I wondered if anyone has ever used Seafoam in their crankcase or fuel tank?
I have read about it on several forums over the years. I bought some today to add to our 1997 Blazer LS 4x4 4.3L. I read the directions an added as recommended to the oil & to the fuel tank. I didn't read anything about how long to run it before I change oil & filter or does it matter? I'm assuming that I don't need to do anything to the fuel.
Anyone have experience with Seafoam, that can give me any suggestions?

 

I use it in the fuel, but am hesitant to use it in the crankcase oil. My reasoniung for that is that first, if the crankcase was taken care of properly, it shouldn't be needed, and second, if it wasn't a new host of troubles can come on. My personal experience with neglected motors I have picked up over the years is that if you have a lot of gunk in th emotor, and you remove it, you will make leaks, as well as burn oil due to the loss of the varnish deposits that the components were sealing to. Get rid of the varnish, and you lose your seal. But for the fuel system, it is great.

 

I have used it in my gas tank,but if you put it in your crank case I wouldn't leave it for long and change the oil and filter. A friend that owns a Carquest auto parts store said if I did that I might have to pull the oil pan to get all the gunk out,other than that possibility it shouldn't hurt any of the bearings or hard parts.

 

I've used it a few times on a few different vehicles and think it is more or less worthless. It just isn't potent enough to do what you want it to. At the very least you'd need some BG 44k from NAPA for the fuel but a true motorvac is the only way to clean your injectors and combustion chamber. As for the crankcase AutoRX is a good additive that takes multiple treatments to actually get true results. They also have a fuel additive much like seafoam or BG44K.

 

I have used it in gas tank, crankcase, diesel, and 2 cycle mix. Haven't seen any night/day results yet but I have heard people rave about the stuff.

 

Thanks for the input. I had a cold start knock before I added the Seafoam that appears to be gone. I also notice that the engine isn't as sluggish. Seems to have better power. On the Blazer Forum they suggested I drain the oil around 300 miles. So I'm due, But I plan to add some through the brake booster vacuum hose before I change it.
I bought this Blazer this spring. It had a used engine put in it before I bought it. It has run good & I get great mileage out of it, but it had a cold start knock & what appears to be a spark knock sometimes. If you run the RPMs up as you hit around 2500 RPMs it will start knocking as the Rs go up. If you hold the Rs steady say like 3500 it stops. I was pulling a real steep grade this spring with a 5000# trailer behind it & I was in second gear about 3000 RPMS & I heard this knock that I thought the rods had gone through the pan. I backed out of it & it quit at 2000 RPMs & I finished the pull. Well I have put 6000 miles on it with no troubles, So I have tried Lucas, octane booster, Marvel Mystery, Techron, & etc. Nothing has worked. So I thought I would try Seafoam because I have heard a lot of the younger guys on the a couple of Chevy forums talk about getting some results. These computer trucks seem to be more sensitive to carbon etc than the older trucks. I have no codes, I get 16-23 MPG with it. I use no oil, no leaks. So, I will post after I do the brake booster deal & change the oil & filter. One other thing I have no idea what year this engine is or how many miles it really has. I do know it is a 2nd gen engine though because the fuel injection was completely different on the 1st gen. When the engine was swapped it was done by a wrecking yard & they swapped out everything. The A/C compressor was of a newer model than my 97 so it could be a 2000 or newer engine.
Thanks,
Craig

 

Gas tanks yes. I use it on small engines quite a bit. Never in the crank case.

 

Well today I ran some through the intake & took it to the shop for a L.O.F. change tomorrow. I have to say it does run better it isn't as sluggish. We will see what it is like after it is serviced. So all & all I would have to say it was worth the time & money to give it a try. The shop told me they would keep some of the drain oil so I could see what came out. I have a shop in town that has a real good mechanic that does some of my work, the work I don't want to do.

 

I run it through the intake via a vacuum port, it can help older heavily carboned up engines

 

I ran a full can of seafoam in the headstock of a lathe (Blackish film on inside) with 5 fresh quarts of 20w-50 oil. Ran it for over 5 hours and didn't do a thing and it was highly concentrated. Sort of an apples vs oranges comparison but..... After I drained the seafoam/oil mix I pulled the cover off and sprayed it down with brake cleaner. The brake cleaner took the black film off no preoblem. Seafoam is a solvent, I wouldn't put it in the crankcase.

 

I run it in my small engine and RV furl tanks for winter storage. I've heard that it works as well as Stabil, and it's cheaper. Did have one engine have problems because it seemed to leave oil in the tank. Drained it and refilled -- all OK. FIrst problem in 5+ years -- maybe I put in too much.

I've never used it through the brake hose, but a friend did on one of his cars. Says it helped a lot.The guy is an engineer and extremely methodical, so I believe him.

As for the oil --it would scare me. Don't like the thought of deposits flowing through the system. But, you're getting right on it, so it's probably OK.

Good Luck,

 

I used to run seafoam through all of ours every year. Nowdays I just run MMO through ours on a monthly basis. 4oz to 10-12gallon. After a MMO treatment the smoke show from the Seafoam was almost nill.