Topic: seafoam after sitting for years?

[cike]

I have a Cb750 that has been sitting for 5+ years, Just got it started last week with the help from people on this site. (THANKS!!)
 I have read many good things about seafoam on here, so I bought a can to try.
 Question is: I am getting ready to get rid of that 5+ year old oil. should I add some seafoam to the old oil and run it in the garage (door open) for a few minutes then change the oil. Or would it be best to leave it out of the oil and run it in fuel only?
Any thoughts?

[333]

Yes.  And run it a while, then let it sit a while to "soak" in.  Then run it again to warm it for the oil change.

[cike]

thanks, 333

[camelman]

That's good advice from "333".  Just remember not to rev it too much.  Seafoam is pretty thin, so the oil viscosity will be different once it is mixed in.  I'd hate for you to wipe a bearing while cleaning the old oil out.

I'd recommend running it through the fuel system too.  I was sold on seafoam in another forum years ago.  One of the members had gone through his whole bike and tuned it up including setting the valve lash.  It just purred after the tune up.  Then, he ran seafoam through it and all the smoothness was gone.  Turns out the seafoam ate away all of the crud that had built up in the valve seats.  He adjusted the valve lash again, and it was even better than before.  Seafoam is some incredible stuff!

Camelman

[Inigo Montoya]

Turns out the seafoam ate away all of the crud that had built up in the valve seats.

Ah the joys of conventional oil! Makes me feel warm and fuzzy for switching to synthetic!

[cike]

Ok, it's done.
 put some in the oil and ran bike for 10-15 minutes (mainly at idle) hope that was long enough. then let bike sit 45-60 min. and changed oil. My first oil change on one of these bikes. No leaks. So far so good.
 Don't know if it made a difference or not. It is not ready to be on the street yet so all I can do is hear it run in the garage. I think it (named Misfit) was happy to a drink of some fresh oil though. Hopefully the seafoam did some good.
I'll run some through the fuel to when she gets on the road.
Time to adjust the valves now.
Thanks all for the Advice.
 

[Inigo Montoya]

Did you drain all 3 locations? Tank, filter, and pan? Another trick is when the filter is off, hit the starter a couple of times to spin the engine. Gets out a fair amount more oil.

[TwoTired]

Did you drain all 3 locations? Tank, filter, and pan? Another trick is when the filter is off, hit the starter a couple of times to spin the engine. Gets out a fair amount more oil.

Personally, Id' rather have dirty oil in the oil galleys and oil pump than air.

Aren't the cylinder walls splash oiled?  Empty oil galleys aren't going to splash anything.  It's bad enough that the galleys starve while the filter is filling up.  But, pre-draining the oil galleys and oil pump just seems like a bad idea to me.  IMO

[torrinh]

that's why you kick it through for a while, helps to fill the filter housing.

[Inigo Montoya]

A properly functioning oil pump takes care of this. On top of that, how much oil is really in the engine after sitting overnight. Probably not much. Considering that after doing my changes like this, it takes about 1 second for oil to build pressure and cause the light to go out, I doubt there is much to worry about. Besides that, how long does an oil change take you? Three days? I do it in about half an hour and I seriously doubt that the parts are so completely unprotected that using the starter to move the oil around before actually starting the bike will cause an issue.
On top of that, considering I got the tip HERE from established members, I think that says enough.

[cike]

Yes, Drained all three places.
 added fresh oil then with the bike kill switch off kicked through 25 times before starting. Was reading on here that Hondaman says to kick it through like 70 or 80 times before starting but I'm lazy so I only did 25 then took a smoke break while waiting to catch my breath
 Seemed to work fine though, no oil light.
 Didn't think about the oil still in the motor. Maybe I should have used some cheap oil to flush everything out, then changes with the good stuff.

[CBGhia]

Turns out the seafoam ate away all of the crud that had built up in the valve seats.

Ah the joys of conventional oil! Makes me feel warm and fuzzy for switching to synthetic!

Oil, synthetic or otherwise, will not stop carbon deposits. 

[Inigo Montoya]

It is more resistant though and has greater cleaning power than most conventional oils. This works to prevent sludge from building up.

[Don R]

Oh no! he said sludge! Don't laugh. Or think with your dipstick.