Engine cleaner?

[Jamiez]

Does anyone have any experience with an engine cleaner like Sea Foam or similar?  I don't have any real reason to tear the engine down as everything seems to be running well, but I figured maybe running a can of that stuff through to clean out the carbon and other gunk might be cheap insurance?  Or don't those products work at all?

[jhaag]

Interesting no one has replied to this. If you are talking about carbon in the combustion chamber, you need to go through the fuel system. Lucas, Seafoam, and Chevron Techron are all good products for this. If you have sticky lifters or sludge in the engine, you could use sea faom or other aftermarket products, but old timers would tell you to save your money and add a quart of ATF, or diesel fuel, run 50 miles and change your oil and filter. Having said all this, if you don't have an issue with sticky lifters, and you didn't see any sludge when you pulled your valve covers, don't worry about doing any of the above. Useing quality fuel and keeping your oil changed is best.

[Super Blue 72]

Jamie, never used any of those products but if you do a search for Sea Foam maybe something will come up.  I remember another member asking about that stuff.

[inviolet]

Interesting topic, Has anyone tried this stuff before?

AMSOIL P.i. Performance Improver Gasoline Additive

http://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-product/fuel-additives/gasoline/p-i-performance-improver-gasoline-additive/

[BIGSHCLUNK]

You wanna clean out the carbon.... water right down the carb! Get her warmed up. bring the idle up/work the throttle and use like a soda(beer) can or bottle full of water. You'll be sursprised all the black crap coming out of your pipes.

[Topcat]

 

Age old trick my shop teacher taught us.

[jimynick]

The water trick works, but feed it a pint of trans fluid first, the smoke will be incredible and then feed her the water, reving the engine sufficiently to keep running. The idea was that the oil would lodge in the carbon deposits and start to glow and the shock of the water then snaps it off. GM had a product called Kleens that did the same function. Don't do this anywhere they'll call the fire department on you.

[Street_Challenged73]

I Seafoam my vehicles at the start of summer & once more before the snow begins to fly...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SMfG19zOMHY

I've always had good luck with running 1/2 of the bottle through the vacuum hose off the brake booster & a bottle to 1/2 a bottle in the fuel tank.

I've never heard of the water straight to the carburetor trick before, but that sounds like it could be the cheapest way to clean it out (so long as it doesn't have any ill effects to the engine's longevity).

Seafoam is about $8.00-$9.00 per bottle, so it is sort of pricey. However, it has always cleaned up any of the issues I've had, whether it be general sluggish performance while driving or an idling issue due to something being dirty/clogged.


Sent from the garage

[Jamiez]

The car really doesn't have any issues that I am aware of, but I've only owned it for a few years and haven't put a lot of miles on it.  I am just trying to make sure all the basics are covered and the car is in as good a shape as I can get it.    I'll probably try something on it (water, seafoam?) when the weather is nicer and I can actually get the car out of the garage.

Now if I could just track down these last few leaks....

[Strawdawg]

seafoam, and other similar products, are usually made up of an oil base that is similar to ATF or diesel fuel plus naptha and isopropyl alcohol.

Here is one guy's experiments based off the seafoam msds sheet.  http://hildstrom.com/projects/seafoam/index.html

Chevron Techron is often regarded as one of the better cleaners for fuel injected cars.  I have never looked it up to see what it is made of.

Alcohol or water injection will keep the pistons steam cleaned in my experience.

The top engine cleaners make a lot of smoke but they do seem to work.  One has to be careful to dribble it into the intake at a rate that does not cause hydraulic lock which can be bad.  A fast idle makes it easy to ingest without killing the engine.  You can also use one of the vacuum lines to suck the stuff up with.  You may have to restrict the line a bit.

I always replace the spark plugs after performing this ritual.