HOW TO: SEAFOAM (Motor Treatment) A 370z

NickTurnon · 05-09-2013, 02:40 PM

Hey guys-

A friend of mine has a turbo car and uses this often on his vehicle. I know nothing about this product. For all I know the car could be harmed by using this stuff...

However, it says motor treatment and it seems to be running smoother after I did the treatment.

Whether you approve or not, you will need:

1 Can of Seafoam---- $8.00 Walmart
1 Funnel
1 Cap or Disposable cup to pour 1/2 Container of Seafoam into
Pair of needle nose pliers
Make a tube or straw to suck up seafoam

SORRY FOR BAD QUALITY! I DIDNT REALIZE THE SETTINGS ON MY PHONE WERE SET TO LOW QUALITY.
Also, youtube got me for copyright on 1/3 songs that i posted. Theres a song missing from the middle. But whatever, you get the point.

XwChriswX · 05-09-2013, 02:53 PM

I've used this in the gastank before. I bought a tool that would work with the brake line, but it was made for a different sized bottle than the seafoam, so it didn't mate up exactly right. So it will require a DIY, but I plan to do this later this summer.

LostSol · 05-09-2013, 03:10 PM

Ive used seafoam for years, amazing stuff, and has never ever caused me issues. When you pull it via vacuum hose into the intake manifold, youll sometimes get a CEL, but it will clear after all the crap and gunk has burned off.

B&W_Evader · 05-09-2013, 03:18 PM

So I was looking at this and thinking WTF. Are these guys trying to make the car smoke for drifting or something or do they think a smoking car is cool? Then I was thinking what is this stuff really supposed to do? So I looked at thier website. Fuel injector cleaner/fuel system cleaner / Engine internal deglazer. Really??? Sounds like BS to me boys. Putting it through the vacuum hose, bypassing the fuel injection? Wow, these guys are not firing on all 8, I mean 6. Not sure why you would be putting this stuff in your new car. Maybe my truck with over 250,000 miles on it but it still runs like a champ... so... No. Good luck with getting a nice hi-milage vehicle if you keep pooring that poison down it's throat.

NickTurnon · 05-09-2013, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B&W_Evader

So I was looking at this and thinking WTF. Are these guys trying to make the car smoke for drifting or something or do they think a smoking car is cool? Then I was thinking what is this stuff really supposed to do? So I looked at thier website. Fuel injector cleaner/fuel system cleaner / Engine internal deglazer. Really??? Sounds like BS to me boys. Putting it through the vacuum hose, bypassing the fuel injection? Wow, these guys are not firing on all 8, I mean 6. Not sure why you would be putting this stuff in your new car. Maybe my truck with over 250,000 miles on it but it still runs like a champ... so... No. Good luck with getting a nice hi-milage vehicle if you keep pooring that poison down it's throat.

Ive got 65,000 on the engine. Its not 250,000 but maybe doing this every 50,000 will make this engine last til 250,00 haha.

I appreciate your input.

Chuck33079 · 05-09-2013, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B&W_Evader

So I was looking at this and thinking WTF. Are these guys trying to make the car smoke for drifting or something or do they think a smoking car is cool? Then I was thinking what is this stuff really supposed to do? So I looked at thier website. Fuel injector cleaner/fuel system cleaner / Engine internal deglazer. Really??? Sounds like BS to me boys. Putting it through the vacuum hose, bypassing the fuel injection? Wow, these guys are not firing on all 8, I mean 6. Not sure why you would be putting this stuff in your new car. Maybe my truck with over 250,000 miles on it but it still runs like a champ... so... No. Good luck with getting a nice hi-milage vehicle if you keep pooring that poison down it's throat.

It's worked fine for a lot of people for a long time. I've used it on some other cars with success. I wouldn't use it in the oil like the label suggests, though.

It'll also show you where you have any exhaust leaks real quick.

LostSol · 05-09-2013, 03:30 PM

I use it every 30k in my engine, using the vacuum tube to bring it into the intake tract allows it to cover every area of the ICC, from the valves to the intake runners.

One suggestion, get the engine as hot as you can, and rather than using a needle to get small amounts at a time, have someone rev the engine to 2k and try to keep it there while you feed the engine SF. Get as much in as you can before the engine dies then let it sit. As soon as you start it, it should run terrible, get on it as hard as you can and get that engine hot, and youll see even more smoke then they did.

Also: It is useful in the oil if you go over mileage. It will remove any oil that has varnished on the cylinders from age. One word of caution, if you do this, i usually bought a few cheap $1 bottles of 5w-30 from walmart to fill the engine with first, give it a good hard drive, then empty and use RedLine. Between the oil, the vacuum tube, and the gas tank, this stuff rocks.

NickTurnon · 05-09-2013, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck33079

It's worked fine for a lot of people for a long time. I've used it on some other cars with success. I wouldn't use it in the oil like the label suggests, though.

It'll also show you where you have any exhaust leaks real quick.

I actually say that in the video, but i cut it out! Haha thats funny. We did it on another car and it was smoking thru about 10 different spots in the engine bay!

Chuck33079 · 05-09-2013, 03:39 PM

I used it on an old beater Volvo I had, and none of the smoke was coming out of the tailpipe. Looked like I had an engine fire.

XwChriswX · 05-09-2013, 03:41 PM

I want to use this form of it, not the spray can version with the hose you put into the throttle body as you'll only get one bank at a time.

mults · 05-09-2013, 04:55 PM

I've been using this stuff for years; in all of my cars and motorcycle and have never had any issues. I even use it when storing the car in the winter (instead of Stabil). I put a can in the tank with every oil change, or long distance trip.

I'm glad you mentioned it so I can get a can to put in the Z for the drive down to ZdayZ

.

wstar · 05-09-2013, 05:38 PM

I used it once on a previous car, an LS1 engine with... I want to say it had around 60-75K miles on it at that point. Sucked it in through the brake booster hose. It didn't hurt the car, and it probably does help clean the intake/heads/valves.

That being said, on a newer/specialized engine like ours, I'd want to be extra sure of compatibility - mostly that their formula doesn't damage some plastic/rubber/whatever that it would come in contact with, or that it doesn't cause our ECU to go bonkers when the front O2s read that smoke and cause the engine to try to hurt itself with over-lean fueling or whatever. But I'm paranoid about these kinds of things, it's probably fine.

As for the smoke: far too often I see people talking about how this product works and using the smoke to prove it did something. "Look at all that filth it cleaned out of the engine!". Most of the smoke is undoubtedly from the product itself, not the crud it might clean out.

An oil catch can on the PCV lines, using good air filters, top-tier premium fuel, and the occasional bottle of Chevron's Techron additive (bitog really likes that one over the competition, last I checked, and those guys know their ****) should be enough to keep our engine pretty damn clean anywhere the Seafoam would touch anyways.

SouthArk370Z · 05-09-2013, 07:42 PM

In my experience, these types of products seldom do any good and often end up causing more problems. If the equipment is dirty enough that cleaning the engine would be beneficial, there is a high probability of dislodging pieces big enough to plug oil galleys and damage bearing surfaces. If it's not that dirty, then why use a cleaner? Keeping it clean is a whole lot cheaper and easier than trying to clean a dirty engine.

Then there's possible compatibility problems with sensors, plastic/rubber components, and even the metals used in modern engines.

Not sure it's true, but wstar's theory about messing with the O2 readings and hurting the engine sounds very plausible.

There may be a situation where an engine cleaner would do some good, but, for most people, they are a waste of time, effort, and money. If the engine is dirty enough to need cleaning, then it needs to be torn down. If you do the normal maintenance on you car, you don't need to clean the engine.

Boost_lee · 05-09-2013, 08:23 PM

I've used seafoam for years without problems. I wouldn't use it in the z yet since i still have low mileage. Most cars i use it on have over 130k on the ticker. I run a third of the can in the oil for a few miles then change the oil immediately since it thins it out. Another third in the intake manifold and the last third in the gas tank. It's helped a little on higher mileage cars restore some pep. Just my experience

mag_black · 05-09-2013, 09:38 PM

Used this stuff all the time on my Dakota R/T. Any problems that arrived were not because of SeaFoam -- it was because I had a freaking Dodge!

05-09-2013, 02:40 PM	#1 (permalink)
NickTurnon A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Scottsdale Age: 33 Posts: 1,636 Drives: 09 BS 7AT 370z Rep Power: 18	HOW TO: SEAFOAM (Motor Treatment) A 370z Hey guys- A friend of mine has a turbo car and uses this often on his vehicle. I know nothing about this product. For all I know the car could be harmed by using this stuff... However, it says motor treatment and it seems to be running smoother after I did the treatment. Whether you approve or not, you will need: 1 Can of Seafoam---- $8.00 Walmart 1 Funnel 1 Cap or Disposable cup to pour 1/2 Container of Seafoam into Pair of needle nose pliers Make a tube or straw to suck up seafoam SORRY FOR BAD QUALITY! I DIDNT REALIZE THE SETTINGS ON MY PHONE WERE SET TO LOW QUALITY. Also, youtube got me for copyright on 1/3 songs that i posted. Theres a song missing from the middle. But whatever, you get the point. JARblue likes this. __________________ 2009 Brilliant Silver BASE 7AT \| TEIN S-Tech Springs \| K&N Drop Ins & z1 Maf Tubes \| AAM S-Line Short Tails \| 5% Tint \| 20MM Spacers \| Sport Spoiler NickTurnon's 370z Build

05-09-2013, 02:53 PM	#2 (permalink)
XwChriswX WFLYIDNNE Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: In The Fastlane Posts: 50,648 Drives: 02 GDB WRX Rep Power: 452	I've used this in the gastank before. I bought a tool that would work with the brake line, but it was made for a different sized bottle than the seafoam, so it didn't mate up exactly right. So it will require a DIY, but I plan to do this later this summer. __________________ Bonnie - Stage 2, Audio build coming this fall! R.I.P. Abby 3/29/10 - 3/30/14

05-09-2013, 03:10 PM	#3 (permalink)
LostSol Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Orlando Posts: 1,021 Drives: 2010 370z 40th A.E. Rep Power: 15	Ive used seafoam for years, amazing stuff, and has never ever caused me issues. When you pull it via vacuum hose into the intake manifold, youll sometimes get a CEL, but it will clear after all the crap and gunk has burned off. XwChriswX and DEpointfive0 like this. __________________ 2010 Nissan 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition #762/1000 \| Forgestar \| Michelin \| Swift \| TRS \| Z Speed \| ARK \| Z1 \| Hawk \| CFE \| Evo-R \| GTMat \| Stillen \| Seibon \| Whiteline \| Pioneer \|

05-09-2013, 03:18 PM	#4 (permalink)
B&W_Evader Track Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: CA Posts: 972 Drives: slower than before Rep Power: 387	So I was looking at this and thinking WTF. Are these guys trying to make the car smoke for drifting or something or do they think a smoking car is cool? Then I was thinking what is this stuff really supposed to do? So I looked at thier website. Fuel injector cleaner/fuel system cleaner / Engine internal deglazer. Really??? Sounds like BS to me boys. Putting it through the vacuum hose, bypassing the fuel injection? Wow, these guys are not firing on all 8, I mean 6. Not sure why you would be putting this stuff in your new car. Maybe my truck with over 250,000 miles on it but it still runs like a champ... so... No. Good luck with getting a nice hi-milage vehicle if you keep pooring that poison down it's throat. __________________ \|RIP\|6spd-sport\|OSG-LSD\|XP8\|RBF600\|Eibach Sways\|RE-71R\|FI-34Row\|Gen3-CAI\|Yaw P.S.\|

05-09-2013, 03:30 PM	#7 (permalink)
LostSol Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Orlando Posts: 1,021 Drives: 2010 370z 40th A.E. Rep Power: 15	I use it every 30k in my engine, using the vacuum tube to bring it into the intake tract allows it to cover every area of the ICC, from the valves to the intake runners. One suggestion, get the engine as hot as you can, and rather than using a needle to get small amounts at a time, have someone rev the engine to 2k and try to keep it there while you feed the engine SF. Get as much in as you can before the engine dies then let it sit. As soon as you start it, it should run terrible, get on it as hard as you can and get that engine hot, and youll see even more smoke then they did. Also: It is useful in the oil if you go over mileage. It will remove any oil that has varnished on the cylinders from age. One word of caution, if you do this, i usually bought a few cheap $1 bottles of 5w-30 from walmart to fill the engine with first, give it a good hard drive, then empty and use RedLine. Between the oil, the vacuum tube, and the gas tank, this stuff rocks. NickTurnon and TBatt like this. __________________ 2010 Nissan 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition #762/1000 \| Forgestar \| Michelin \| Swift \| TRS \| Z Speed \| ARK \| Z1 \| Hawk \| CFE \| Evo-R \| GTMat \| Stillen \| Seibon \| Whiteline \| Pioneer \|

05-09-2013, 03:39 PM	#9 (permalink)
Chuck33079 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Houston Posts: 12,265 Drives: 2011 370ztt Rep Power: 29539	I used it on an old beater Volvo I had, and none of the smoke was coming out of the tailpipe. Looked like I had an engine fire. JARblue likes this. __________________ 2011 MB Touring-Sport-6sp-Nav/GTM TT/FI TT TDX/JTran/Kosmic/Eibach/Hotchkis/SPC/CSF/RPS/SoThatsWhereAllMyMoneyWent

05-09-2013, 03:41 PM	#10 (permalink)
XwChriswX WFLYIDNNE Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: In The Fastlane Posts: 50,648 Drives: 02 GDB WRX Rep Power: 452	I want to use this form of it, not the spray can version with the hose you put into the throttle body as you'll only get one bank at a time. __________________ Bonnie - Stage 2, Audio build coming this fall! R.I.P. Abby 3/29/10 - 3/30/14

05-09-2013, 04:55 PM	#11 (permalink)
mults A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Cleveland, OH Age: 69 Posts: 1,830 Drives: 2010 (40th) #706 Rep Power: 16886	I've been using this stuff for years; in all of my cars and motorcycle and have never had any issues. I even use it when storing the car in the winter (instead of Stabil). I put a can in the tank with every oil change, or long distance trip. I'm glad you mentioned it so I can get a can to put in the Z for the drive down to ZdayZ . DEpointfive0 likes this. __________________ mults 40th Anniversary 'Z', 312.06HP/260.58TQ (Dynosty EcuTek Tune) Build Date/Number: 1/27/2010 #706 Berk HFC + CBE, R2C CAI, Clear Bra, Cleveland Z Club

05-09-2013, 05:38 PM	#12 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3594	I used it once on a previous car, an LS1 engine with... I want to say it had around 60-75K miles on it at that point. Sucked it in through the brake booster hose. It didn't hurt the car, and it probably does help clean the intake/heads/valves. That being said, on a newer/specialized engine like ours, I'd want to be extra sure of compatibility - mostly that their formula doesn't damage some plastic/rubber/whatever that it would come in contact with, or that it doesn't cause our ECU to go bonkers when the front O2s read that smoke and cause the engine to try to hurt itself with over-lean fueling or whatever. But I'm paranoid about these kinds of things, it's probably fine. As for the smoke: far too often I see people talking about how this product works and using the smoke to prove it did something. "Look at all that filth it cleaned out of the engine!". Most of the smoke is undoubtedly from the product itself, not the crud it might clean out. An oil catch can on the PCV lines, using good air filters, top-tier premium fuel, and the occasional bottle of Chevron's Techron additive (bitog really likes that one over the competition, last I checked, and those guys know their ***) should be enough to keep our engine pretty damn clean anywhere the Seafoam would touch anyways. SouthArk370Z likes this. __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details Last edited by wstar; 05-09-2013 at 05:44 PM.*

05-09-2013, 07:42 PM	#13 (permalink)
SouthArk370Z Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: South Arkansas Posts: 8,435 Drives: 2014 Challenger Rep Power: 324198	In my experience, these types of products seldom do any good and often end up causing more problems. If the equipment is dirty enough that cleaning the engine would be beneficial, there is a high probability of dislodging pieces big enough to plug oil galleys and damage bearing surfaces. If it's not that dirty, then why use a cleaner? Keeping it clean is a whole lot cheaper and easier than trying to clean a dirty engine. Then there's possible compatibility problems with sensors, plastic/rubber components, and even the metals used in modern engines. Not sure it's true, but wstar's theory about messing with the O2 readings and hurting the engine sounds very plausible. There may be a situation where an engine cleaner would do some good, but, for most people, they are a waste of time, effort, and money. If the engine is dirty enough to need cleaning, then it needs to be torn down. If you do the normal maintenance on you car, you don't need to clean the engine. DLSTR and Cbtech like this. __________________ Steering Lock Links - Search The370Z Bookmarklet - FSM @ NICOclub Mankind has progressed past the need for war but we haven't evolved that far. - NachoMahma

05-09-2013, 08:23 PM	#14 (permalink)
Boost_lee A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: SATX Posts: 2,813 Drives: 09 370Z TT 6MT Rep Power: 29	I've used seafoam for years without problems. I wouldn't use it in the z yet since i still have low mileage. Most cars i use it on have over 130k on the ticker. I run a third of the can in the oil for a few miles then change the oil immediately since it thins it out. Another third in the intake manifold and the last third in the gas tank. It's helped a little on higher mileage cars restore some pep. Just my experience NickTurnon likes this. __________________ My TT Z

05-09-2013, 09:38 PM	#15 (permalink)
mag_black A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,400 Drives: 09 370Z MT6 Rep Power: 666	Used this stuff all the time on my Dakota R/T. Any problems that arrived were not because of SeaFoam -- it was because I had a freaking Dodge! __________________ fujimura ≠ abbeyRoadCompany ≠ fastIntentions ≠ motordyne ≠ avantGarde ≠ ecutek ≠ nismo ≠ stillen ≠ stoptech ≠ gtm ≠ spl ≠ carbonfiberelement ≠ stance™

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