That settles it. I am buying stock in the SeaFoam corporation.

[ZeroLux]

Well, after much frustration recently with random noises and poor performance I decided to try something new, yet old. Went to a local gas station, tossed in half a tank, then tossed in half a can of this miracle liquid that I have used before but never in this particular way.

Long story short, the car pulls hard in any gear now, no more hesitation, no more rattle if I put the engine under load (sort of), I can actually go more than 10 miles at a time now, and remarkably I can actually go up a hill with an incline larger than 20 degrees.

It seems my injectors were fudged inside worse than I thought and being that tossing this stuff in via the intake manifold directly it only passes by the injectors it didn't previously do much to help them. I drove the car LESS than 5 miles away from the gas station and noticed a difference. Is that even possible? I know the can says "instant" but I chalked that up to a marketing ploy like most other products on the market.

After two runs of Techron, a few tanks of not-so-cheap Shell 93 grade octane gas, and a bottle of Lucas injector cleaner with no results at all, I am completely sold on SeaFoam now.

I do have one question though. I was under the hood this afternoon taking a look at a few maintenance things and could not help but notice that my power steering fluid level is sitting right at the "LOW" mark. What are the chances some of the noises I am hearing are coming from the power steering pump if the fluid sloshes away from the tube? I've heard pumps that run dry before in other cars and they did not sound anything like what I had been hearing before. It was a chattering sound as opposed to a grinding/squealing sound. Was that coming from the pump? What is the recommended fluid type to use on this car? I used to put DEX/MERC III in my Dodge and it did just fine, can that be used here too?

I also noticed some information before about using SeaFoam in the oil to clean up internal parts while the car runs. My valve train seems pretty noisy and I had thought about trying this to see if it would quiet down a little bit. Anyone tried it that way before? Any decent results?

Zero

[turabaka]

nice to hear that worked for you.

I guess it's possible that the noise could be power steering although I'm not really sure. For fluid only use Honda power steering fluid, or something approved for use in Honda
I found out the other day though that the stuff autozone sells, and the stuff from the dealer cost the same so you might as well buy from the dealer.

[A18A]

atf works good :)

[russiankid]

atf works good :)

It also expands your seals so they wear out faster and then completely go out.:stick:

[cubert]

If i remember correctly ive heard some horror stories about people using seafoam in the crankcase itself, but I could be mistaken.



Other than that though, it is good stuff....I had a check engine light issue with my TL, put a little over half the bottle in the gas tank, and did the vacuum line thing with the rest...been a good 4k miles with no light :thumbup:

[AccordB20A]

It also expands your seals so they wear out faster and then completely go out.:stick:

its good to have spare parts isnt it

[88Accord-DX]

Seafoam in crankcase is used to help clean the internals. Just run your engine at idle for about 5-10 minutes tops. If you put that seafoam in the crankcase & don't change your oil afterwards, it might cause some problems pretty quick.

[MessyHonda]

yeah the stuff works good...i try to put it in my car every oil change

[cygnus x-1]

Heh! So I guess it was the injectors after all! That's cool the Seafoam worked.

I wouldn't put it in the crank case though. I did something similar with my old '86 Oldsmobile Cutlass. I drained about a quart of oil and replaced it with kerosene. Then ran the engine for a few minutes. It cleaned out lots of crap but it leaked like crazy after that. All the sludge that was "sealing" up the gaskets was flushed out.


Power steering pumps make sort of a groaning noise when they get low on fluid. And sometimes you can feel it in the steering wheel. If this happens, put in more fluid ASAP. If the fluid gets aerated it can ruin the pump in short order.

The valves may just need to be adjusted. But even then, they will probably still make some noise since they're solid rockers.

C|

[w261w261]

It is amazing how quickly Seafoam can work. I have a '73 Honda 450, which was running a little rough. I grabbed a bottle of Seafoam, put some in the gas, and within 2 blocks things were straightened out -- so quickly, I sort of wondered if the Seafoam did it or the motor just rehabilitated itself spontaneously.

I'd be careful with it in the crankcase though. Too much of a good thing, etc.

[ZeroLux]

Yeah I was amazed at how quickly it took effect. Only problem is some of my gremlins came back, engine makes the chattering noise again but not as bad as before. I'm guessing there was some carbon buildup, stuck or jammed injectors, and maybe the remnants of bad fuel over time. The chattering sounds a lot like timing so me and a buddy of mine today are going to have another whack at things with a timing light and maybe a dizzy rebuild to see if that corrects it. Just for kicks a while ago I tossed the other half of the SeaFoam can into the fuel and put a little over half a tank of gas in it just like I did before. We'll see if anything changes again.

Side note: did some checking yesterday under the hood and found that vac hose #13 that goes from the bypass control solenoid to the bypass valve that operates the secondaries in the intake is bad. Temporarily I bypassed the bypass (irony anyone?) and attached #13 to where the outlet of #12 on the charcoal canister (maybe vac chamber?) used to be and took the solenoid out of the circuit. Only problem is that one particular part appears to be "non-removable" from the black box so I am going to try and hit up a junkyard today and see if I can pull one out of another car and graft it into place. I was getting vac on #12 from the can but the valve that routes it from 12 to 13 wasn't changing, thus the bypass was always open. Closing it made a difference to some extent.

Still having some trans troubles and I'm wondering how well the SeaFoam TransTune would work if I tossed a little in there. Couldn't hurt much I suppose, and that company's reputation with me right now is pretty high.

Zero

BTW: the "chattering" I am talking about was put into terms yesterday that I think would make the most sense. It sounds like an old diesel engine. That's the best way I can find to describe it. Pre-ignition from bad timing and/or bad gas is slapping my valves around a bit. I almost wonder if the sound died out when I used the SF in the tank the first time around because the SF might have been acting almost like octane and inhibiting the detonation a little? Waddya think?

[2oodoor]

I have seen simialr product (BG44K) do miracles too.

[itzdave]

yes indeed... seafoam is AMAZING!

[cygnus x-1]

BTW: the "chattering" I am talking about was put into terms yesterday that I think would make the most sense. It sounds like an old diesel engine. That's the best way I can find to describe it. Pre-ignition from bad timing and/or bad gas is slapping my valves around a bit. I almost wonder if the sound died out when I used the SF in the tank the first time around because the SF might have been acting almost like octane and inhibiting the detonation a little? Waddya think?


That's pinging for sure. I have a beat up old VW diesel that sounds like it has marbles banging around in the oil pan. Diesels just kind of sound like that, but gassers absolutely should not. If your timing is too far advanced, unplugging the vacuum advance might temporarily stop the noise. But you really need to figure out if the mechanisms in the distributor are sticking. It's possible the seafoam cleaned up some of the carbon buildup and reduced the tendency for pre-ignition. Increasing the fuel octane would also reduce pre-ignition.

C|

[carotman]

I guess i'm going to try it on the Civic. It's been sputtering at idle for some time now.

[1987AccordLx-i]

my 89 lxi coupes running bad at idle... hope this helps out... and will it smoke at all if i put it in the gas? i see vids of people smoking like there on fire and i dont wanna be driving around if its going to look like that

[Rendon LX-i]

I have seen simialr product (BG44K) do miracles too.

Thats the shit we use at work....does the same thing

I had that problem to back in the day...o it sucked .....i put that lucas crap i had white smoke come out all day lol...she felt alot better..

I use gunk engine cleaner..not the engine bay cleaner the shit thats basicly kerosene.

[ecogabriel]

I have heard that Seafoam was quite good so I used it. I tried it in my tank plus I sucked almost a bottle through the intake. But with my injectors being probably the same that Honda shipped with the car from Japan that means 20+ years of gunk
Oh, the clouds of white smoke when Seafoam gets into the intake are GLORIOUS!!! I suggest doing it outdoors and away from pesky neighbors. I did mine at late evening/night

In the end, I sent the injectors to one of those cleanup services; they send back a report of "before" and "after". Reports aside, fuel economy improved somewhere between 15 and 20 percent, and the car accelerates much more smooth now. For the price I paid (about $80 w/shipping) it was worth it; I'll send my Civic injectors soon
The only downside is being w/o the car for a few days (in my case it was only three days; I sent them on a Thu. morning and got them SAt. afternoon (all done through USPS) but I had found one service close to ATL (I could have even driven them to the shop). They are sent back in ready-to-install condition w/new screens, orings, and seals.

For whatever it's worth, here is the link

http://www.fuelinjectorconnection.com/shop/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=50

Using Seafoam to clean the engine is OK although one has to really ponder how much crap may be in there.
If there are lots of crap I would NOT use it; the last thing one wants is to disturb the gunk and deposits and move them to the oil pump screen or clogging oil passages in the engine... oil starvation=destroyed engine.

I would use SEafoam again if I have the need for it. It is inexpensive and it does not require disassemble/removal of almost anything (save for a vacuum line to get it sucked into the engine).

[visal911]

Maybe the diesel noise is coming from the water pump bearing. My car sounded like a cummins diesel truck for about a month before i finally changed the water pump. i changed it because of the noise, it was leaking just a tiny little bit.

[88lxi-shortram]

il be running some seafoam after my break in period. since its a used engine i know its gunked up. especially by lookn at the IM. does anyone have any oppositions to doing this right after break in?

[carotman]

If it's a used engine, it shouldn't need any break in?!?!

[2drSE-i]

If it's a used engine, it shouldn't need any break in?!?!

I'm with this guy, unless its recently been honed, or there are new bearings in the bottom end, it doesn't need to be broken in. It already has been