When I did the Seafoam treatment on my car today, some smoke came from the back of the engine compartment - is this normal? could this indicate an exhaust leak?

Seems like you should be able to hear an exhaust leak. Sure you didn't just spill some?

it could just be the exhaust creeping back undeneath the car and exiting from behind the motor.. which way was the wind blowing?

thats what mine did..

i didn't spill any - the reason i sort of suspect an exhaust leak is because I think I do hear some.....the wind thing sounds plausible as well - i was a bit worried that I had some crazy vacuum or gasket leak.....

still worried it could be a vacuum leak. what is back there that i should check?

could it be a cracked EGR tube that goes to the exhaust? I know those crack a lot on the Gen1's

does anyone have a picture of the EGR tube so I would know what to look for? I would appreciate it.

I don't have a pic of it but its a metal tube that runs on the passenger side I believe to the passenger side exhaust manifold. I'm not sure if you can see it without moving some things around, like the air intake. I haven't looked at this in a while so I'm just going off the top of my head.

Dose anyone have pics of the PCV valve the seafoam goes in throu? I have looked and cant locate it. are there 2 seperate valves? one for each side of the motor?

it is a valve on the right side of the motor as you are facing it, it plugs into the valve cover and has a tube coming off of it.

not from a lincoln, but looks like this:
http://www.carcare.org/images/engine/pcv_valve.jpg

still worried it could be a vacuum leak. what is back there that i should check?

If you had a vacuum leak, you would have a rough idle, stumbling and hesitation. I am not knowledgable about EGR as of yet.
If you want to check on vacuum leaks you could use a can of carb/throttle body cleaner and hose your engine down in small increments lookinig to hear the idle pick up or smooth out. I have read on this site an old school way of using an unlit, no flame, propane torch. The gas will be sucked into the leak and do the afformentioned. ***note*** do so at your own risk.

the weird thing about the rough idle is that there is no stumbling or hesitation under acceleration - got me puzzled.

I remember hearing about your vacuum leak suggestion - that is a good idea, I will try that and try to figure out how to inspect the egr tube.

Thanx 67Continental,
Another question thou; Do you just detach the hose and let the motor suck seafoam from a cup, or take off the valve and pour it in? Also how dose it clean both sides if the valve is only on one side?

Engine vacuum will pull the seafoam where it needs to go.

i suck it in through the valve - it just pops out of it's spot easily. Yes, it cleans everything in the intake equally.

Hey I will try that! Thanx again 67!

I'm gonna have to give that a try. I never thought of sucking it up from the PCV valve...

I'm gonna give that a try. I was told my EGR was going out, and the diagnostic tester said that as a result, my 'Goose' test wasnt coming out right. (goose being throttle response, namely the RPMs dropping after a quick acceleration). Thanks for the heads up on this one!

how much sea foam do you let it suck up into the pvc line?

an entire bottle is what i use. you suck it up, and either stall it with the fluid at the end or turn it off. let it sit for ten minutes, then start it up and rev it over 3500 to open the secondary IMRC's to really clean them out.

Did the seafoam treatment today. Clouds so thick i couldnt see behind me fo about a block. told people i was smokin out musquidos. but after that the car runs smoother and idles so much better. the 2 big black spots behind the car lets you know how well it works.

Hello:67Continental
Could you please tell me where did you find Seafoam in montreal?
Thanks a lot.

Hello:67Continental
Could you please tell me where did you find Seafoam in montreal?
Thanks a lot.

I couldn't - I had to go the states the buy it, I travel down there often and I try to stock up when I get the chance.

You have a Mark in Montreal? Cool - what colour / year? These cars are soooo rare here!

You have GM dealers in Canada, they should carry GM Top Engine cleaner - like seafoam, but more effective.

I did the sea foam treatment today 1/2 can, pulled out the pcv valve and stuck a piece of fuel line hose in, made more room for the container I had the sea foam in and was able to give it gas with the throttle cable so it wouldn't stall. It worked well. Let it sit for 15 minutes and then started, not too much white smoke until I put the revs to 3000-3500 then clouds came out for a few minutes. My neighbor thought I blew a head gasket with all the white smoke but I told him what I did. It really did the trick, smooth idle and runs great. I thank the people who posted this treatment!:) :)

sorry i dont mean to get off topic but about the throttle possition sencor, when i start my car it idles up and down for about 25-30seconds. and if i give it gas"pushed down about half" and let of the rpms go down 2-300rpms before they go up. and my tranny downshifts some said it might be from the TPS, could this be why its doing all of this?