seafoam enigne? when and how

[totusPorcus]

because this motor is DI, I assume it might be worth while to apply some seafoam during an oil change. in the past, on a wrx, i simply attached a small hose to an available port with vacuum and slowly trickled some in with a tiny funnel. changing the oil this time i could find no obvious vacuum sources. the goal is get the stuff in short of the intake so that it hits the back of the valves where carbon/oil tar builds up on DI engines.

any suggestions or is this worth while doing?

thanks for any info.

 

[Hijinx]

Do not seafoam your engine. It's harmful to the oil seal on your turbo. There's a thread around here that goes more in depth on this.

 

[Xaendeau]

I just pulled the spark plugs and took a look inside of the engine with a camera. At 42,000 miles it looks pretty clean inside, you have to look for carbon buildup. I'm going to pull the intake off and look at the back of the intake valves, but I just haven't had the time yet.

 

[TURBO BLACK]

water/meth

 

[totusPorcus]

I just pulled the spark plugs and took a look inside of the engine with a camera. At 42,000 miles it looks pretty clean inside, you have to look for carbon buildup. I'm going to pull the intake off and look at the back of the intake valves, but I just haven't had the time yet.

seafoam bad for turbo seal ok. i'll hold off. as to looking inside where the sparkplugs go, you're looking in the combustion chamber. the issue with direct injection is the back of the valves get no fuel which has a cleansing effect. carbon/tar builds up there. some di systems have fuel fuel injection systems also north of the intake, and some di cars have their heads pulled at xx miles and blasted with walnut shells. as to water and meth, i suspect some e85 run in north of the values would also be good.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Some have even warned about loosened carbon particles damaging the turbine blades when using that new CRC intake tract spray cleaner (designed mainly for NA direct injection engines) on turbo equipped vehicles.

 

[spoon]

water/meth

 

[OCS12]

I've had nothing but bad experiences with Seafoam. The smoke's neat though. It will never go in my ST's engine.

 

[OffTheWall503]

You can try using Redline Fuel System Cleaner tank additive, but I've heard results are minimal. However, it wouldn't hurt to run a bottle before every oil change.

Definitely don't use Seafoam however.

 

[Goingnowherefast]

Yeah hate to break it to you guys but the best (and really only) way to clean deposits on a DI engine is to remove the intake manifold and clean them by hand or walnut blast.

 

[Hijinx]

Yeah hate to break it to you guys but the best (and really only) way to clean deposits on a DI engine is to remove the intake manifold and clean them by hand or walnut blast.

If there's already significant build-up, then you're right. Otherwise, some type of fuel via port or throttle body injection will keep them clean.


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[Goingnowherefast]

If there's already significant build-up, then you're right. Otherwise, some type of fuel via port or throttle body injection will keep them clean.

While things like water/meth do help, it's been seen time and time again on the N54, N55, FSI, TSI etc. that you still require manually cleaning of the valves. Water/meth just extends the interval at which you should do it at.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Yeah hate to break it to you guys but the best (and really only) way to clean deposits on a DI engine is to remove the intake manifold and clean them by hand or walnut blast.

Sadly, THIS. ^^^

But, the WMI everyone keeps touting might just help minimize it, or prevent major backside of valve buildups.

 

[M-Sport fan]

You can try using Redline Fuel System Cleaner tank additive, but I've heard results are minimal. However, it wouldn't hurt to run a bottle before every oil change.

I do this as a matter of course anyway, but yeah, it will not do anything for the DI buildups on the valves.

Definitely don't use Seafoam however.

Totally AGREED!

 

[OffTheWall503]

I wonder if the Redline would make any difference if you use it on a vehicle that's brand new, as preventative maintenance.

 

[totusPorcus]

well, lets talk about another alternative... some fuel added up stream. though i think the thing that has been discussed here to add fuel as you surpass the installed injectors and hpfp is a bit of a kludge, i wonder if could be adapted to add fuel (at least periodically perhaps with a manual cutoff) as a solution. seems like i heard a few manufacturers have added upstream injection to DI cars.

as to fuel additives, i just doesnt seem to make much sense as the fuel never sees the back of the valves where the whole problem resides.

and finally i will add the only other thing i have heard of that does seem to help (or at least should) is an oil catch can that reduces the amount of oil that gets into the top of the motor.

 

[Plainrt]

Or we could just not worry about it too much. How about the guy with almost 180k on his fist with no catch can?

 

[Hijinx]

...and here we go.


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[MitchsFiesta]

walnut blast. I did my fiesta at 19k. Valves were already pretty bad. Installed a catch can with the blasting and will check again and reblast at 40k

 

[Goingnowherefast]

walnut blast. I did my fiesta at 19k. Valves were already pretty bad. Installed a catch can with the blasting and will check again and reblast at 40k

Would be interested to see how they are at 40K. In my experience, catch cans do not make a negligible amount of difference to carbon buildup on DI engines.