bandit67

Guys, just acquired a 94 Civic with a salvaged yard motor. Oil was pretty dirty when I changed oil and filter. Car runs well but engine oil looks pretty dirty at 1500 miles. Car has not used a drop of oil at 2000 miles. My 95 with 200k miles engine oil looks very clear when I change it every 5k miles. Pulling the oil cap and looking into the valve cover on the 94 does not look very bad. Don't see any signs of sludge buildup. I have noticed many different brands of motor flush and was wondering if using any of them would be of any benifit. Any opinions........

R666_EK

I wouldn't mess with engine cleaners personally. Some recommend it. Others have had problems arise shortly after.

I would try changing the oil and running a qt through it before you replace the plug to fill up.

Then replace the filter put a couple hundred miles or so on it, then change it again.

That should get most of the old dirty oil out without the use of detergents.

thumper64

Normal motor oil has detergents for precisely this reason. You can try some Seafoam if you change the oil right after doing it. Run it through the brake booster and a little in the oil. CHANGE THE OIL RIGHT AFTER, DRIVE IT A LITTLE AND CHANGE AGAIN, IT WILL KILL RINGS IF LEFT IN TOO LONG.

If your oil looks dirty already at 1500 miles, your engine may have issues. Do a leakdown test and compression test. I'd suspect possibly rings allowing blowby.

bandit67

Not sure I want to put Seafoam in the motor if it can destroy the rings. Prolly better off just changing the oil several times after some short hops. Now tell me again about running Seafoam thru the brake booster........how and why is that......

sde780

putting seafoam thru brake booster can kill your rings too. I used 1/3 a can only thru the brake booster, my car never stopped smoking. #3 cylinder rings were gone

The_Honda_Guy

*facepalm*

People think Seafoam is bad because they had a **** motor to begin with that was only held together by carbon seals and sludge that was keeping things from leaking. After they used Seafoam and cleaned out what shouldn't have been there in the first place things started to malfunction so they blame it on the Seafoam. I've personally fully Seafoamed 5 cars now and haven't had a problem with any of them. Each of them gained MPG's, ran smoother, and the oiling system is much cleaner also. When you pull the valve cover off a motor with 130,000 miles and there's not one bit of sludge residue anywhere it's a very nice thing. You just have to make sure you apply the Seafoam correctly and don't overdo it, which many many people do.

gen2tegboi

^ true that. I have seafoamed two cars in my house and both with outstanding results. Yes do change your oil after use in crankcase, but do not do it right away wait a couple hundred miles so it can do its work.

infinitypro12

Seafoam can be risky depending on the current condition of your engine but it is pretty much the only way to clean the inside with out doing a complete tear down. good luck.

sde780

How long have you had the car since you seafoamed it?

gen2tegboi

In 7 years of driving (I'm 22) I've only had two cars and both been seafoamed with no problems. The first time I used seafoam I expected to develop a leak but still wanted to do it for the sake of cleaning it up, then fix the problems but nothing ever happened. My DA loved it, and my Sol runs like a champ after 3 yrs of seafoam.

NOOdS

ive seafoamed two of my engines. my d16y7 and now my b18c1. both ran better and smoother. never had any issues with sensors or leaks.

bandit67

Well, maybe I should take a look at how to correctly Seafoam an engine. Are the instructions listed on the can safe enough to follow. I had allways thought Seafoam was for the gas tank to clean injectors, carbs, intakes , carbon deposits on pistons and valves. I will check it out.........thanks to alll for your responses....

hmoobhero

yeah, used seafoam on two of my cars and they run really well. i just put a whole can into the gas tank with half a gas tank.

The_Honda_Guy

The 4 cars I've Seafoamed -

1994 Cavalier - drove for 1 year after Seafoaming it, then blew the motor up revving the **** out of it, 122k miles (I was 16 at the time, lol)

1987 RX-7 - drove for 1.5 years after Seafoaming it, sold car and bought 94 Accord, 113k miles

1997 Civic - still own this car, Seafoamed 1.5 years ago, car runs flawlessly, averages 37 MPG, not a single seep of any fluid, 142k miles, will be keeping this car long term

1995 Civic - brother in law still drives this, car runs extremely smooth, Seafoamed 2 months ago, just burns oil on cylinder number 3, possibly due to a bad oil control ring (had this issue long before Seafoaming), 125k miles

I've never once had an issue with Seafoaming a vehicle, you just need to do it correctly and not on something that's been absolutely neglected.

The_Honda_Guy

Tell ya what, I'll be a nice guy (taken from one of my previous posts):

I'm just going to say this. If you have no idea what you're doing, don't do it. You can seriously damage your vehicle if you don't go about doing this correctly.

If you were looking for a complete write up for Seafoaming your car, here it is.

Materials needed:
2 cans Seafoam motor treatment (liquid)
http://www.seafoamsales.com/motor-tr...ment-home.html
1 can Seafoam Deep Creep (spray)
http://www.seafoamsales.com/deep-creep/index.html

Tools needed:
Funnel
Pliers (pretty much any type will work)
Phillips screwdriver
3/8" ratchet
3/8" ratchet extension
Spark plug socket

This write up is intended for those of you wanting to "Seafoam" (as it's commonly referred to) your motor. This process is used to remove carbon deposits from your throttle body, IACV, intake manifold, intake ports, piston tops, and exhaust ports - basically the entire intake and exhaust system for your vehicle. It will also clean out deposits from your gas tank and fuel lines, as well as cleaning your fuel injectors. As long as you follow the directions closely, you won't have any problems during this process.

Please note - I do not recommend this on very high mileage motors (200k+). Depending on how well your vehicle was taken care of, it's possible that the sludge and carbon inside your motor is all that's holding it together yet. The two vehicles I ran this process on both had around 120k. I didn't run into any problems with this many miles, but I've heard of people with very high mileage motors doing this and having problems with burning oil afterwards. Basically as long as your motor isn't beat to **** and in terrible shape you should be fine.

I started first of all with a full tank of gas and poured one full can of Seafoam motor treatment into the gas tank. I ran through this tank of gas before starting the process listed below.

1. Warm your vehicle up to operating temperature, then shut off vehicle.

2. Remove air cleaner tube to gain access to throttle body plate.

3. Start vehicle and allow to idle.

4. Begin slowly spraying Seafoam Deep Creep onto throttle plate, spraying small amounts every 5-10 seconds. Do not allow vehicle to bog down or die out.

5. Be sure to spray into the IACV which will be small hole just before the throttle plate.

6. Make sure to spray larger bursts onto the throttle plate while revving up the motor using throttle wheel.

7. After using around 1/2 the can, shut car off and soak the throttle plate, IACV, and intake manifold with the Seafoam spray and let sit for 15 minutes.

8. Restart vehicle (will probably be a little harder to start than normal) and allow the Seafoam to completely burn off. Shut car off.

9. Reconnect intake tube, then locate brake booster vacuum line (will be a long black vacuum hose running from intake manifold to brake booster located on the firewall).

10. Use your pliers to remove the hose clamp and pull the vacuum line off the brake booster. Start vehicle. You'll notice the vehicle idling higher and/or have a surging idle.

11. Begin slowly pouring the Seafoam motor treatment into the open vacuum line, pouring in approximately 2 tablespoons at a time. Do not allow motor to bog down or die out.

12. Be sure to rev vehicle up and down while adding the liquid. Do not add too much at a time or you'll run the risk of hydrolocking your motor. This won't be a problem if you stick with the small amounts (2 tablespoons) at a time.

13. After running approximately 2/3 of the can through the system, reconnect brake booster vacuum line and allow vehicle to burn off all of the liquid.

14. Turn off vehicle and let sit for approximately 15 minutes, making sure that it has cooled down throughly (warm to the touch, NOT hot).

15. Remove all 4 spark plugs, then pour approximately 2 tablespoons of Seafoam motor treatment into each cylinder.

16. Pour the remaining 1/3 can of Seafoam liquid into your oil system using the oil fill cap.

17. Let sit for 15 minutes, allowing the Seafoam to soak on top of the pistons.

18. Replace spark plugs and start engine (will be harder to start than normal).

19. Go for a sprited drive, making sure to rev vehicle up and down. Do not drive for more than 5 minutes or lay on the rev limiter during this time.

20. Change oil, spark plugs, and fuel filter.

21. If your vehicle threw a CEL, it's more than likely a code for the IACV or a misfire. To reset it, simply disconnect the negative battery terminal for a few minutes then reconnect it and it should be gone.

Make sure that you change these 3 items after this process. I've seen a lot of people that didn't change their oil and ran the car with for many miles with the Seafoam in it and damaged their motor. This is because the Seafoam cuts through the oil and lowers the viscosity. Like I stated in my steps, I only ran it through the vehicle for less than 5 minutes, allowing just enough time for it to circulate through the system to clean things out and then changed the oil afterwards to remove it from the system. Also as I stated above - do not add too much of the liquid into the brake booster at a time or you run the risk of hydrolocking the motor. I've done this two times now on two seperate vehicles and haven't had a problem. This process works well as long as you do it in moderation.

It's amazing the difference it will make once you burn all the Seafoam off and change the oil, plugs, and fuel filter. It'll make your vehicle idle smoother, run smoother, and gain a slight bit of power all through the RPM range. Obviously you shouldn't be expecting a 20 HP increase, because all this will do is gain you back the HP you've lost due to carbon build up and aging parts.

I hope this clears everything up for anyone wanting to do this. If you have any more questions, feel free to post them.

bandit67

Thanks for the "how to" post.....very informative. I shall try some/most of this and see how the car runs...........j

WeakSauce92

has anyone heard of http://shop.nanovit.co.uk ??I'm pretty sure it's just like the seafoam stuff. I haven't used it yet but plan on it when I get home.

stiffinEK

iTrader: (1)

seafoam is definitely engine friendly.

i have used it to clean my engine at every oil changes with 1/3 of a can use.

DO NOT USE ENGINE RESTORER, or GUNK MOTOR FLUSH!

those 2 products can seriously mess up your seals! they are not aluminum friendly towards import/japanese motors. they are made specifically for them big block shitty chevy motors, and them ford mistake motors that are made of them titanium steel crap. **STRONGLY ADVISED!**