Seafoam

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Has anyone used Seafoam in their cars yet? Do you think it's a good idea for the Yaris? Mine has ~34k miles on it. I drive like a granny, so I'm worried about carbon buildup.

[MadMax]

I've put it in my Jeep and one of my motorcycles, and in the Jeep I did record better mileage for that tank of gas but it returned to the usual figures on the next tank. I don't think the effects are lasting, and I also don't think carbon buildup is as much of a problem as the advertising claims it is!

Cheers! M2

[YarisSedan]

Ive done many seafoam treatments for many cars. Easiest way is get a long vacuum hose and try to find a vacuum line that feeds all ports and dip it into the can slowly sucking it up. Once you suck up about half a can let the car sit for about a hour. Then do the rest of the can. Then take the car on the freeway and drive it like you stole it to blow out all the carbon. The car will smoke like something terrible so make sure there are no cops around.

[detroiter]

Isn't it true that you want to change your oil after using it? Or is that only if you add it to the oil case.

[YarisSedan]

I would still recomend changing your oil soon after doing the service. Since it will get your oil dirty very fast. Also if you see a lot of smoke id advise removing the plugs and spraying them down with carb cleaner too.

[MadMax]

Oh, I though the OP was just asking about dumping it in when you filled up the gas tank...

Cheers! M2

[MUSKOKA800]

A buddy uses it in his snowmobile in place of gas-line anti-freeze which is what I used.
He swore by it, however I'm not sure he could explain why.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

I won't be doing this until this October anyway, if I choose to do this.

[YarisSedan]

Ill post a DIY on this later once it stops raining with pics. Just FYI if done too fast or incorrectly you can possibly bend valves or a chunk of carbon can break off and redeposit itself on a valve and cause a miss. Also i have my friends car in my garage when he did this on his lexus with 190k miles. There was so much smoke it went back up the intake and contaminated the MAF sensor. The sensor was 1080 dollars from the dealer. So we are waiting for it to come from ebay. Got it for 35 dollars lol.

[detroiter]

One thing though I've heard very often is that it shouldn't be used on cars with over
100k due to the fact that carbon and other stuff might be helping seal things together. If the seafoam breaks down whatever gunk is holding good seals together, it can make things worse.

[YarisSedan]

Originally Posted by detroiter

One thing though I've heard very often is that it shouldn't be used on cars with over
100k due to the fact that carbon and other stuff might be helping seal things together. If the seafoam breaks down whatever gunk is holding good seals together, it can make things worse.

That only really happens if you are using seafoam to try to correct a problem or fix something. If you are using it as part of your general maitanance then you should have no problem. Same thing people say about synthetic oils causing oil leaks at high milage.

[hatchbackkid82]

How do you use it? Do you just dump it in the crankcase?

[YarisSedan]

Originally Posted by PK198105

there are a few ways of doing it i did it through the vaccum hose.you start the car unplug the vaccum hose and let it snort up the seafoam about half the bottle. then turn off the engine , reconnect the vaccum hose, restart it let it run for about 5 min. there will be a crapload of smoke so don't worry. shut off the car again disconnect the vacum hose and let it snort the rest of the seafoam. then just reconnect the hose and let it run for 10min, shut it off let it simmer for a couple of hours and then restart and let it run until there is no smoke coming out and you're done.

Actually i read several service bullitens by the manufactures they reccomend running half a can first. Then shutting the car off and letting it soak int he engine for atleast 1 hour but not more than 12 hours. Then running the second can to push out the carbon. letting it soak helps break down the carbon and the other half helps clean it out.

Thats the best way to get the cleanest treament.

[ka0sx]

sea foam is great but i would wait untill you get to higher millage, say 75k. however if you use cheep gas, maybe sooner.

[Yaribhini]

I would utilize the BG44K (not sure if it's still called that) every 5-10K miles. This is the stuff that you run through your gas tank. Either than or Redline makes a product. I haven't tried it but I have tried almost all of their other products and like them. As mentioned earlier, if you purchased the car new it is better to use these items as preventative maintenance than using them to either resolve a problem or hope for some sort of change in performance. The goal being to, of course, not get to where you actually have a change in performance.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Nope, I only use Chevron, and at least one tank of premium a month. I drive like a granny, so I'm not sure if there is carbon build up anywhere.

[jamal1984]

i just drained a whole bottle into my gas tank, 57K on my yaris now.

I do noticed my car run a little lighter and smoother for the last 3 tanks.

One of my friend....friend took his 04 maxima to get the emission check and failed, he said it's got around 150K on the maxima, he heard seafoam from a friend and decided to give it a try, he pour 2 bottles into the oil, 2 into the gas tank, and he pass the emission check after that

[rningonfumes]

2?+2???? One bottle should have been plenty nuff for the crank case, brake booster, and the tank.

Wowzers.