I gots a questions for yalls people. v.seafoam

Myco

Myco

Dedicated LVC Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2008
Messages
913
Reaction score
8
Location
Houston
I simply don't have the time right now to clean my IMRC's so after getting a 1518 code I decided to do a seafoam treatment as it had been a year.

In the past I've done the treatment twice on this car. Both times I let the seafoam slowly be sipped by the suction from the brake booster line.

However; this time my friend held the line while I goosed the gas and he stuck the line tapped to the brake booster down to the bottom of the bottle and it was sucked in in about 15 seconds.

Now we all know how much smoke comes out afterwards. When I let the seafoam be sipped I got some smoke but not a lot but when It was ingested into the engine this way there was a HUGE amount of smoke. I drove for 10 minutes and I was still getting smoke.

Because it was so bad I got another bottle and did it again. Once again... it took 5 miles of driving for the smoke to go away.

Now, my question is. Would it be a bad idea to try this again? As of right now my gas milage has improved DRAMATICALLY.

So, just curious if any of you guys have done 3 seafoam treatments in a row.
 
Where is the brake booster line on a GEN 2?

I have the same problem and I have done this through the PCV valve twice and I am still getting code. I know where the master brake cylinder is however I do not see a vacuum line anywhere around it.

I have heard that it is on the back of the engine in a hard to reach spot. However I have no idea where it is. Im a planning to take off my windshield wiper assembly once it stops raining to reconnect the drivers side O2 sensor. I will look for it then too.
 
You may just need the code cleared. Some codes clear themselves, some store for good until cleared.

PCV or brake booster, either is fine and the same. I would rather do PCV incase I dont hook something up right!

I also recommend you do as you have with the ingestion of the Seafoam, but just before the bottle empties, let it suck up a bunch and stall it. Then let it sit for about 20 minutes. It will start, but not easily. Then drive and get those cats HOT. You may have better luck freeing up the IMRCs by soaking.
 
I don't think multiple treatments will harm anything in the engine. I ran 3 in a row on a 5.0 that had enough carbon buildup that it would ping when the motor was off and it ran better than ever. You might also want to try their new spray can which will give you better vaporization and coating on everything but it is kinda slow to come out of the can. I know we carry it at NAPA but I haven't really seen it anywhere else.
 
sort of. but not really. that won't clean your intake. it will clean your fuel system.
 
Myco, I know this might sound a little crazy, but I removed my intake and got up close and personal with those buggers. I believe that's the best plan of attack. Get an upper and lower gasket set and start ripping it apart. It's really not that bad once you do it. It took me a couple hours for the whole process. Remove the alternator, fuel rails, vacuum lines, and throttle body and you are pretty much there. PM me if you need details.

Here is what mine looked like:
IMRC.jpg


I hate to be the one to doubt the use of seafoam because I have used it before for the hell of it, but I'm find it hard to believe you can get a thorough cleaning of the IMRCs, especially once they have gotten past a certain point. And for the record, mine were not sticking so I can imagine they can get even worse than what is seen in my photo as may very well be your case.
 
Removal is best, but many have had luck using seafoam to get them at least working again. Seafoam first, removal last.
 
98lincmk7lsc said:
Have to pull the crossover tube too, so you'll want some new o-rings for that too.
Click to expand...

For this step I cheated and used a dremel to cut the eyelets coming off of the crossover pipe that go to the alternator. That crossover tube is seated in there pretty good and I don't see an issue with it coming out without those eyelets attached. I've ran it like this for a year with no problems. That's an option if you don't want to monkey with the crossover pipe.

Like I said, to each their own. If you want to seafoam and try to free them up, that might work. But, what I do know is that you could eat off of mine once I cleaned them by hand and I expect to see care-free operation from them for at least another 100K miles. Obviously, if one is crunched for time, then seafoam is quick. But Im willing to bet that every person here has wasted 2 hours of their time before doing something not so productive. :D
 
Looks like Im going to have to clean mine by hand too. 3rd seafoam treatment and I still got issues. Car smokes likes crazy afterwards too. Iev read that you should keep seafoaming until no smoke comes out of the exhaust. I just dont see that happening.
 
I've been thinking of running some seafoam through my car as well, but then my dad chimes in with "well what happens if it knocks a piece of carbon down onto a cylinder and messes something up" or something equally as stupid. Sometimes I wish I had a bat handy.... But anyway, what vacuum hose do we use to take this stuff in? On a Gen 2?
 
For any of you Gen2 guys that wanna do this, PM me if you need details. There is a torque pattern on the intake that should be followed also. The only "specialty" tool you will need is a fuel line removal tool to unhook the fuel lines that go to the rail. All the rest is pretty much screwdrivers and ratchet work.

And actually, once you start taking it apart you might not even need direction anyways. Just remember where everything goes back again, which again, EASY.
 
sirkingchase said:
Looks like Im going to have to clean mine by hand too. 3rd seafoam treatment and I still got issues. Car smokes likes crazy afterwards too. Iev read that you should keep seafoaming until no smoke comes out of the exhaust. I just dont see that happening.
Click to expand...

What year is your Mark?
 
KStromberg said:
What year is your Mark?
Click to expand...

97, this IRMC code is really bugging me. My car wants to stall in the morning the first time I start it (till the point where I tun off my road) once I give it plenty of gas it runs fine. It only does this in the morning I can stop and start it all day with no problems. I am getting very poor gas mileage too. Because of these problems I am only driving it to and from work, which is less than 10 miles.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 1,199 (members: 1, guests: 1,198)
Back
Top