Seafoam: Has anyone done it?

[Aimster]

I've heard great things about seafoam.
Wondering if it is ok to use on an X5.

[motordavid]

Aimster,
Some of the more A/O posters on CorvetteForum swear that it
helps alleviate the very common prob. that most Vettes have:
the fuel tank sender float arm is affected by "bad gas"...the
SeaFoam prod., often combined with Chevron gas and/or Chevron
Techron additive is anecdotally, the "cure".

Wonder why you wanna use it in the X? Symptoms or, just as
a prophylactic?

http://www.seafoamsales.com/products.htm

Others may have better opins...
GL,mD

Edit...and, here's a link of some rave reviews from Search on this Board:
http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e53-forum/...hlight=Seafoam

[Wagner]

All the 350Z guys were using this when I had my 350, I never did but they loved it.

[Zulu95]

I have seen Explorer guys swear by it for cleaning MAF's. The Ford MAF's have a special coating that usual "carb cleaner" strips and the MAF fails closely thereafter.
Apparently the SF does the job without the problem. They also clean engines/ engine bays with it as well.
Have not tried it and tend to stay away from anything claimed to fix all ills.

[Scott in Cincy]

Originally Posted by Zulu95

Have not tried it and tend to stay away from anything claimed to fix all ills.

I would agree. About every 7500 miles, I run my tank nearly empty, then put in a large bottle of techron. Run it for another 50 miles or so at super strength, then fill up.

I first did that when I was getting some pinging in my 4.8is, and haven't had the problem since. I've since been using only Shell V-Power 93 octane, per BMW's recommendation:

http://www.toptiergas.com

Otherwise, I'd say that treatment package has worked well for my rig.

[Aimster]

why is Mobil/Exxon not on that list?

I always use them.
blah.

I wanted to use seafoam because I reached 100k. I will do what you do with the techron. Sounds pretty good.

[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.

I'd stick to the "normal" Techron dosage rec'ds, imo.
GL,mD

PS: Aim...ya'll got quite a 100K TTD list, ;>)

Edit: my guess is Exxon-Mobil didn't want to pay the postage
to get "on the list", lol!

[Zulu95]

I read about Toptier gas in Roundel some months ago. Since then we dive an extra 2 miles to fuel in a Shell station.

[lo_jack]

I've seafomed my firebird before, via pcv, tank, and also ran it through the crankcase as instructed before an oil change. Seemed to alleviate a sticky lifter for a while.

The LS1 engine fbodys usually report good things from seafoaming, as do the v6s but my heads must have been relatively clean, since I did not get a lot of smoking.

I cannot imagine needing to run this in the gas tank of a lower milage x5, given they require high octane fuel in the first place. I would consider running it in the crankcase itself before an oil change.

It is useful if you are checking for leaks though: dump in seafoam and watch for the smoke. Anything besides the tailpipe is a leak.

Also bear in mind seafoam is not an octane booster, it is from what I remember, a keytone. "Techron" or similarly branded octane boosters do not do all of the same things as seafoam.

[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.