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Old 02-18-2010, 12:36 AM   #11 (permalink)
Casey
EcoModding Lurker
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Ohio
Posts: 16

Red Storm - '93 BMW 318 iS
90 day: 28.51 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Christ View Post
You could always follow the directions on the seafoam can, as well. Something tells me that those directions are there for a reason.

Not bashing you, but using the whole can doesn't get you any better result than doing what they tell you on the can, unless you have a seriously messed up engine, in which case you should be repairing whatever caused the problem, not putting a band-aid over it.

There has also been discussion here before about the idea that seafoam has never really been empirically proven to work, since noone has ever taken before/after pictures of the piston tops and combustion chambers. The smoke could merely be a by-product of the chemical in the can. Pour ATF down your carb throat, you get smoke. Same principle.

Lastly, solidified carbon is resistant to chemical solvents. It's like plastic, basically. It can be removed with abrasive cleansers, and with heat/cooling cycles, or with peening techniques, such as water spray into the intake. SeaFoam will not remove solidified carbon deposits, unless they're already loose.
Pictures I don't have, simply results and my own experience opening up the engine.

As for the results, when I first bought the Red Storm in '04, it was getting a very precise 14mpg city. Changing up to 93 octane brought it to 17mpg. The first hot soak brought it to 20mpg, with no changes in driving habit. I'd say 3mpg is worth having.

When opening the engine, I have stripped it down to replace the timing chain and tensioners. The inside of that engine is cleaner than my old Taurus was, even though the maintenance program was the same and the Taurus was 50,000 miles newer.

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