Seafoam: Has anyone done it?

[lo_jack]

Originally Posted by Bill Valley

I am a former Saab guy who used Techron and the highest octane (92) gas religiously. My turbos always ran real smooth. I had to put 89 octane in on a road trip and the difference was noticeable.

I always use BP and they say there detergent is better than top tier.

A boosted engine is going to need more octane (oxygen, or just fuel in general) to keep pre ignition/ detonation at bay, as the compression ratio is going to be higher and the cylinder head temps higher. The computer will try and correct this by retarding the timing, btw.

That is a given, but doesn't effect the turbo per se. That is the result of wedging more and hotter air into the chamber. At best, if you ran more octane, you could perhaps increase the boost slightly before you got detonation again. Or spray methanol, or run an intercooler.

X5s already require premium because of the heads and pistons (the comp ratio has to be 10.5 or more to 1), but that doesn't mean adding more octane beyond spec will do anything better, unless you have a problem, like excessive deposits that would appreciably change the size of the combustion chamber (hence the Seafoaming).

Beyond the point that the engine requires more octane/oxygen (you could just dump more fuel by keeping the injectors open longer; fuel cools the intake charge) adding octane does not do anything.

[OldGuy]

The porsche crowd loves to use Chevron gas with techron-Then before an oil change you dump a whole bottle of techron in one tank of gas.
It gets by the rings and gets in the oil-thins it out. Do the oil change after that tank and off you go
everything is cleaned out and ready to go.

[Scott in Cincy]

Originally Posted by motordavid

I like Techron too, but not a fan of dumping large quantities
into a near empty tank...anecdotally, I've done that "overdose"
in my M'cycles and it "cleaned it out" but I had fouled plugs in
a heartbeat.

Harley's don't count they foul plugs anyway

[motordavid]

Originally Posted by Scott in Cincy

Harley's don't count they foul plugs anyway

...

My recently departed '90 "Soft?"tail actually ran pretty well:
tan electrodes with only a touch of sooting on front plug under
some conditions. My newly regained, original '75 Superglide will
foul plugs in a city block under the right conditions, lol!

I actually managed to foul the hell outta my '87 1K 'Cane running
a can of Techron through it; one of the float bowels hanging up
didn't help. Plugs changed and it's back to near new, for a two
decade old go faster.

I didn't think I could slip that by... .
BR,mD

[fast4d]

fwiw, when I recently removed the intake to replace the valley pan there was not ANY deposits on the intake valve stems or intake path. this 4.4 had 100k miles on unocal or chevron 91 octane (sometimes 89!). I have not put in a bottle of redline fuel system cleaner in about 30k miles. I also changed the OEM platinum plugs there were worn but no signs of fouling or detonation.

you don't need to clean your MAF sensor if you have good air filtration. you can alway use the mass air sensor cleaner spray.

[JV]

Originally Posted by lo_jack

A boosted engine is going to need more octane (oxygen, or just fuel in general) to keep pre ignition/ detonation at bay, as the compression ratio is going to be higher and the cylinder head temps higher. The computer will try and correct this by retarding the timing, btw.

That is a given, but doesn't effect the turbo per se. That is the result of wedging more and hotter air into the chamber. At best, if you ran more octane, you could perhaps increase the boost slightly before you got detonation again. Or spray methanol, or run an intercooler.

X5s already require premium because of the heads and pistons (the comp ratio has to be 10.5 or more to 1), but that doesn't mean adding more octane beyond spec will do anything better, unless you have a problem, like excessive deposits that would appreciably change the size of the combustion chamber (hence the Seafoaming).

Beyond the point that the engine requires more octane/oxygen (you could just dump more fuel by keeping the injectors open longer; fuel cools the intake charge) adding octane does not do anything.

I can tell you know what you're talking about by reading this post, you must spend a lot of time under the hood

[Bill Valley]

Originally Posted by lo_jack

A boosted engine is going to need more octane (oxygen, or just fuel in general) to keep pre ignition/ detonation at bay, as the compression ratio is going to be higher and the cylinder head temps higher. The computer will try and correct this by retarding the timing, btw.

That is a given, but doesn't effect the turbo per se. That is the result of wedging more and hotter air into the chamber. At best, if you ran more octane, you could perhaps increase the boost slightly before you got detonation again. Or spray methanol, or run an intercooler.

X5s already require premium because of the heads and pistons (the comp ratio has to be 10.5 or more to 1), but that doesn't mean adding more octane beyond spec will do anything better, unless you have a problem, like excessive deposits that would appreciably change the size of the combustion chamber (hence the Seafoaming).

Beyond the point that the engine requires more octane/oxygen (you could just dump more fuel by keeping the injectors open longer; fuel cools the intake charge) adding octane does not do anything.

Interesting. The Saab guys use the Techron to clean the fuel system, not boost the octane. I was hoping someone would comment more on the cleaning effects of Techron or other additives, or discuss further the benefits of using a fuel system cleaner.

[lo_jack]

Originally Posted by Bill Valley

Interesting. The Saab guys use the Techron to clean the fuel system, not boost the octane. I was hoping someone would comment more on the cleaning effects of Techron or other additives, or discuss further the benefits of using a fuel system cleaner.

Hmm, well I use seafoam in the engine, though, not in the tank. And I don't use fuel additives. But if what old guy says is true, then the benefit would be for the engine, not necessarily the fuel system, as it is hitting the crankcase and oil. I guess I could test some of this out when I pull my lifters in my pontiac.