Seafoam Walkthrough on 2001 Expy

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jayhawk2014

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I just did some Seafoam to my truck and that I would share how to do it and my results.

1. Get some Seafoam. I did a whole can in the vacuum line.
2. Find your brake vacuum booster line. Just look for where you put your brake fluid and it is connected to that.
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3. Pull the line. I just wiggled it side to side until the pressure escaped out.
4. With a buddy, SLOWLY pour the Seafoam in while said buddy revs to 2k in N. Also, DO NOT STICK THE LINE INTO THE BOTTLE, I'm told doing so could hydro-lock your engine and make it un-startable!
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5. While you are pouring the goop in the line, the engine will sound like it's stalling, just keep on the gas.
6. Empty bottle=Turn truck off and wait 5-15 minutes
7. Turn truck on and drive...spiritedly. Be sure to drive past hipsters and feed 'em a smokescreen.
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8. Done.

I put 2 cans my gas before I did this, so I didn't get a lot of smoke. Overall, I would say it idles a little smoother, hitting it is more responsive, and I can hear less clicking from the injectors. I will get this edited with some more pictures/results when I do it in the oil to clean the crankcase
 
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panda24619

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so what exactly dose it do? it just makes it more responsive and clears the lines? do you recommend doing this?
 
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jayhawk2014

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It is supposed to soak into the carbon deposits that buildup over time. When I called their tech support line, they said it can also help clean off spark plugs. It is more responsive, but I don't know if it cleans out the lines though. A can of the stuff set me back $10 at Autozone and 30 minutes of time. I would say it was worth it.
 

06EXP

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I HIGHLY reccomend SeaFoam! Use it in all my vehicles. '99 Silverado idles just as smooth as a brand new truck.

1 tip I have learned from using it in the vacuum line is the best time to do it when you are about to put new spark plugs in. In rare occasions the release of alot of built up carbon can foul the plugs. Best scenario is to SeaFoam the vacuum line, blow it out the exhaust, and then change spark plugs.

I'm not saying that everytime you do it your spark plugs have to be changed as I have done it many times without changing plugs with great success. But my brother just did it to his '01 Tundra that had never had this done before, and after it was idling rough. It was time to change plugs anyway, (over 100k on originals) and ran smooth as butter after new plugs.
 

4x4utahexp

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Seafoam works great but another thing to beware of is your o2 sensors. I had just replaced my o2 sensors about 2 months before using seafoam in my old jeep cherokee. It toasted both of them and my plugs. It's also not terribly good on ur cat since ur cat is trying to filter all the gunk that just got burned out of your engine. You gotta look at it this way. The gunks gotta go somewhere and if the only outlet is ur exhaust then chances are some of it's gonna get caught up along the way. The next time I did it on my vehicle I pulled the o2's out of the exhaust and let them hang there. I was in the process of a new exhaust so I ran it through before putting on my cat and muffler. It really does a good job cleaning the engine itself but be aware of some of the other issues it can cause. I learned the hard way.
 

corvettej

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I brought a lot of Seaform when Advance Auto had it on sale for $6.99 and I used it in all of my vehicle. I put two cans of Seaform in the gas tank for the expedition because it holds 26 gallon of fuel. I've never put it through the vaccum and I've had excellent results, it keep the injectors, spark plugs and the throttle body carbon free. I repeat every four months but one guy told about every 6 months and you shouldn't have any problems with carbon buildup.
 
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jayhawk2014

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Have any of you used it in the oil yet? I am not due for an oil change for a while, but I am going to Seafoam the oil right before I change it.
 

brewn91

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Jayhawk,

Thanks for the step by step for the Brake Booster. I've used in the oil and Gas and noticed a bit better acceleration. I have 156k on mine.

Also, I have an occasional knock in my #1 cylinder and hoping this will help via vacuum.
 

joezek

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Just a note about quantity of Seafoam, some of the Advance Auto stores sell it by the GALLON. Its like $52. If you use a lot of it then it's well worth it. I personally don't use it in my gas, but I have in the vacuum line.

My cousin does the vacuum line treatment a slightly different way, as taught to him by GM and by the Chevy dealership he's worked for the last 14 years. Using a smaller vacuum line, not the huge brake line, find a line located close to the throttle body. He has someone hold the throttle while he repeatedly dips the hose into the container of seafoam for a second at a time. When the container is almost empty, he lets the helper hold the idle at around 700 rpm, then he sticks the vacuum line into the seafoam and lets it stall the engine out. At this point, they reconnect the vacuum line, and let the car remain un-started overnight. So for the next 12-15 hours the seafoam will be completely soaking into all the carbon throughout the intake and all the cylinders. Instead of just quickly moving past all the carbon, it will have 12 hours to soak into it, penetrate, loosen, and dissolve it. The next morning when you restart and drive around, you'll have about 30 full minutes of unbelievably thick smoke, because you're blowing out just about ALL the carbon. When you do it that way, you remove a lot more carbon.
 
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jayhawk2014

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I'll have to try that soon. How can you make sure (on a Ford) that a line near the throttle body feeds all the cylinders? I read on the Seafoam site that Vortec/Subaru H-style engines in particular do not have a line that distributes evenly.
 
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