find a definitive answer so please post if you have had good or bad results with this technique or whether or not you think it is a good idea. The X runs great besides a pinging at highway speed and it also burns/leaks a quart of oil per 1,000 miles. I am afraid of clogging oil passageways but I also would like to clean up any gunk as long as it won't harm anything. Also would it aggravate a leak? If I do put it in the crankcase I would just let it idle for 5 minutes and then let it sit for a little while. So is it a good idea or a bad idea to put seafoam in the crankcase? Thanks, James.

 

[aldive]

I am a firm believer in using Sea Foam in the gas and through the intake but would NEVER add it ( or any other solvent ) to my oil.

 

[rizzjc]

I'm not sure if Seafoam is meant to stay in there between oil changes if you put it in the oil, but I've used Amsoil engine flush in the past when I wanted to clean out any gummed up oil. You dump it in, and let the truck sit, idling, for 10-15 minutes, and then drain your oil (i.e. you dump this in when you're going to do an oil change).
Dead Link Removed

 

[X6StringerX]

I followed Seafoam's guidelines when I used it. They recommend 1/3 in the gas, 1/3 through a vacuum line, and 1/3 in the crankcase. I didn't get the smoke show that many people rave about, but it did seem to smooth my idle a little more... which wasn't rough to begin with. When I added it to the crank case, I let the engine idle for 10 minutes or so and then shut it off. I went ahead and done a few other things like clean the air filter and check tire pressures and then I changed the oil. I would NOT recommend leaving the Seafoam in between oil changes. It is a solvent and it will cause the oil to react. You might also want to think about it before you use it with a leak. I don't recommend leaving the leak there, but if you don't have the time to fix it and you depend on the vehicle as a daily driver, you might not want to aggrevate it. Otherwise, you could find yourself with no oil pressure at 70mph on the interstate one day if you don't take care of it after Seafoaming.

 

[James909]

I definitely wouldn't be leaving it in the oil between changes, I would just idle the car for 5 minutes with it and then drain the oil. I'm starting to think it's not worth the risk to put it in the oil. The car has always been well maintained and has no problems so I think I will leave it alone before I create problems. Regarding the leak, I think the seafoam will probably make it worse. I haven't looked closely but I think the leak is the rear main seal which I don't plan on going through all the trouble to fix unless it gets severely worse.

 

[James909]

Also now since I have I full can of seafoam I plan on running through the intake is it okay to put the whole can in at once or should I do it in two applications?

 

[James909]

Okay I decided to split the can in half and seafoam the engine twice hopefully yeilding good results. I would put some in the gas but I recently put some Lucas fuel system cleaner in the tank. Right now I'm letting the seafoam do it's thing and we'll see how it goes. Thanks for everyone's help. James

 

[Glen4X4]

Let us know how it goes, if your concerned about the crankcase, what I normally do at oil changes is I pour less than a quart of ATF down in my oil, if you do it, do it at your own risk but I can say, I been doing it for months and have yet to see it result in anything bad.

 

[James909]

Thanks for the ATF suggestion but since the car has always been maintained well I am just going to leave the crankcase alone. I seafoamed the car twice using half a can each time. It doesn't seem to have done anything and the car still pings but the car smoked a lot and the car now idles rough I am assuming because the plugs fouled so the seafoam must have done something. I am going to drive the car for a week or two and see if the plugs clean up, if not I will have to change them. Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[Glen4X4]

Yeah, I've heard several times it'll foul the plugs.

 

[rizzjc]

Pull the battery cable, and reconnect to reset the computer. Once the computer relearns, it'll probably run better.

 

[wood1]

Hey James, I had the same issue with my engine using a quart in about the same amount of time, also had a spark knock on the highway...

I suggest you retourque your lower intake manifold bolts using a proper inch/lb torque wrench. You may find there are a couple that are hard to get at and you may need a universal... make sure you get them all.

These bolts are known to loosen off and cause your engine to suck oil past the intake manifold gaskets. Often times a simple retourque will solve your problems. It did mine!

 

[James909]

rizzjc- I will try resetting the computer. Is it okay to just pull the EEC fuse so I don't have to reset the radio settings?

wood1- I will definitely have to try re-torquing the intake bolts. The pinging is so annoying because I am obsessive about having everything run perfect.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[X6StringerX]

I forgot to mention that I also changed my plugs. It seems that is pretty standard procedure when you do a Seafoam treatment. Change the plugs, reset the computer, and drive it like you stole it.

 

[gsmaclean]

It's fairly common in motorcycles (especially old ones like I have) to put some Seafoam in the crankcase with the oil, drive a short way, then drain and change the oil. It works as a solvent and helps remove the sludge and crap from oil passages in the engine.

 

[vinson]

i tried the sea foam in my subaru forrester's crank. i got tired of seeing black oil right after i did an oil change, it always seemed to be dirty. so i put half a can of the seafoam in and drove it for two days then did another oil change. its been a few days now and the oil still looks like it is new.
i also used the other half through my X's intake, and it smoothed out the idle and made the thottle response quick and smooth.

 

[Guido0136]

Wanted to pass along my Sea Foam story as well.

I have been thinking of Sea Foam for a few months now and did decide to go through with it. Finally found it at NAPA as it's a little hard to find in Ontario.

I was thinking long and hard about adding to the oil. In the end I added about 1/5 of the can the rest went in the intake and the gas tank.

Have a small smoke show but nothing to large.

I noticed right away that my bad engine ping was just about gone and it did run quite smoother.

I'm still running the gas through it so it might get even better. I'm going for an oil change in the next few days as I worried about the small internal leak I have as I to have to add a litre or two of oil between changes. No external leaks as there are no drips while parked.

Truck has 280,000 Km's on it and now run like it has 180,000.

My opinion with Sea Foam.... use it, but be careful using it in the crank case....

1994 XLT

 

[Rustbucket1994]

Just reading through all your posts and I am thinking about doing the same to my explorer, what is the difference between adding this sea foam to the crankcase and adding to the oil?

 

[James909]

Just reading through all your posts and I am thinking about doing the same to my explorer, what is the difference between adding this sea foam to the crankcase and adding to the oil?

No difference, they're talking about the same thing just referring to it in different ways.

 

[CHEESYPOOFS]

Ive heard that putting the oil can have the same effect as switching to a synthetic oil at higher mileage. something like that it may be a bit of gunk keeping something from leaking if there is one but i dunno lol its just what i heard