For some reason my mini hates seafoam. Had a bad experience with it back in April - just wanted to stall. But, I thought i'd try it again...mistake!

I put about 1/4 of can of seafoam into the vacuum line and let it sit for about 10 mins. Put vacuum line on and cranked - instant stall. Took vacuum line back off and it cranks fine and idles fine but the instant I put the line back on it stalls. I've let it idle for about 5+mins now and rev'd it abit...no smoke!! Put vacuum line on again and stalling..

omg...

WHY?
Anyone have any idea why this is happening?

Sorry to post twice but not sure where to place and am kinda worried and want immediate feedback.
Thanks.

 

I'm new to the forum, as well as a new Mini owner, but I've used Seafoam quite a few times with prior vehicles. Dumb question, but was the car running when you put the Seafoam in the vacuum? I wasn't sure from your post...when I've used it in the past, I've disconnected the vacuum while the car was running and ran about 11 oz through the vacuum (you should 'sip' the Seafoam with the vacuum vs. pour it in). You should then see a bunch of white smoke and the engine will eventually stall. Let it sit a few minutes, reconnect the vacuum, and restart. It will run rough for a bit, but will eventually smooth out. If you put the Seafoam in the vacuum without running it, you probably flooded it with Seafoam. If it were me, I'd run the motor with the vacuum disconnected for a bit. Perhaps someone with more Mini knowledge than me has more to offer...wish I could help a little more, but I'm a newbie.

 

You may get some suggestions as to what is causing your problem if you can tell us about the "bad experience" in April. What prompted you to use Seafoam then, and again after having problems with it. What symptoms was the car displaying before the treatment?

 

No symptoms before treatment - just doing it as a "preventative" maintainence...

Pretty much the same thing happend in April - it just stalled unless I gave it gas. It eventually cleared up after a few hours I think.

However, this time, I checked the oil again and while most of it looks good, there are bits of what looks like chocolate milk on the stick.

And yes, engine was running while I did this...and I did let it sip - I put about 1/4 a pint in over about a 10 minute period.

 

For the life of me, I don't know why people are so compelled to put this crap in their engines. If anyone knows, I'd like to know.

Seafoam and other products like it, including oil and fuel additives, cause more problems than they solve. Don't use them, don't waste your money. Period. (By the way, I know where you can get some magnets to put on your fuel line to increase gas mileage by 50%.)

Just use decent fuel and quality oil, preferably synthetic. That's it. And use the factory oil filters, thank you very much.

 

To "prevent" what?? Sorry, but it boggles my mind as to why people will try to fix something that's not broken.

 

Our mini didn't hate seafoam, I followed the directions on the diy and everything went smoothly...
I'm not sure if the process is different for R53's but:
I turned the car on,
took off the vacuum line,
poured 1/3 of the can in a 5min time frame,
then put the vacuum line back on,
turned the car off and waited 30 min before turning it on again,
and watched the smoke come out.

 

I did both minis. One was a fog machine, one had hardly any smoke. Just rev the crap out of it (give it lots of gas) for 5 mins or so, then take it on a spirited drive for 5 miles. If you get any codes, reset them.

It sounds like you are expecting it to run fine. It runs like crap, blows smoke, stutters etc as it clean out the carbon.

 

To the people who are lost as to why people use seafoam - because if you do it "right", it is actually good for the car. Cleans out carbon deposits...that's a good thing.

I did it wrong...that's why I ran into trouble. I didn't have someone rev for me while I poured it into the vacuum line... tsk tsk tsk. Not to mention, I went through the procedure too fast - should have poured more slowly.

Anyway, issue was solved by removing the pvc valve and cleaning it out with mineral spirits. Put it back and a voila! Idles fine again - it just got fowled from oil. Once back on, it smoked and blew all that crud out. Runs great now
I'll be doing an oil change tomorrow along with replacing my pvc valve for added measure.

Oh and Way, if you read this - thanks a bunch man! You're truly awesome and very patient.

 

Yeah, perhaps I should have used "routine"...or "annual"

 

Wow the first thing I told you was it, gotta say that was some luck.

Still go ahead run it hard, then change the oil.

 

Oh I ran it hard alright...we have some nice curvy backroads that I unleashed all 175hps on!
It was after this though that I cleaned the valve. Drove it hard on my 15-20min commute back home though. And yeah - oil change tomorrow.

Thanks again Way!

 

I understand your point of view. If it does anything its hard to tell since there is so much smoke. You dont know if the smoke is from the seafoam or from the engine deposits.

However, many Mini dealerships use it, let it sit in the engine overnight and run it a bit the next morning....then charge around $80 ......

Now BG44K is much better....My neighbor uses it in their 2010 Audi R8 and swear by it. Even the dealer suggested it to them.



Maybe I should check and see if they sell those magnets I would love to increase my MPG....What if I lined the entire fuel line w/ magnets? Would it increase my MPG to like 500%????

 

Just noting that preventative maintenance is not done to fix something that is broken. It is done to prevent something from breaking in the first place.

 

That's the problem, people think they're actually preventing something. It really doesn't.

 

hey

what ever happened to STP?

other car enthusiast web sites, cars that have been around for a few years longer than the MINI (not Mini) have many posts about the ill effects of SeaFoam ... one I frequent (because I also have one of THOSE) speaks of head gasket failures

injector cleaner

SeaFoam

STP

I run quality products in my cars .... "good" fuel and "quality" oil. I pulled the rocker cover off my 79 Mini the other day and it looks like I just put it back together from a rebuild. Last time I did this was 4 years ago . . .

Good juices

equals

good juju

But if you want to run this stuff thru your car, look at the ingredients ....

and then complain about the alcohol content in your fuel

 

I'm done with seafoam. Glad others have had non-ill effects but I took my last use as a sign.

 

Not sure where you live but there is a place near me that does a BG44K cleaning. They use some sort of device that reaches deep into the engine. Its about 160usd. They aslo have a complete system cleaning that is 20usd more and takes a few hours. Might be a good idea for you to have that done.

 

Google is your friend to debunk snake-oil flushes of all kinds - Engine - Radiator - Transmission.......

 

If Seafoam is Snake Oil then why does the dealer use it?

 

Why would anyone sell you engine/radiator/tranny flushes that can and do dislodge things and cause trouble.

The almighty dollar.

 

That may be true... but... they do provide a great psychological placebo effect ( especially when smoke billows out of the exhaust )

 

Those little pop up ads are amazing. As I am reading this thread the BG 44K ad popped up. I know this has nothing to do with anything but I thought it was cool anyway!!

 

I got an ad for CREMATION PLANNING!!

YIPES!!

Jim

 

Seafoam does what it's supposed to. However, it can cause damage because if something gets dislodged and then gets stuck somewhere else i.e. lifters or pistons or something, then you'll have a serious problem. I've heard of some guy hydrolocking his engine because of seafoam.
So, in conclusion, I buy seafoam no more.