Hi all,

Finally I managed to buy Seafoam from the internet. Just got few question to confirm before I do it on my 2004 MINI ONE (just to make sure I didn't screwed up).

1. Put 1/3 into the petrol tank, the petrol tank should be full or half or .. ?
2. Put 1/3 into engine oil tank, right (pls refer to the photo just to make sure I put it in to the correct place)?
3. Put 1/3 into the PCV hose? <-- sorry I not sure where is it located in my car, pls help pin point thru the photo

Thanks alot, can't wait to seafoam my car

 

Theres really no need to put it in the oil.

You can put it in the 'petrol' tank if you want. But the best is just running it through the PCV, which in your picture is B.

 

I would use 1/2 of the can for the first intake treatment and the second half when you treat it again. Results have shown that you probably need to do it more than once. I did mine three times over two weekends.

 

that the PVC route does the best for cleaning the valves and the combustion chambers. Putting some (a lot?) into the tank when the tank is almost empty moves the stuff through the injectors. This can help them with atomization. Yanking the injectors for a real cleaning does better though.

matt

 

So do you think the carbon is as big a problem on non-s minis? I'm just wondering because most of you guys in this thread seem to
be S owners.

 

The non-S R56 uses the same direct injection design, so it's just as likely to get carbon cooking on the intake valves, but without everyone taking off their intake manifolds, it's pretty hard to guess just how big a problem this really is.

I was fixing a friends Subaru today while our shop was closed and we made a run to Schmucks, where they had Seafoam on sale...
I didn't bother to stick my boroscope down & check out the intake valves, but the dealer had supposedly checked them this past spring when I was complaining of performance problems and told me they were all carboned up.
The Seafoam does seem to have smoothened out my idle a bit, but I'm not sure it's being evenly distributed via the PCV method. Both treatments set P0300, P0303 & P0304 faults, I would expect misfire faults from cylinders 1 & 2 as well or some variation between treatments.
I think in the future I'll try spraying it in ahead of the throttlebody, eg. noisemaker fitting.

 

I Agree that it is an R56 motor issue. Also, I got a spray bottle from Big Box Mart and sprayed in 8 ounces per treatment for a total of three treatments.

I let the car rest for at least one hour before restarting and driving. This procedure is now a regular part of my maintenance routine.

Side note: These treatments have not thrown any codes on my MINI.

 

I just sea foamed my car at 4,250 miles. Everything went smooth except that I blew a cell, but lucky I live next to an advance auto parts and got it cleared. I changed my oil right after I sea foamed and the cell has not come back since.

 

this just means that you're putting the stuff in pretty fast and the car can't fire the cylinder once or twice. You might want to back off on the rate you put it in though, as I think you can get a good cleaning without getting the codes as others have indicated.

Matt

 

So... slightly off topic, but I do try to run Shell and BP whenever possible; anyone have opinions/evidence on Shell's anti-valve-sludge claims?

 

Definitely going to do this once it gets warmer!! Thanks for all the info everybody!

 

The problem is that, with direct injection, no raw fuel mixture is flowing across the back of the valves thereby cleaning them with all those high tech additives. Oil, deposited by vapors from the pcv or leaky valve stem seals, collects on the back of the valves and is burned into hard deposits. So...the best gas in the world will do you no good cause it never touches those deposits.

 

Well, I have been debating on this for a while. Last night I got bored and bought some Sea Foam to try this today. So, I here is my attempt. I put a little over five ounces of Sea Foam into a jar to make sure that I didn't use too much or too little. My method of application was using 3/8 O.D. lawn mower fuel line letting the PCV slowly suck in the Sea Foam. What threw me off was that the motor started to idle up trying to compensate for the fluid. So, after putting in approximately four ounces over the course of one minute; I shut her down. The motor did diesel for about a second, so I assumed everything went right.
After waiting for some 35-40 minutes I fired her up and there was no smoke. So, I revved her up and there was very little smoke to be had.

So my question is did I administer the Sea Foam too slowly; allowing it to burn off. This is the only thing that I could think of unless my valves where relatively clean to begin with. 08' MCSm w/23,230 on the clock.

 

I think you did it too fast for it to soak into the carbon on the valves. It should take 5 minutes to drip in 5 ounces of fluid. It is hard to do manually. That is why I use the Feeder Bottle from www.carfood.net follow the link to Do It Yourself. It is a one time investment under $50 or a little more packaged with some cleaner chemicals, and is the same as used by many professional shops, which is where I first saw it when I had it done to a car a few years ago. They were using the Tri-Maxx cleaner at my local Sunoco. It worked well on my old Explorer. Carfood sells it for a good price packaged with some chemicals of your choice. Most of them work as well or often, better, than SeaFoam.

 

$50 is outrageous for a plastic bottle! I think I'll try using a little spray bottle and very slowly administering the Sea Foam down the PCV line.

 

I picked up a $4.00 spray bottle from Big-Box-Mart and that worked great. No dripping it in. You spray/mist it in. I use 8 ounces per treatment.

 

Ok Thanks guys. I was just trying to use a small hose and let it pull it in. With using my finger to cover the hose end; i used ventury to pull in the sea foam slowly. I guess it was still a little quick. I will try it again when I get the chance.

 

I think a spray bottle may work or the aerosol if you are careful. Regarding Carfood, they sell the feeder bottle and a couple bottles of cleaner for $58.00. No one would buy the bottle alone when they offer it for much cheaper if you also get cleaner from them. With the flow adjustment valve that also lets in some air to maintain a steady idle you can set it and forget it and just watch it clean the intake system and trickle 4 ounces in over 5 - 10 minutes. http://www.carfood.net/noname19.html

 

Is it possible to buy Seafoam international (Europe)?

 

I doubt it. You could easily find one of these products from Lubro-Moly:
http://www.liqui-moly.de/liquimoly/p...t00005422.html

They would do the same thing as Seafoam if applied thru the hose as described above. The Valve Clean or Ventil Sauber looks good for the job.

 

This is all going completely over my head, but has anyone tried a baby bottle for slowly pouring/squirting it in?

 

Sure that would work fine.

 

now that's babying your mini. at least you weaned him/her.

 

I ran clear tubing from the breather connection for three days to show what our engines are ingesting from the pcv system. Now I usually have to empty my OCC every week which consists of oil and a white foamy sludge. You folks definitely don't want this crap going through your engines.

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This was clear tubing at install.

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Get yourselves some Oil Catch Cans if you plan on keeping your MINI's past warranty along with regular carbon/sludge removal treatments.