SeaFoaming a c900?

3922 Views 19 Replies 10 Participants Last post by mmoe, Oct 25, 2010

mySaab900

Discussion Starter · Sep 27, 2010

Hey guys it's been a while since my last post, but something has just recently caught my eye, seafoam. There are a couple things I would like to know about it. Will it hurt my engine, oil, fuel system in anyway? And I need step by steps on how to do it. I'll be doing it to my '91 c900 N/A. I need to know which vacuum hose to pour it into, and how much, and I watched a video that said 1/3 of a can in vacuum hose, 1/3 a can in the engine oil, and 1/3 a can in the fuel tank. I also saw that I should put a different seafoam product into my automatic transmission fluid reservoir. The car has 265k on it. Any help is greatly appreciated!! Thanks Guys!!

1 - 20 of 20 Posts

Snabb SAAB

· #2 · Sep 27, 2010

I've never Seafoamed my SAAB, but did my Jeep. 1/3 on engine oil, 1/3 on fuel tank, 1/3 into engine through the vacuum hose attached to the brake booster. For the vacuum hose I let the engine sip 1/6th of the can using vacuum, then shut off engine and poured the last 1.6th can down the hose, filling it up as it took the Sea Foam. Let it sit with the liquid in the engine for 10-15 minutes, then start it, with all the glorious white smoke that Sea Foam produces. The go for a 20-30 minute drive, working the engine to redline, putting the engine through its paces.

There are plenty of You Tube videos on Sea Foam, some showing SAABs, my guess is it won't hurt your engine.

jk88

· #3 · Sep 27, 2010

Is it running poorly? If the car has 265K with no current issues, why mess with a good thing?

drewz airflow se

· #4 · Sep 27, 2010

jk88 said:
Is it running poorly? If the car has 265K with no current issues, why mess with a good thing?

2nd that

Talladega900

· #5 · Sep 27, 2010

I've gone over 300,000 miles on simple maintenance (regular oil changes every 3000) on a B202 na engine and never have had a problem other than the usual wear items.

And why do you want to Seafoam again?

Jack Straw

· #6 · Sep 27, 2010

Don't waste your money on snake oil. If you do feel like you have to buy it, don't put any in the engine oil and DEFINITELY not your transmission. If you do put it in through a vacuum tube on the intake, be prepared to replace your plugs, because they will get soaked. If you see any benefits afterwards, it will be from the fresh plugs, not the "cleaner" that ruined your last set. It can't hurt to put it in the fuel tank, but as others said, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Saabeh

· #7 · Sep 27, 2010

I don't buy into seafoam, but if someone wants to show me FACTS or before and after pictures of 'carbon' buildup, so-be-it. Instead, just do the maintenance the car requires.

Jack Straw

· #8 · Sep 27, 2010

Yeah, and even if it managed to clean off some carbon, what good is that going to do anyway? Nothing wrong with a little black stuff. If you have enough build up in your cylinders to cause a problem like pre-ignition, sea foam is not going to fix it. To be honest, my 200k+ cylinders and valves didn't look bad at all when I replaced the head gasket last year.

plasticfoodwrap

· #9 · Sep 27, 2010

what is sea foam? Is it realy just the stuff that rides on the top of the ocean? why do we think that it is a good thing for a conbustion engine? I think if you buy in to all that maketing to keep your engine clean, there are probly a better ways to clean your engine. I've heared of going green but this a little fishy.

mySaab900

Discussion Starter · #10 · Sep 28, 2010

Ok thanks for your input, I was skeptical myself so having like 6 opinions about it is great. No the engine isn't running poorly persay, piston slap when it's cold, but it is a 2.1 which I've heard are notorious for piston slap when cold? The only thing is that if I really mash on the accelerator the shift from 1st to 2nd takes a while, it's an automatic, but it seems as though it's like pushing in the clutch on a manual and keeping your foot on the gas at the same time, and then it gets into gear, then from 2nd to 3rd is really hard like a big jerk, or like you let out the clutch too fast on a manual. I am keeping an eye on the trans fluid, I just added some a few months back, but I've never changed it before in the 7-8 years of ownership. Should I flush it? Any suggestions? Thanks for the input, I won't waste my money!!

See less See more

PimpMyPc

· #11 · Sep 28, 2010

All the seafoam will do is clean out the closest intake port to where the vac line attaches to the manifold. I did 2/3 of a can right into the vac manifold on my taurus, and then pulled the upper and lower intake off. The intake runner right next to the vac nipple where the vacuum distribution manifold was somewhat clean, but the rest looked like this.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

See less See more

mySaab900

Discussion Starter · #12 · Sep 28, 2010

ok now I'm deffinately not wasting my money!!

Jack Straw

· #13 · Sep 28, 2010

Are you sure the "piston slap" your hearing while cold isn't just a noisy lifter? They can make a sort of tapping sound when cold.

For the auto trans fluid, I don't have one, but from what I've heard people strongly recommend that you not have the fluid flushed - the pressure may release build ups which could get caught somewhere they shouldn't be and lead to trans failure. The recommended thing is to just drain all the fluid and then refill. Better safe than sorry! Heard of more than one person who has had it flushed and then the trans failed shortly thereafter.

mySaab900

Discussion Starter · #14 · Sep 28, 2010

ok thanks a lot man!! I'll look into the lifter and see if that's what it is. It kinda sounds like a diesel when it's cold, like the old Golf diesels from the 80s - 90s. Haha, the Swedes and the Germans

mySaab900

Discussion Starter · #15 · Sep 28, 2010

Talladega900 said:
I've gone over 300,000 miles on simple maintenance (regular oil changes every 3000) on a B202 na engine and never have had a problem other than the usual wear items.

And why do you want to Seafoam again?

Wow, you change it every 3k? I change mine every 7k. I've heard you don't really need to do it that often, CarTalk with Click & Clack (Tom and Ray Magziolli) told me that. Nothing really bad happens and I don't want to seafoam again. I have never seafoamed the car. It does burn a little oil, I had to add some the other day, it's been about 5,500 mi. since my last oil change. It was below the minimum line and I added some 10w-30. It always has, it's really not a fast burn I just have to top it off every now and then.

Jack Straw

· #16 · Sep 28, 2010

If you are using regular oil (not synthetic) it's probably a good idea to change it more often. Synthetic lasts a lot longer so you can do longer intervals (I personally change it 2 or 3 times a year, since you have an n/a synthetic should last 10k+ miles). There was a guy on another site who did 20k mile oil changes in his n/a c900 with Mobil 1, and sent in the oil for testing when it was done and the results came back fine.

mySaab900

Discussion Starter · #17 · Oct 2, 2010

ok, I'm using regular, but I was considering changing to synthetic. Don't I have to like flush the whole block, because I heard you can't mix them together even if there is just a little bit left after an oil change.

Jack Straw

· #18 · Oct 2, 2010

You can mix them together all you want, that's an old wives tale. In fact maybe ten or fifteen years ago my uncle (a mechanic) got some advice from a friend who worked for Mobil's research laboratory, which was that if you mix one quart of synthetic with regular oil at every change, you get most of the benefits of synthetic without the cost.

It occurred to me your start up noise could also be a ticking timing chain.

mySaab900

Discussion Starter · #19 · Oct 2, 2010

ya I have thought of that, but I have heard other cars with ticking time chains, and I don't really think that's what it is. Ok next oil change I'll look into putting some synthetic in. Thanks for the advice, this is why I love being on here!!

mmoe

· #20 · Oct 25, 2010

Seafoam is useful in some specific circumstances or for specific purposes. I had a piston with a sticky ring pumping oil into my intake and after using seafoam in the crankcase oil it completely went away providing another 50,000 miles of trouble free operation. I've also used it in generally gunky engines to clean them out and had very good results including quieting follower noise.

I do not use it more than once in a given engine, typically just if I think it needs it when I first buy a car. I have thought it would be worthwhile to take some photos of an engine before and after since it really does have a dramatic impact on the cleanliness of the engine when used in the crankcase (based on my personal observation before and after with valve cover off). I have been running seafoam in a shorter OCI of about 500 miles-1000 miles using about half a pint with 10w-30 conventional oil taking up the rest of the normal oil level. I switch to 10w-30 Mobil 1 synthetic afterwards. As for using it in fuel or other applications, I've not been able to find any notable difference before and after.

See less See more

1 - 20 of 20 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.