Blew a plug after seafoaming

[tonydiv]

Since it finally warmed up a bit today I decided to sea foam the truck. I wanted to do this before my trip to Fla, but didn't have the time. Truck performed flawlessly on the trip by the way, but it seems like I used about a third of a quart of oil on each leg of the trip.

The pluses - now my "lifter tick" sound is gone and the truck seems to run a bit smoother.

Minuses - There must have been some liquid sea foam left in one of the cylinders, because, after the 5 minute soak, as soon as I cranked it up , boom, plug blew out. The plug went right back in and torqued to spec just fine. I'm hoping it stays that way. I currently have a washer holding the coil pack in place, I'll change that out asap.


I had plans to install the new Wrangler dual battery tray today, but after getting so side tracked, I decided that it will have to wait.

 

[Blackwater]

Keep a eye on your oil cap for a while after foaming. I did my rig a few months back, great stuff. I also had that damn lifter tick or spark knock and it cleared up after a few miles. A week or so after I foamed the spark knock came back. Someone mentioned to me to use a higher grade gas so I tried mid-grade. After 2 fill ups of gas the knock went away. After my 5th mid-grade fill up I got low grade and with in . 5-6 miles the knock came back. Been using nothing but mid-grade now and it hasnt come back. Check the bottom of the cap for water. Im sure you know water in oil will turn to a gray/tan slime. If you didnt know then I just schooled you, lol! Sea foam says it gets moisture out and it does but they mean out of the lower motor by somehow send it under your valve cover. I have a few buddies that after they sea foamed something in their heads went up.

As for the plug I dont see how the plug would go back in after blowing out..I would think if it blew out it would have stripped the threads on the plug or head. If the threads were messed up you would have had to really cranked on it to get it back in. Try backing it off and see if any slivers of metal coming out with it. I wouldnt take it out all the way to check it though just in case it is stripped.
Maybe it worked its way out somehow far enough that only a thread or two was holding it in. But I have never heard of a plug loosing up.

 

[tonydiv]

I'm not sure why the plug went right back in. When it blew out I used a microfiber rag to try to get any debris out of the plug valley and it came out clean. It's almost like the plug spun out. (like that's even possible) I used a piece of fuel line to thread the plug back in, so it wouldn't cross thread, and it felt like the threads were perfect.

I've put 100 miles or so on it since then and everything seems fine. I bought a new coil pack for that cylinder, but I think I'm going to hold off installing it, just in case that plug decides to blow again.

 

[Boomer]

Ok, I have seen multiple people here talk about sea foam.

What is it?

 

[tonydiv]

Sea Foam is one of those products that has been around forever, and one that I never gave a second thought to, until a marine mechanic told me about it.

It can be added to oil to get rid of sludge and free up sticky lifters.
It can be added to fuel to clean injectors and the fuel system.
And (the way I used it) it can be introduced slowly in to the intake manifold through a vacuum line and it will clean the intake and remove gunk from the valves. (and supposedly even clean the cat converters)

You can see that it works by the cloud of smoke that it leaves. A friend says that it just burns dirty, but if you look at the exhaust WHILE you're adding it, you can see that there is no smoke. The smoke only comes after you turn off the motor and let it sit for 10 or 15 minutes. Then when you restart it, you'll smoke out the neighborhood with all the crap that used to be in your motor.

Back when I owned my repair garage, we had a machine called a motorvac that basically did the same thing, it would fog a cleaner in to the throttle body. This is just a cheaper way of doing it.

 

[Boomer]

This product can be put in the crankcase and in with fuel too?

Sounds like snake oil to me.

 

[tonydiv]

Those were my feelings too. And to be honest, I couldn't bring myself to add it to the oil. It does, however seem to work great on the fuel side of things.

 

[bionichicken]

Lucas fuel additive

Use it in all my vehicles.....works great. They have all kinds of products and their auto trans stuff will smooth out shifts etc. Never had a proble with their products.

 

[happyexped]

Sea Foam

So, if I add it to my gas tank, that's it? It cleans out the fuel system?

 

[tonydiv]

Yes, but you want to make sure that you have the tank below a 1/4.

The real benefits show up when you clean the intake and valves by letting a vacuum line suck it in.

 

[98EXPY 5-0]

I used it in the crank case of an old Dakota that I bought cheap with 200K miles on it.

I put 1/3 of a can into the oil and drove it about 75 miles (one day's commute) and changed the oild when I got home. Chunks fell out of the drain plug. It free'd up all the sludge in the pan and motor.

I also used it through the vacuum port on my Dodge Ram, and while it did smoke like hell and all that, it also fouled my plugs. So do it before a plug change.

 

[ssbroly]

I've run it thru my fuel system, like it alot! Big difference. What line did you use to run it thru your intake?