well, heres what happened... I finally got my hands on a can of seafoam yesterday and couldnt wait to put it into the car. I got home and unplugged the brake booster line and stuck it halfway down the can. I started it and it choked, smoked, etc... I let it sit for about 10 mins and when I started it, it has a valve tapping noise thats pretty loud (it wasnt there before). I drove for about 30 miles now and the tapping is still there. It ususally gets loud at about 2-4k RPM. Is there anyway seafoam can bend/damage my valves? I tried this method in my prelude and integra and no problems. Thanks for the help.

 

free bump because im curious

 

wtf is SeaFoam?

 

why did you use so much?

 

does anyone have any good detailed instructions on using seafoam? the bottle's directions are very vague and ive been reading more and more problems caused by user error.

 

you used the WHOLE CAN?

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1153303

big write up on seafoam.

 

lets see, can seafoam damage
lets analyze this

seafoam is a strong detergent that dissolves oils.
therefore, when you put a little of it in, it will clear up deposits. however, on an engine ready to have problems, sometimes carbon deposits hold things together (ie headgaskets).

so, maybe your valves had a layer of carbon on the seats, and when that was dissolved, it threw your valves out of adjustment? but that would leave the valves tigher, not really causing ticking.

another thing, that seems far-fetched, but well you did use a whole lot in a short time, is that maybe it dissolved the oil off the valve guides and stuff? those don't like to run without it.

good luck.
i'd adjust your valve lash and then just drive it, if the cylinder head dies or you start burning a lot of oil, well live and learn. but you should be fine.

 

from my recollection your supposed to pour down the foam with the engine on, pour in slowly and only use 1/3 of it

the other third goes in the crank case (oil) and the rest in the gas tank.

 

from what i understand you are supposed to SLOWLY pour the sea foam into the engine. just sticking the hose in the bottle and starting the engine seems like a really dumb move. did you even read the directions?

the ticking noise could be a knock. if you sucked too much into the engine you could have done some damage due to hydrolock. in which case you would have bent a rod and not a valve. rod knocks are usually lounder then a valve tick. does the ticking/knocking increase when you increas the rpms?

 

some dude in the allmotor section just hydrolocked his engine usig the same delivery method


if its fro the head, jusst adjusst ur valves.

coming from oil pan/bottom end, better run a comp test

 

well, the ticking increases usually at higher rpm... anything above 2k. Do you think its the rod or the valves... it kinda sounds like the valves since its not that loud. what do you think?

 

the e30 bimmer guys use this stuff a lot. they suck the whole can in a vacuum line on the intake manifold while the car is running. then they shut the car off, let it sit as long as possible (up to a day, for better results), and change oil soon after using seafoam.