Tom400CFI

And there it is. Finally. That took a while. I wonder how many of these religious "believers" knew it was sewing machine oil and Naphtha.

FYI, I already knew what was in it....but not b/c it says on the can. And I knew no one here, who extols the virtues of the stuff, knew what it was or why it did anything.

I know this: I won't be running naphtha in my crank case, that is for sure. And if I really feel the need for top cylinder lube, sewing machine oil isn't what I'll be using. Especially for $10.00/16 oz.

vette079

205000 mls instead 0f 180000, damn, misread again...

It´s time for glasses now I think.

Anyway, we can´t even get seafoam over here through the normal "sales" channels.

I guess I´ll just keep on driving mine on the 95 octane and things will be OK.

Turned 40 this year, and as long as I have been driving cars here, I have never heard of the need of cleaning the TB or other parts of the or A engine before I became member of this forum.

"Granny´s car is F/S, she has had it since new, 15 years old and only 2500 mls on the odo."

Before you start, not all granny´s...

Now here you can expect some dirt and crud in the engine, because of the "immense" speeds they have been driven at.

Tom400CFI

How is it "snake oil"? Because it is marketed (and that is perpetuated on here) as some type of mysterious magical chemical that does ALL these amazing things. It's a Wonderfull Elixir that cures what ails ya! "Mechanic in a bottle". "Everything for every one". REALLY??? Probably not.
1. snake oil:
From the 19th-century American practice of selling cure-all elixirs in traveling medicine shows. Snake oil salesmen would falsely claim that the potions would cure any ailments.


Because people believe it, and are bought into that...with out knowing what's in it or why it works!

...So people pour a "branded", but unknown chemical formula (no way to learn what's actually in it w/o reading the MSDS sheet -they won't tell you on the can, just like other Snake Oils) into their cars in various places, see or think they see some type of improvement. "Misfire cured!" "Car has more power!" "Starts faster!" And so on.

When in reality, they should have diagnosed the original PROBLEM, fixed it, or circumvented the whole issue in the first place with proper preventative maintenance.

What bothers me is people spreading unfounded "lore", and the unwitting getting suckered into it! People come here for help. Do they need to read that "Seafom cured my (fill in the blank)!" OR, do they need real, technical and diagnostic advice?

Threads that talk about how great a product is that is of completely unknown ingredient or the science behind what it does or doesn't actually do...those threads aren't helpfull to people who don't know how cars/engines work! They're misleading...and result in someone spending $$ on crap that MAY or may NOT actually help.

Yes; under certain circumstances, "Seafoam" (sewing machine oil, Naphtha and rubbing alcohol) may help something in your engine. But to arbitrarily suggest dumping unknown crap into ones engine, for unknown reasons...that is not good advice. First diagnost, then use the right tool (or chemical), in the right place. That is my point. That and the fact that you can get the same effect w/other, MUCH CHEAPER liquids. If poeple understand and acknowledge that...and still want to pay $10 bucks for 16 oz. of "Seafoam"...have at it! Throw some "RESTORE" in there while you're at it!

IMO: If you want clean pistons, use water. It works. It's free. If you want clean oiled parts/crank case...change your oil (Oil has detergent in it). If you failed to do that and you want to flush...well, you should have changed your oil, but use some kerosene...carefully. If you want to clean your injectors (even though gasoline has detergent in it specifically for keeping injectors clean), then use a reputable injector cleaner.

Like I said earlier in the thread; my main point is trying to keep people's money in their wallets. But...you can lead a 'Vette owner to water...but SOME will still buy Seafoam/Slick50/etc. and desperately hope that it fixes their problem...what ever that problem REALLY is.

Bondami

but in reading all of that verbiage, I still do not see where you say it DOESNT work.. It works just as well as your methods.. Therefore its not snakeoil.. It does exactly what it claims to do.. that there are other less expensive methods to accomplish the same task doesn't make it snake oil, nor does your opinion of it. (And I am fairly certain the soaking period which gives the "magic chemicals" time to loosen deposits doesnt work with water.)

If you can provide scientific proof that the chemicals in Seafoam work less effectively than your religiously held methods, then you will have a valid point, Until then you simply have a different opinion and method to accomplish the same task. Well that and a deep rooted need to make everyone agree with your opinion.

That way lies madness.

kenv

It`l stop if they use Seafoam on it.

jmgtp

Hi Fellas,

I've used seafoam in the past on other cars with some ok results but this water thing has me intrigued and I'd like to try it. I've never treated the Vette to a Seafoaming. I really like the idea of water since it won't make that toxic cloud of chemicals that make the neighbors run for the fire extinguisher. Just plain old steam that should dissipate nice and quick. Not to mention its free, so even if it does nothing I am not out of pocket. The logic behind the water seems very sound at least for within the combustion chamber, I'm not sure how far it would go to clean the carbon residue in the intake manifold left behind by the EGR function.

For the water is plain old city tap water ok or should I be running to the supermarket for distilled? I know, it probably won't make a bit of difference but only the best for my baby! Just how much are you using too? I think I'll let it get sucked in through one of the vac lines off the cruise control. 8oz? 16? more?

Tom400CFI

Any water will work fine. The potential to hydrolock the motor is equal whether you use water or Seafoam. Be careful introducing any liquid into the intake.

Water won't clean the EGR residue in the intake b/c there is no boiling going on. However, that residue in the intake isn't hurting anything either. Trying to keep that clean is an effort in futility.

jmgtp

Agreed... any liquid can hydrolock the motor - including Seafoam. I've used Seafoam before. I know how to do it and am aware of the risks and how to avoid them. I don't like using the brake booster line like some use because that is a large line capable of sucking up a lot of liquid in a little amount of time under full manifold vacuum. The small cruise control lines keep things a little more controlled. Also agree on the intake manifold, the buildup in there really doesnt harm anything, save for maybe some slightly rough idling when it junks up the IAC passages or throttle blades.

My point was that my tap water is pretty foul tasting and definetly has an assortment of minerals that might leave deposits of their own - though unlikely.

carguy604

Water works; so does SeaFoam. Personally, I like the SeaFoam and I'm willing to spend $9 a can once in a while.

samsonb

The smoke out the tail pipes is burnt carbon. So if water works just as good a Seafoam. You should still get smoke out the tail pipes.

Tom400CFI

No. When you burn Seafoam, you're burning combustibles; the naphtha (which is basically latern fuel), alcohol and light oil all burn and produce emission; smoke -especially the "oil" part. Water doesn't burn. It turns to steam, which you might see as "white smoke" as it condences back into water vapor.

samsonb

I've done Seafoam on two different cars. One which was running fine, the other had been running rich. The first car running fine didn't produce much smoke. The car that had been running rich produced a ton of smoke. So, my experience would say all that smoke I was seeing on the 2nd car was from carbon as it had been running rich. Or I would have gotten the same results from both cars.

Though, I'm sure some of that was just from the Seafoam.

Tom400CFI

Copy that. Even though you mentioned it, I still neglected to consider the carbon in my last post. You're right. Carbon coming out has to produce SOME type of smoke...regardless of what you use to dislodge it. Good point.

stevette17

they also have one called "cleens" should be similar to seafoam

NocarbutaVetteforme

Some people will justify being cheap no matter what. Naptha (napthalene) is used in industrial purposes as a solvent as well as being used in cleaning fluids. Ask yourself why GM and other auto manufacturers use a top end cleaner to rid themselves of carbon buildup/deposits rather than using water? Don't you think that industrial plants would use water instead of using naptha based products to clean their pipes, equipment etc? These same people who will tell you all the reasons for not using Seafoam or any other top end cleaner are also the ones who will probably tell you not to use synthetic oil.

OP: Do what you like but go with the proven track record. Go search some posts and find out for yourself. There are numerous posts about people having problems passing emissions and then using Seafoam and then passing said inspection. I myself have used it and saw great results especially on the before and after results from emission gasses.

stevette17

same stuff as moth *****?

DGXR

There's a relatively new aftermarket engine cleaner, it has a small hose that slips between the throttle body and air cleaner boot. I'm thinking of rigging up some kind of hose like that, connect a rubber tube to it and the other end of the tube in a container of water. Let the manifold vacuum suck the water into the intake. A small tube like WD-40 spray straw may be big enough to allow water in but small enough to avoid hydrolock, and stiff enough to not get pinched off when the boot clamp is tightened. Thoughts?

pkincy

If I can't afford a $10 can every 10 years or so, maybe I ought to not be in the old car collecting business.

vette196

Amazon has it for $6