Seafoam: Has anyone done it?
 

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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.:thumbup:

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.

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. :confused:

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.

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.

Harley's don't count they foul plugs anyway ;)

:rofl: ...

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...:rofl: ;) .
BR,mD

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.

I can tell you know what you're talking about by reading this post, you must spend a lot of time under the hood :2thumbs:

:smokin: 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.