seafoam?

lil red · May 11, 2008

iv heard about the stuff on here
so
does it work well on 2.8s
will it help out my oil burning problem(valve seals)?
will it end my lifter tick?
is it worth it?
whaer can i get it?

any help is greatly apreaciated
thanks

mhughes165 · May 11, 2008

really, this isnt the place to talk about seafoam, there are many firm believers in the stuff, and many people that will tell u its the devil incarnate.....

High Desert Ranger · May 11, 2008

Think you'll find that there are those that don't believe in those miracle products in a bottle.

And there will be those who will place those products on a pedastal and worship them.

Whenever I am asked about some of those products I will say this: "Some of them work, but it's much like doing CPR on a dead guy, because it don't really matter how hard you try, you can't revive a guy with no head."

So my answer is that for some products if an additive can fix it, some of them will, if it is beyond any additive it's a waste. I've never used SeaFoam.

BlackBII · May 11, 2008

On the 2.8, it has ruber valve seals, and they wear out. A cleaner like Seafoam isn't going to magically restore the rubber, sorry. They need to be replaced. I had the same problem on my 85 BII.

Seafoam is a cleaner, so if there is extra crap in your motor that shouldn't be there, it'll clean it out. But, if there is extra crud, you need more than a "good cleaning." It means something is broken, and is leaving the extra crud....
EX: To get crabon buildup off pistons, you gotta use a razor blade....

lil red · May 11, 2008

ok iv also heard about lifter ticks fixed with the stuff
anyone ever see this with a 2.8

Jorley · May 12, 2008

Remember the 2.8 uses solid lifters. The valves need adjustment from time to time. Check and set the valve lash. Should help the valve ticking some.

enginepaul · May 12, 2008

An opinion on additives.
We used to use a can of Casite now and then to keep an engine clean and it seemed to work. I put some in an old Chevy once and it screwed it up. I think it was because it loosed up a bunch of built-up crud and that caused problems.
In other words, if you start from when it was new, you know the history; if you start with a used engine then you are just guessing.
I can't think of any chemical fix that would be a long lasting fix. For instance a power steering leak fix slows down the leak, but you will be buying a new pump soon. That's the voice of experience talking here.

For a Casite history see:
http://www.casite.com/section.asp?categoryID=17

85_Ranger4x4 · May 12, 2008

Adjust the valves and replace the valve seals seals in one fowl swoop. You will have the valve cover to do one or the other anyway.

Valve cover gaskets and valve seals should be had for under $30, a haynes/chilton manual on how to do it is $20 and will cover many other projects as well.

Forcus · May 13, 2008

Lifter tick being solved with seafoam usually only applies to hydraulic lifters. Since they are solid and lash is adjusted up top, I do not see it making any difference.

As far as the rest of it goes, seafoam is supposed to clean the crankcase, heads, pistons of oil deposits. This is good or bad. Heavy deposits might mean you start clogging filters or worse, the pickup screen in the oil pan. If you know the engine is fairly clean and has been rebuilt recently (newer seals) I'd consider running some seafoam through just before an oil change and then using synthetic. If this is an old crusty engine that you were thinking about tearing out anyway it might be worth a try.

Whatever you do, I'd advise against "motor honey". This is the stuff that "quiets the engine" and looks like thick motor oil. This might have worked 40 years ago for loose tolerance engines and poor fuel and oil quality but I wouldn't use it now.

If you need a freshen, you can get a rering / rebearing / regasket kit on eBay for $150. That's what I'm doing now.

enginepaul · May 13, 2008

Motor Honey and STP are thick oils that coat the parts in such a way that it doesn't run off when the engine is sitting. That helps keep down wear on start-ups. I've been using it for years in Pintos, Cadillacs and everything in between. Most of my vehicles get a lot of city miles with stop and go traffic and many starts per day.
I remember one mechanic not liking it because it was hard to wash off when rebuilding an engine - exactly why I like it.
Just don't over-do it if you have a newer tight clearance engine, but a 2.8 isn't a high-tech modern engine; it doesn't even have hydraulic lifters.

mhughes165 · May 13, 2008

personally i like RESOTRE, in the silver cans, i swear by that shit, and it actually works in newer engines aswell....

skippy · May 13, 2008

mhughes165 said:
personally i like RESOTRE, in the silver cans, i swear by that shit, and it actually works in newer engines aswell....

i use it too,every oil change.

mhughes165 · May 13, 2008

skippy said:
i use it too,every oil change.

its the only "engine treatment" that actually works

rboyer · May 14, 2008

Any type of "additive" or "miracle in a can" usually receives criticism based on each individual's personal experience and alot of it out there is experience from it being used in one vehicle. When I bought my 4.0 Ranger I noticed that it was making a loud knocking noise which was most likely due to carbon buildup from my personal experience with seafoam. I saw a post on here about someone using the stuff so I sucked up a bottle of it through my brake booster line and once the black/greyish smoke cleared what do you know it actually worked, no more knocking noise! That is my only experience with the stuff and it solved my problem but I wouldn't swear up and down that it's the greatest thing in the world because I have no experience with it otherwise. I do know that I have had mixed results with Lucas oil treatment in the past. I have used it to quiet up several rear ends, and some transmissions but I would NEVER use it in an engine that is subjected to colder starting temperatures.

seafoam?

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