Topic: Seafoam in my oil?

[Sjohnsone]

Afternoon everyone,

I plan to do an oil change this weekend on my 71CB500f.  I recently picked up some seafoam to throw into my gas for a little maintenance.  Upon reading the back I saw that it apparently can go into the oil as well?

Does this actually work? How would you recommend riding the bike with it in? How long should it stay in for? 

I figure it's better to put the stuff in at the end of the life of the oil i currently have than in the new stuff.

Thanks for any info or warnings you may have.

Seth

[Queeg]

YEAS  YES YES.  i do it on my truck ever 3-4 oil channges. keeps the insides clean. i do it at the end of the year on all my bikes.
 put some in run for about 5-10 minits. than do you oil change. i dont want to know what it might do to a clutch if left in too long,
 my truck has 401k miles on it. so it cant be doing that much wrong
if the motor is old andd untouched it might be an excellent idea

[gnarlycharlie4u]

YEAS  YES YES.  i do it on my truck ever 3-4 oil channges. keeps the insides clean. i do it at the end of the year on all my bikes.
 put some in run for about 5-10 minits. than do you oil change. i dont want to know what it might do to a clutch if left in too long,
 my truck has 401k miles on it. so it cant be doing that much wrong
if the motor is old andd untouched it might be an excellent idea

It doesn't really hurt the clutch if you only use it for a short period.
I use 1/3 bottle in the fuel tank and 1/3 bottle in the oil reservoir and let it idle for a while. maybe ride it a bit. If you've got some sticky or slipping clutch plates run it for no more than 20 miles and it should help.

[Coyote13]

I ran about half a can in my oil tank and half in my gas tank for the duration of a full tank of gas.  No hot-rodding around, just easy casual riding till it was time to fill up again.  Filled up the gas, changed the oil, running better than ever.  And actually, now that I think about it, my clutch used to slip out between first and second on hard acceleration, and now it doesn't do that.  Maybe the Seafoam actually helped with that?  I know it defies logic, but nothing else has changed on the bike at all.

[Sjohnsone]

Thats some really excellent, awesome feedback.  Thanks for taking the time guys, have a great day.

[Rigid]

Goldwing guys swear by it for correcting sludged up starter clutches.  The run 300 miles plus with it.  I just used it last week in my Ford Ranger to quiet a lifter and it worked awesome. 

[gnarlycharlie4u]

I ran about half a can in my oil tank and half in my gas tank for the duration of a full tank of gas.  No hot-rodding around, just easy casual riding till it was time to fill up again.  Filled up the gas, changed the oil, running better than ever.  And actually, now that I think about it, my clutch used to slip out between first and second on hard acceleration, and now it doesn't do that.  Maybe the Seafoam actually helped with that?  I know it defies logic, but nothing else has changed on the bike at all.

It dries out and cleans up the clutch plates freeing them of any sludge and gunk built up. :thumsup:

Goldwing guys swear by it for correcting sludged up starter clutches.  The run 300 miles plus with it.  I just used it last week in my Ford Ranger to quiet a lifter and it worked awesome.

Hells yeah! I use it in my ranger periodically just for keeping her clean and it does a great job.

[Duke McDukiedook]

You would only want to use Seafoam in your oil RIGHT before an oil change for a flush.

[Eddie]

I have a 71 CB350 with 7k miles on it, had low compression...140 and 160.  Took the plugs out, exhaust and carbs off. Sprayed Seafoam into the engine, turned over by hand so I could spray the valves too....let sit for a few days..repete. Finally cranked over with the plugs out to clear out remaining Seafoam...put plugs in and fired it up. After gettting it hot and killing many mosquitos...lol . i did a compression test....175 and 180...holy s#*t !...Changed oil and BAM !  of we go..

[orange550]

Are there different seafoams? One for this, one for that? Or is there just a standard "Seafoam"?

[flybox1]

Only one
+1 only in oil just before an oil change.

[IndyFour]

Are there different seafoams? One for this, one for that? Or is there just a standard "Seafoam"?

I think there is just one formula (I don't know that for fact), but I have started to see it in a spray can as well as the regular can at the auto parts store recently.....comes with a long "straw" for injecting into intakes and such.

[gnarlycharlie4u]

Are there different seafoams? One for this, one for that? Or is there just a standard "Seafoam"?

http://www.seafoamsales.com/products.html



There's the motor treatment that we've all been discussing.
There's a spray for cleaning out motors ONLY. Not for fuel tank. It's perfect for fogging a motor for winter storage.
The trans tune is for car transmissions.
The deep creep is for breaking loose rusty or stuck bolts/nuts/etc...

[MCRider]

If you followthe link provided by Gnarly, you'll see what there is to know.

There is no requirement that says the oil must be changed soon after putting it in. In fact SeaFoam says its not necessary.

It "feels" better to do it that way, gearheads are susceptible to what feels good.   

Liability being what it is these days, I think SeaFoam would say change it out if there was an issue.

PS:
http://www.seafoamsales.com/gasoline-engine-faqs.html

Question #2

[gnarlycharlie4u]

If you followthe link provided by Gnarly, you'll see what there is to know.

There is no requirement that says the oil must be changed soon after putting it in. In fact SeaFoam says its not necessary.

It "feels" better to do it that way, gearheads are susceptible to what feels good.   

Liability being what it is these days, I think SeaFoam would say change it out if there was an issue.

PS:
http://www.seafoamsales.com/gasoline-engine-faqs.html

Question #2

I'm pretty sure they recommend driving it about 50 miles if it's in the crankcase. I'm sure it's probably not the best thing to just pour in and drive indefinitely since it alters the viscosity of your oil. However, to clean the crankcase this is the best thing next to ATF+Acetone.

****Disclaimer: do not just pour ATF and Acetone in your engine and think you're good to go after that. You're an idiot if you do.
I run a special blend of oil+Acetone+ATF+Naptha before I rebuild an engine. I never move the bike just let it idle for 10, off for 5.
It cleans out any gunk stuck in the motor and oil passages. It also helps make bearing removal easier.

[MCRider]

If you followthe link provided by Gnarly, you'll see what there is to know.

There is no requirement that says the oil must be changed soon after putting it in. In fact SeaFoam says its not necessary.

It "feels" better to do it that way, gearheads are susceptible to what feels good.   

Liability being what it is these days, I think SeaFoam would say change it out if there was an issue.

PS:
http://www.seafoamsales.com/gasoline-engine-faqs.html

Question #2

I'm pretty sure they recommend driving it about 50 miles if it's in the crankcase. I'm sure it's probably not the best thing to just pour in and drive indefinitely since it alters the viscosity of your oil. However, to clean the crankcase this is the best thing next to ATF+Acetone.

****Disclaimer: do not just pour ATF and Acetone in your engine and think you're good to go after that. You're an idiot if you do.
I run a special blend of oil+Acetone+ATF+Naptha before I rebuild an engine. I never move the bike just let it idle for 10, off for 5.
It cleans out any gunk stuck in the motor and oil passages. It also helps make bearing removal easier.

I have no vested interest in this answer one way or the other. But SeaFoam clearly states their position that you don't have to change the oil after treatment.

They say that if after a treatment, you see your oil is more dirty than usual, change it. Not because the seafoam is there, but because it did its job and made the oil dirty. One could (should) assume that this would happen and change it anyway.

[Don R]

I think the add it and change the oil theory comes from the fear that there is sludge in your engine that will come loose and end up at the oil pump screen. If your bike has a good service history there shouldn't be much buildup. however if you suspect it may have been previously neglected, use it accordingly. Normaly there is a film of gunk and carbon from fuel and it melts into suspension. Hopefully any carbon in the intake/exhaust path will go out the tailpipe.
   I had a bike VERY carboned up due to a plugged muffler and a dumb PO. It would have been interesting to give it a healthy dose and see what happened but instead I took it apart.

[Sjohnsone]

So just an update.  I put 1/3 of the seafoam in the oil before the change and let it idle for 10 minutes and the bike just stopped.  As you can imagine I had to go change my skivies immediately.  I left the bike off and let it sit for 15 minutes, popped the oil cap and drain plug off and let all the old junk out.  I gave it another 15 minutes of just cooling off before I refilled the bike.  I cranked it slowly a few times, tried the electric starter and it ran like a champ.

I'm guessing the bike overheated, but disaster averted....so far.  I really don't think it was the Seafoam so much as the man using it, but I thought I'd share that.

[flybox1]

no box fan cooling the engine while it was idling!??!? 
i see...you were you outside in 20+ mph sustained winds letting your air cooled bike idle 

[Sjohnsone]

Hahahah, I know, dummy move.