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I've never used seafoam but I do use the steam cleaning method. Just did it on my 2nd gen this week. Sucked in about a gallon of water through a vacuum port behind the throttlebody. Car made lots of steam and was hard to keep running but quickly cleared up after the water ran out. The car runs great now. Very smooth. I used 2 bottles of Techron in the gas tank on the 2 previous tanks as well. It's like new.
I need to get your opinion on my engine,and whether or not Seafoam will work for it. The engine is in my 78 production 79 GS,and has 85k miles on it. It runs really well,but recently it has been blowing large clouds of smoke when shifting at redline,and I also noticed some smoke on start up as well. I bought an Atkins rebuild kit from a member here for a good price,but some have told me that it may just be some carbon making seals stick,and therefore the engine smokes. I would like to keep this stock engine in the car,and I could get it rebuilt if need be,but what do you guys think. The car is used only sparingly,and very little lately due to me getting a new toy,but I do take good care of the car. Any opinions are welcome.
Well, if I were in your shoes then I would Seafoam it. Don't try anything fancy, just dump a can in the tank and go for a drive.
If it still smokes at high rpms after that, then it might be the oil control rings. I have had success with Lucas heavy duty oil stabilizer when dealing with that. Replace a quart of oil with a quart of the Lucas, but you can go up to two quarts if needed. Like I said, it worked well for me on my last motor which had lots of miles on it...
Is the general consensus to use a full can of seafoam on a mostly empty tank? How long a drive do I need to take? Lots of revving up,and down,or just a long highway drive?
Just dump a can in. It won't matter how much gas is in there, or how you drive it afterwards. Running it hard may assist in cleaning, but even if you don't drive it hard the Seafoam will still do the job. Most likely, you will feel the difference immediately...
Bit of a bump for this thread, but I wanted to report on my results.
Iv'e been wanting to do the Seafoam treatment on my 82 FB for a while now. After I installed a RB Long Primary exhaust with excellent results I figured I'd give it a shot. Car already had a general tune up... new filters, new plugs/wires, MSD coils etc.
I added the whole can to about 1/3rd of a tank today and spent an hour or so just ripping on it. It was fairly cold (50degF) out and some light rain.
The car just rips now. It runs smoother, idles better, and doesn't have a miss that it used to have before. I think the biggest improvement is in the carb and possibly cleared out some carbon from the rotors/seals...can't really say for sure.
This was the first time basically ever that I actually drove the car hard just because of how nice it ran. 3rd gear was almost too much for the wet roads.
Thx for update and results-
I dump a can in all my cars (and RV!) once a year, esp if they are about to go into winter storage.
Can't claim the before/after change you noted, but then its usually 5-6 mo after I dump in the SeaFoam that I get to drive a particular car….
We've been using it in our small engines for years, and I clean my intakes in my piston engines with the stuff relatively often. I think it works wonders and will continue to use it!
Hey, I'm just quoting from what others have said in previous SeaFoam posts how that's meant for the valvetrain and since rotary engines do not have a valvetrain, you should really only focus on the gas tank. I wouldn't say this unless someone else has, yet at the time I WANTED to stick it in the intake until some said it's not that beneficial.
I have used Seafoam for several years in small engines and in cars - it works. But last year, when my ‘04 RX-8 hit 55K miles, I talked to the superb rotary expert at my Mazda dealer about Mazda’s recommendation for decarbonizing the engine. Mazda makes a similar cleaner, but he told me that using Seafoam would do the same thing, and that it was a good idea.
I read up online about using the vacuum ports, and did the job myself. 1- it was easy. 2- yes, it smoked a little for a short while, and 3- the results were amazing! The car always ran well, but after the Seafoam treatment, it was just like when I bought it brand new in the Fall of ‘03. I’d forgotten how much better it COULD run.
So no- it doesn’t require pistons or valvetrains, and it’s FAR from pointless. Remember- even Mazda sells a decarbonizer for rotary engines, because carbon is their enemy. Get the Seafoam.
Finally used seafoam. Spraying it down the carb really cleaned it up. Dumping into the gas tank seems to make starts way easier, and the car runs better. All this time, I never would have thought !
I use it on both my 12a rx7 and Rx8 every time I am about to replace the spark plugs. I would recommend you change out your fuel filter as well. Although you should be fine, with our cars being so old and some sitting for quite a while - it's possible some of the stuff the seafoam cleaned out from your tank might be sitting in your fuel filter. It's such a cheap and accessible part to do as well.
Originally Posted by midnight mechanic
Finally used seafoam. Spraying it down the carb really cleaned it up. Dumping into the gas tank seems to make starts way easier, and the car runs better. All this time, I never would have thought !
Very much agreed! Best part was when my neighbor came down the driveway because he thought my garage had caught on fire -lol. I wasn’t able to upload the video because the file is too big but the picture is self explanatory. 😂
Originally Posted by 1BADRX7
You used it and you didn't record the start? That's the best part to watch!
