Seafoam in oil?

[Ghaleon64]

Howdy!
Just wondering if anyone has experience with putting seafoam in your oil to clean it up a bit. The manual strictly states that it's a bad idea and that additives do nothing for the engine... thoughts?

 

[Kumba]

I wouldn't bother with it. I have used it on other cars I had and cant say I noticed much. If anything it seemed like the car had worse cold starts. I have ran it as a fuel additive before and noticed an increase in MPG after that tank. Around 1-mpg or so. The MPG sucks for the tank you run it in though.

If your engine has a lot of gunk in it then SeaForm will make it all soften up and stick the oil pressure relief in the oil pump open. This means you loose oil pressure. Diesel Fuel or a motor flush works better if you want to de-gunk an engine. But I wouldn't recommend it. They are also a good way to destroy an engine if you don't know what you are doing and screw up the oil pump depending on how bad the engine is.

If you are trying to find an oil additive to help extend engine life and make you feel all warm and cozy, then just switch to a good synthetic blend or full synthetic. The Ford motorcraft synthetic blend is actually some really good stuff. It used to have the highest ratio of synthetic to conventional oil out of any of them. Not sure how well that holds up now. Then there is always Mobil 1, Royal Purple, and other full synthetics. Price is relative considering they are "race oil". heh

If what you want is an additive to help extend the life of a dieing engine, then Lucas has worked for me in the past. It has helped with cold starts, leaky seals (made them leak less), oil pressure, and collapsed lifters. At best it is still only temporary. It can help you get by until you can fix the problems (or buy a new car).

In the LS I am just sticking with Ford Synthetic Blend Oil, which they will gladly put in for a $30 oil change at the dealer. Considering the way modern engines are designed, I wouldn't want to play with additives too much. They don't exactly leave a large margin of error like the older iron stuff.

 

[2002_lincolnLS]

If what you want is an additive to help extend the life of a dieing engine, then Lucas has worked for me in the past. It has helped with cold starts, leaky seals (made them leak less), oil pressure, and collapsed lifters. At best it is still only temporary. It can help you get by until you can fix the problems (or buy a new car).

.

Yup used it on my catalina worked great then I decided it was finally time and i replaced all the lifters and pushrods and some other stuff, I miss that car all that and the gaskets cost me like 25 bucks.

 

[Mechanicboy]

In the LS I am just sticking with Ford Synthetic Blend Oil, which they will gladly put in for a $30 oil change at the dealer. Considering the way modern engines are designed, I wouldn't want to play with additives too much. They don't exactly leave a large margin of error like the older iron stuff.

I've used seafoam in crankcases before to clean the engine out and my personal thought on it is you're wasting your money unless you have a sludge buildup. Another trick is to throw a quart of atf in the crank just before an oil change, I've done that too and think it's just as or more effective than seafoam in the crankcase.

I agree that motorcraft synblend is good oil and the price is great so I use it exclusively now on my personal vehicles.

 

[Kumba]

Another trick is to throw a quart of atf in the crank just before an oil change, I've done that too and think it's just as or more effective than seafoam in the crankcase.

Diesel fuel actually worked the best out of any of the motor flush's. I wouldn't recommend it though. It literally breaks everything down in the engine and chances of some chunk of something floating around and getting caught are pretty high. Plus if you don't know what you are doing you will pretty much destroy the engine.

If your engine is really that gunk'd up, I just tell people to run a higher mileage oil and change it every 2K or so. It will eventually clean itself out.

 

[01continental]

Just go synthetic. I used to have a 5.0 Mustang and subscribed to 5.0 Magazine. They were doing several before and after parts on the dyno. What really surprised them the most was a 5hp gain just by switching to full synthetic oil !!! Again, this was done before and after on a dyno.

 

[Ghaleon64]

So wait, if I get an oil change at the dealer and go synthetic it's only $30?! O_O

 

[Kumba]

So wait, if I get an oil change at the dealer and go synthetic it's only $30?! O_O

No, it's a Synthetic Blend. They are running that special all over the place down here. They call it the <takes breath> "Ford The Works Fuel Saver Package". Evidently 'Oil Change' was not special enough. It's listed here: http://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/NationalEventPage

The way I look at it, is that it costs me an extra $5 to not have to crawl under the car and get dirty. Plus half the time the dealer here will let me walk out there and poke around under the chassis while it's on the lift. Easy way to check things out

 

[BlackLS06]

Im running mobil 1 full synthetic...its pricey though.

But if the special is still around next oil change ill go with that systhetic blend.

 

[Kumba]

Im running mobil 1 full synthetic...its pricey though.

But if the special is still around next oil change ill go with that systhetic blend.

Yeah. Last time I bought Royal Purple 10w30 (like 5 years ago) it was around $5-6/qt and I doubt it's gotten any cheaper. I'm sure Mobil 1 is in the same price range. And filters are $8-13 here depending on what you buy.

 

[Ghaleon64]

Hot damn, thanks!!! I'm getting an oil change tomorrow so I'll definitely ask for that!