Seafoam Uncovered

In decided to search for more info on this topic. You can believe everything you find on the web, right?

Well, I think Joe ('89 Martinique) has a good point on Seafoam. I found several references on which people ended up with spun bearings after adding it to their oil, which is recommended on the Seafoam website. Apparently, Seafoam is naptha & alcohol & thins out oil too much.

I saw no reference to a problems when added to fuel.

10-4 Eric - The only thing you should add to oil is more oil

Use it in my oil all the time. Shuts the lifters up, def does thin the oil out though. I put it in for a thousand miles or so to clean it up then change the oil again without it.

I really love it. My accord's valves were ticking like a SOB with 200k on it, put sea foam in the oil a couple times and it doesn't make a peep at idle now. I was very impressed.

Straight from their site: "To clean oil rings and lifters, add 1½ oz. Sea Foam® to each quart of oil. Sea Foam® will slowly re-liquefy the old oil varnish residue that builds up on lifters and rings and prevents them from functioning normally. This process can be done as part of a pre service cleaning by adding the Sea Foam® to the oil at least 30 miles before the next oil change interval. OR it can be done as a preventative maintenance process without changing the oil. You can leave Sea Foam® in the oil indefinitely as long as the oil is clean. The addition of a high-detergent oil like Sea Foam® may cause the oil to become dirty faster than normal as buildup oil residue and contamination are cleaned. Check the oil at regular intervals and when it gets dirty, change it."

I put on my oil on 99 Silverado, 177k miles. Now one of the lifter sounds when is cold. I had mix results with Seafoam. I think is decent to put on the gas.

The only thing I've ever added to oil is Marvel Mystery. I had rebuilt the little flat head engine in the Atom but then is sat for about 10 years. Flat heads are notorious for stuck valves due to their vertical position - all the oil runs away from the stem/guides. So, when I started it up, I had a couple stuck valves. Added the Marvel in the oil and gas and within several minutes, it was running great.

BTW, I also use 50% Marvel and 50% engine oil for fogging.

Pete and I discussed sea-foam in another thread on fuel stablization. I mentioned the MSDS on this stuff showing the chemicals it contains. It also has Isopropyl alcohol(IPA) that adds to the ethanol already in our fuel.
Sea-foam was probably good back in the day with real gas and the older motors(or small 4-stroke engines) but with today's gas and motors I wouldn't want it in my gas or oil.

anthonylizardi wrote: I put on my oil on 99 Silverado, 177k miles. Now one of the lifter sounds when is cold. I had mix results with Seafoam. I think is decent to put on the gas.

I have an '02 with similar miles that does the same thing. I had it professionally flushed but no fix. I wonder how long it will hold up like it is. It does get quiet after it's warmed up.