Sea foam?

[81EA81]

Has anybody used Seafoam in an EA81? The PCV T fitting on my 86 Brat was almost completely clogged with carbon, I cleaned that crap out by hand and it was bad!I thought maby seafoam would help so I looked it up earlier and found a video on youtube saying to pour 1/3 of can into the carb/pcv hose,1/3 in the crankcase oil, then 1/3 into your tank. It also says 1oz per Gal. of gas. The oil thing sounded a little weird to me but it says its "composed solely of three specially blended petroleum oils"

Any one have an opinion?

[7point62fmj]

When you did a search on this using the search feature what did you find? There are more then a few threads on it.:cool:

[PHATBRAT]

The stuff works, Not only does it work, But it works GREAT!!!!!! No worries, go for it.

[81EA81]

So I finally got a can of seafoam for my Brat, Im still uneasy about this for some reason. In my mind if you were to pour Seafoam in your oil wouldnt that dilute it? I'd think It would raise your oil level causing excess pressure and then blow out all your seals?ON to the intake,Is it better to pour it through a vacuum line or straight down the carb? It seems like the carb would distribute the seafoam to the cylinders better, If I were to pour it down the carb should I pour it down both barrels?Ive herd to do this while it is running then use the seafoam to stall it out.Ive searched and couldent find any for sure answers because everybody seems to have their own opinion, some say its great stuff, others say its bad for older engines because it could break down carbon that is sealing a potential leak. I might be overthinking this but I just want whats best for my SUBARU. Thanks

[ferox]

So I finally got a can of seafoam for my Brat, Im still uneasy about this for some reason. In my mind if you were to pour Seafoam in your oil wouldnt that dilute it? I'd think It would raise your oil level causing excess pressure and then blow out all your seals?

 

You are essentailly correct. You don't want to leave the Seafoam in your oil too long. I think I remember people saying to run it about 200 miles [i don't run it that long ~60 miles] then change your oil. Most of these older engines lose a little oil over time, so you can Seafoam when the oil level drops a bit.

 

ON to the intake,Is it better to pour it through a vacuum line or straight down the carb? It seems like the carb would distribute the seafoam to the cylinders better, If I were to pour it down the carb should I pour it down both barrels?Ive herd to do this while it is running then use the seafoam to stall it out.

I put Seafoam in a spray bottle and squirt it as fast as I can down the carb-both barrels with the engine running. Sometimes I can get the car to stall, other times I just shoot a bunch in there and turn off the car for 10 minutes or so. Be prepared for the cloud of smoke coming out of the tail pipe.

[El Presidente]

I've used seafoam for years and it works great.

 

1/3 goes in a near full tank of fuel..real easy

 

1/3 goes in you intake while the motor is running. Get it up to operating temp and find a vacuum port that will evenly distribute the seafoam to both banks. The PCV hose may work, but because of the design of the suub intakes, I'd use a vacuum port on each side and put a 1/6(thats half of a 1/3) of a can in each port to ensure one bank doesn't get more than the other. Once you have your ports picked out, put a 2' piece of vinyl tube on the ports(port) that fits well. Pinch these off with a pair of vise grips or hemostats to control vacuum leaks. Start your motor. I usually have a friend hold the RPM's at about 1000-1200 RPM(to keep it from dying), then hold hose shut, by hand, and remove the vise grip/hemostat and put the end in the seafoam. Carefully release the hose a little at a time and let the engine vacuum suck the seafoam out of the can. It should take no more than a couple minutes to get all the seafoam in. Once its all gone, turn the motor off and let sit for about 20 minutes and then start it again. Rev the motor a little( it will run rough) till there no white smoke. Do this at night or somewhere far from other people/ houses, there will be LOTS of smoke that stinks bad and will likely get the fire department called. don't underestimate how much smoke there will be! Putting it down the carb bore is a little harder because the motor is more likely to stall, but it works fine. I don't recommend sucking it straight out of the can, instead divide the can into glasses, before starting so you can't put too much in one spot.

 

Your only putting 1/3 can in the oil, so don't worry about it being too full, also the level of the oil willn't increase oil pressure. It will thin it VERY slightly, but not enough to worry about, just drive your rig around normally with this in the oil for no more than 200 miles, preferably right before an oil change. After the 200 miles, change your oil and be amazed at how black it is.

 

Worn seals are worn seals, you may notice more oil leaks after seafoam, but if you like carbon build up holding your motor together, don't put it in your oil. The seafoam website has detailed info, and my advise is based on that, with a little experience thrown in.

[81EA81]

Thanks for the replys, they were very helpful.Where El Presidente says,"The PCV hose may work, but because of the design of the suub intakes, I'd use a vacuum port on each side and put a 1/6(thats half of a 1/3) of a can in each port to ensure one bank doesn't get more than the other" Will the PCV port on the top of either valvecover work fine. I'd think that would be the same as adding it to the oil Since it would go to your rockers,Right?. I think i might just go down the carb. I also herd that it will foul your plugs, usualy thats no biggy, but when I first got the Brat I changed the plugs and on the way out there was quite a bit of resistance, the threads in the aluminum head are on their way to being stripped:( the new ones went in O.K enough to work, but I fear if i change them one more time they will blow out on start up. has anyone experinced this with an EA81, I definitly dont want to do a head swap in my driveway,this is a nightmare for me to think about. anybody have any ideas?

[987687]

If you strip a plug it isn't the end of the world. You can get thread inserts for spark plugs. On the ea81 the plugs come right out into plain view, you can see the threads, makes it very easy to do thread inserts I would think.

I've never done this on an ea, but have on an ej22, the plugs are a few inches down in a hole and is a little difficult/scary...

[El Presidente]

Thanks for the replys, they were very helpful.Where El Presidente says,"The PCV hose may work, but because of the design of the suub intakes, I'd use a vacuum port on each side and put a 1/6(thats half of a 1/3) of a can in each port to ensure one bank doesn't get more than the other" Will the PCV port on the top of either valvecover work fine. I'd think that would be the same as adding it to the oil Since it would go to your rockers,Right?. I think i might just go down the carb.

 

Correct, pouring seafoam into your valve cover will just put it in your oil. Sorry, I was referring to an EA82 PCV valve and what I meant was to suck the Seafoam up throught the PCV hose coming off the intake, using engine vacuum. On an EA82, it is right below the carb and the most central vacuum port. When I talked about pouring a 1/6th in each side, I meant using a vacuum port on each side(like an emmisions vacuum port) of the carb. If your in doubt, just slowly pour it down the carb

 

 

I also herd that it will foul your plugs, usualy thats no biggy, but when I first got the Brat I changed the plugs and on the way out there was quite a bit of resistance, the threads in the aluminum head are on their way to being stripped:( the new ones went in O.K enough to work, but I fear if i change them one more time they will blow out on start up. has anyone experinced this with an EA81, I definitly dont want to do a head swap in my driveway,this is a nightmare for me to think about. anybody have any ideas?

 

First, if your not, always use anti sieze on sparkplugs that are going into aluminum heads regardless of the motor. Anytime I've had to deal with stripped sparkplug holes, I pull the heads/head. I don't like risking having my motor eat aluminum shavings, but lots of guys do it with the heads on with no ill effect. I do recommend packing the drill bit and tap with grease to help grab any lose shavings though. The red "high-tack" axle grease works great, but makes a hell of a mess(its sticky and strings out like chewing gum).

 

Another trick I've heard of, but never done, is to crank the motor over until the cylinder with the damages threads is on the intake stroke. Then duct tape/secure/ have a buddy hold a air nozzle on the intake/top of the carb so it shoots air into the motor. If its a carb, I recommend disconnecting the fuel line and if possible, drain the fuel bowl, because the air going down a carb will suck fuel from your system, possible filling your cylinder with petrol. You should feel air coming out of the hole with the damaged threads when you turn the air on. When your drilling/tapping, the air going down the bore, past the intake valve and into the cylinder, will blow the shavings out the flutes of the drill bit and tap reducing shavings to zero. Good luck

[Twitch de la Brat]

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=108459

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=98978

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=102991

 

*Sigh*

 

These are some pretty good threads for checking out how to use seafoam and

its benefits and applications.

Not to mention its easier than typing out how to use seafoam, for the *nth time.

 

Twitch

 

PS: Just follow the directions, and it works great.