Seafoam's really just gasoline with some 'cleaners' in it, if you let it sit overnight, it's just going to evaporate off and leave you where you started. It works better to do the process a few times with ~1/2 hr in between. There should be directions on the bottle.

Seafoam is NOT just gas and additives. It's a combination of strong organic solvents that take time to work on coked carbon. The minimum time between treatments is 1hr. Over night is even better. That's why most shops don't like using it, takes too much time to do it correctly. It hasn't survived for 70yrs because it doesn't work! BTW, the directions on how to use it correctly are NOT on any bottle of the stuff I've ever used, but I will continue to use it.

From www.seafoamsales.com:
"Sea Foam® is composed solely of three specially blended petroleum oils – each having specific functions such as lubricating, cleaning or moisture control.* There are no other chemicals (not even color dyes) included in the formulation.* Being of the same basic petroleum chemistry as the motor oils and gasoline you already use in your engine, Sea Foam® is completely compatible with all engine components, fuels, lubricants and other additives you may have in your engine."

From www.seafoamsales.com:
"Once the product has been applied, turn off the engine and allow the Sea Foam® to heat soak for a minimum of 10 minutes."

My 3rd treatment I let sit overnight. I don't think it worked as well as when the engine is hot and i've let it sit for an hour and the engine is still warm.






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In case anyone needed it and has a Kragan/O'Reily near them, I believe they're having a buy 2 get one free sale on Seafoam cans. I don't think the aerosol version is included, but I'll check tomorrow.

It's a petroleum solvent. If you let it sit for too long and it fully evaporates, it's not going to be doing anything good.

There is nothing magical in Seafoam. If you wanted it to soak overnight, you'd want to pick a set of valves to treat, turn the engine so they're closed, pour a bit down the intake runner and let it pool up and soak.... then repeat on a different cylinder each night.
The bit of seafoam vapor condensing on the backside of the intake valves from a normal misting through the intake is pretty tiny, and it's going to evaporate pretty quickly.

The easiest way I've found to spray some seafoam in is with the aerosol can type. Pull the intake hose off the hard-tube (by the side of the engine above the throttle-body), place the aerosol straw between the hardpipe and the hose and slide them back together (without clamping). Fire up the engine and squirt away with the aerosol can.
Just make sure to remove the straw and tighten up the clamp before taking it out for a drive.

If you're going to put any serious effort into cleaning the valves, you'd probably be best to follow Mini's procedure and use the walnut shells to blast it off.

That's exactly what i've been doing, no more fish tank tubes, bb, stalling and whatnot. Sadly, no aerosol cans on sale at Kragen :(

I'm doing it more as preventative maintenance rather than a thorough cleaning.

check this out Link

Can't access your link. I get blocked

It was basically an advert for another catch can.
Guessing it ran afoul of forum vendor rules?

Google cache version

Thanks

I thought that he was a bit evangelistic with his posting in various threads to reference back to his post in the general forum, which really should have been in the modification section.

No offense to gjn, I understand the enthusiasm for finding a new product, and when I read your post I did not see it as being a sales pitch, but apparently someone disagreed...

That was such a good deal a few months back when they had it. I wish I picked up more. Every time I pop in there, I always ask if they have that deal going on.

Just make sure you put the car is outdoors and not in the garage when you apply it.

Just want to confirm everyone is doing 1/3 in the fuel, oil and pcv. the video just shows it going into the pcv.. I am about to change my oil and plugs so i figured I would do this.

I don't think anyone is putting it in their fuel or oil, the carbon buildup problem is on the back side of the intake valves. Adding seafoam to your fuel or oil are steps for old sludged up cars with other issues.

thank you this makes a lot more sense.

so i've done this treatment twice in the past week (once last Wednesday and the 2nd yesterday). each treatment 1/3 of the bottle with a 30 minute wait in the PCV valve. after the 2nd treatment, the CEL came on. but it disappeared after 20 miles of driving.

only a little smoke came out. no smokestack show. i only fill my car up with Chevron or Shell. maybe one out of 25 times i'll use Valero or Arco or 76, but i don't put in more than five dollars worth. i put enough just to get to a Chevron or Shell. and i use a Techron treatment every oil change (3-5k miles). sometimes i use Lucas Oil gas treatment.

i guess my car doesn't have that much carbon deposits...or i'm doing it all wrong.

I only place Seafoam in once every few months. However, when I do, I leave it in overnight and there is definitely a huge smokestack.

If you do it frequently, it may already be pretty clean.

Your results may vary, but I think you're doing it right.

I did mine, used a whole bottle at various points throughout the day, some hot starts, some cold starts.

Each time i had a massive amount of smoke, the second time i did it i had the most smoke come out.

Now i need my plugs to arrive.

A little off-topic... and you may hate me for this since you already bought... but Amazon has the same NGK ILZKBR7A-8G spark plugs MINI uses for only around $12 each. And if you have Amazon Prime, free 2-day shipping.

I actually got the brisk plugs from Alta, and I have a really good connection on alta parts and pricing

I recently seafoamed my Mini for the third time and again took my time pouring in the seafoam as to not cause a CEL light.

No CEL light came on, but since I have the REV app on my Iphone I decided to check for codes anyway. There were no codes found, but I had 5 pending (shadow codes?) that I could not clear.
They were:
P0300 - Random/Mutiple Cylinder Misfire Detected
P0304 - Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected
P0301 - Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected
P0303 - Cylinder 3 Misfire Detected
B2AAA - No description

I assume all these codes were caused by the seafoam process, but I just wanted to make sure I was not hurting anything in my engine.

Hey guys! Hopefully this thread is still alive cause I have a few question regarding about the treatment. So I read this thread to it's entirety and I thank you all for sharing information of what will happen when you use the seafoam and what could happen when you use it afterward.

Now my question is regarding about the pouring versus spraying technique in the pcv valve. In the video they just pour it and the puff of smoke came out with a hitch and I believe I'll be using that method. Though my question is regarding about the spray technique. Did you guys just stick the nozzle at the pcv tube and just spray???

The reason I'm doing the seafoam treatment is because my mini runs a little rough when it's idle and I can hear like a slight delay in one of the piston in which I believe is piston #4. also to top it off I have the check engine light with the ID of CC-ID 031 which means increased emissions or a malfunctioning in the exhaust emissions. So im hoping this treatment cleans the carbon buildup and eliminates the check engine light issue if it doesn't I'll be breaking the bank for service.

I will be doing the treatment after work and the mini will be warm enough from the drive home. Just wanted to see what technique is best. Just pouring it slowly or just spraying it in the pcv valve??

Thank for all your help! Very informative thread! By the way I have a 07 MCS pepper white with 51k miles.

Thanks!

The Seafoam seems to work best as a maintenance routine. Once you already have the build-up, the walnut blasting done by the dealership (or you can do it yourself) seems to be the only real way to remove the buildup. If you were still in warranty you could possibly get it done for free.

For applying Seafoam, I prefer to use the spray bottle type and insert the straw between the hard-pipe and the hose before the throttle body. This method seems to more evenly distribute the Seafoam (I'll get misfire faults on all 4 cylinders vs. the pcv hose method where faults only pop up on cylinders 1 & 2).

Thanks for the quick response! Unfortunately my warranty has ran out and the dealer is itching to charge me an arm and a leg or two. I will be trying the seafoam to see if I get any improvements. Though I have a new question. Do you have a link or YouTube video on how to do the Walnut blasting? Never heard of it and wouldn't mind checking it out. I'll be leaving work in a few hours and after that I'll be doing the treatment! I am ready to **** off my neighbors with the smoke, that is, if I fo it correctly! Hehe

Thanks again!

Sorry I somehow double posted!