Tried seafoam on my wife's SUV

[TerryMason]

My wife has a GMC Acadia, and it was in need of a tune up. I did plugs, coils, and decided to try (for my first time) seafoam.
I read the instructions on the can -keep the RPMs at 2000 and spray it into the intake, then let things soak for 15 minutes. Start it up and drive like you stole it.

So, after letting the seafoam heat soak, I went to start the car up. Turned the key the first time and just a click.
rechecked everything in the engine, and turned the key a second time and I heard one rotation of the engine.
By this time I was starting to sweat, thinking I had hydro locked the engine.
Turned the key again, and I got about three revolutions - sounded just like a dead battery.
Hit the key again, and the engine slowly turned over until it fired up! Plumes of smoke poured out the tailpipe as I pulled out the driveway and hit the open road.

The carbon treatment worked well from what I can tell (smoother idle, especially when cold), but man was that stressful.

 

[JPNinPA]

Wow never had that happen. Was the engine stumbling before you shut the engine off? Any codes set? Sounds like either battery or starter may be on its way out. Coincidently.
Cold temps coming and that seems to kill batteries.

I don’t spray in the intake. I crack a bendy straw so it pulls air. Dip the straw into the bottle and feed it into a vacuum line. Usually the brake booster line that is bigger than the straw. The open vac line helps keep the rpms up. And I remove the straw before stopping the engine.

Clean the TB and IAC if you haven’t already.
Also the MAP and MAF sensor. Its some of the smaller things that lead to improvements.


Never look down on anyone unless you are helping them up - Jesse Jackson

 

[TerryMason]

I used this:
Pour & Spray Combo Pack SF-SS: Advance Auto Parts



and followed the instructions. I've seen the method you've talked about though on youtube videos.
You leave the engine running, RPM at 2k while you empty the can in the intake (takes a while). Shut it off, then start again.

All turned out well, but I was a bit worried there.

 

[Jagered]

Holy Hell?!?! EMPTY THE CAN??? Wow... I have that and I guess I never read the instructions completely?! :shock:

I use Seafoam in my bikes and lawnmowers. I've also picked up specific MAF sensor cleaner and used them but have NEVER heard of emptying an entire can.
Yes, keeping the RPMs up helps get it to be 'sucked in' because the engine bogs down really bad. With electronic throttles, it's hard to do it alone because there's no cable under the hood that you can manually simulate stepping on the throttle.

It's like any other cleaner, evaporates quickly, so emptying the full can most likely saturated the sensor and it caused a fault, preventing you from starting it. When it dissipated, it cleared the fault and then you could start it.

My only advice from experience, emptying the whole can isn't necessary - that could be a marketing ploy to get you to go out and get another can!
I have a can in my garage now that's close to 5 months old and still over 1/2 full.

Glad it started back up for ya!

 

[TerryMason]

You guys had me worried, so I went back and read the instructions again, and it's pretty specific - empty the whole can (about 7 minutes).

Jagered, I would note that the MAF sensor is upstream of the intake, so it wouldn't be affected by the spray. I'm not sure why it wouldn't start, unless the loose carbon increased the compression temporarily. Just a guess though.


This isn't the liquid Seafoam, it's a seafoam spray with an extra long tube to allow you to spray directly into the throttle body


How to use Sea Foam Spray | Sea Foam

DIRECTIONS

FOR GAS FUEL INJECTION

1. Run engine to warm intake, then turn off accessories and shut off engine.
2. Loosen and remove intake boot from throttle body.
3. With Hook Guide and Cleaning Tube placed in the throttle body, direct tube nozzle end ¼” in front of throttle plate location where the throttle plate opens away from nozzle (see diagram).
4. Re-fit the intake boot over the Hook Guide and throttle body.
5. With vehicle in park and parking brake applied, start engine and hold RPM steady at 2,000 for the duration of the application.
6. Spray continuously until contents are empty (approx. 7 minutes), then shut off the engine and remove intake boot to recover Hook Guide and Tube.
7. With engine turned off, re-secure the intake boot onto the throttle body and allow engine to hot soak for 10 minutes.
8. After hot soak, start and drive the vehicle under engine load for 10 minutes or longer. Apply spirited acceleration when safe to burn off hydrocarbon residues.
9. DO NOT spray into the mass air flow sensor.
10. DO NOT use a scan tool to increase RPM via the air bypass valve.
11. Not for use with diesel air intake systems.

 

[TerryMason]

Clean the TB and IAC if you haven’t already.
Also the MAP and MAF sensor. Its some of the smaller things that lead to improvements.

I looked at the MAF, and it appears very clean, however the PCV was clogged and there was oil going into the air intake (after the MAF), before the throttle body.

I did plugs (one of them was cracked), coils, cleaned the throttle body, and did the seafoam spray in the intake, and a can in the gas tank. The vehicle is soo much better - before it would stumble badly when cold, now the idle is rock solid.


The more I think about this, the more I think the seafoam did. This SUV has 100k miles on it, and it's very unlikely any carbon treatment had been done on it before. I got some pretty good white smoke out if it when I did it.

 

[JPNinPA]

Awesome!

But think about it. How big a piece of carbon to keep an engine from turning? Just a click you said. Then a slow turn.

Anyway if it never happens again.. Who cares?.


Never look down on anyone unless you are helping them up - Jesse Jackson

 

[Jagered]

Thanks TerryMason... yes, I have both - use the liquid in the gas and have the same spray can. I only recently used the spray but admittedly it was on several lawnmowers I was bringing back to life.
I have used specific MAF sensor cleaners, which act similarly but apparently I never read the directions! :lol:

 

[TerryMason]

But think about it. How big a piece of carbon to keep an engine from turning? Just a click you said. Then a slow turn.

Yeah, I'm grasping at straws. It hasn't had any problem since, and turns over as easy as ever. Not sure why it was that hard at first.

I read on some other forums where a person had to pull the plugs and spin it over before it would start. Sounds similar, but they didn't elaborate.