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Seafoam in gas tank?

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Old 08-22-2011, 07:35 PM
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Seafoam in gas tank?

I am just curious if any of you have added seafoam directly to the gas tank and let it run through by normal driving? I am experiencing some power loss issues and want to de-carbon the car to see if that helps. Thanks.
Old 08-22-2011, 07:40 PM
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I did it to my RX7 for the purpose of cleaning my injectors. It was after a rebuild, so there really wasn't any carbon to clean...
Old 08-22-2011, 08:13 PM
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The simplest way is add a can of Seafoam($8 @ Walmart) when your car has about half to quarter tank of gas remaining. Give it a few hard drives reving it to the red line after it has been warmed up well of course. If you feel some improvement after the first can then your in the right area....repeat. Mazda has the best way on a TSB.
Old 09-01-2011, 08:03 PM
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Would you recommend using Seafoam on a 2005 with 130K miles? Haven't had any engine issues, and I don't want to cause any by using Seafoam if I don't need to.
Old 09-01-2011, 10:18 PM
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If it's really not required then why do it....
Old 09-02-2011, 03:13 AM
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It will be more effective if you do it this way: https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...seafoam+newbie

Seafoam won't do anything bad to your engine, though it'll deposit a bit of crap on your spark plugs so be prepared to clean them after.
Old 09-03-2011, 07:41 AM
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Just thought of doing it to clean the engine.

Dale8000, I'm not that handy enough to do it the recommended way.
Old 09-03-2011, 05:58 PM
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I've never used Sea Foam, but I was told that if it's used for the rotary refrain from rev'ing the engine beyond 3000 RPM; Sea Foam will not only push its way through the passages where oil flows to clean any sludge out but might that also take out any form of oil lubricating the seals
Old 09-03-2011, 06:09 PM
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in the tank you only cleaning out the fuel system.
I suggest you do it every other oil change just to clean out whatever crap you get from gas pumps.
you need to suck it into the engine to clean the carbon out.

Last edited by jasonrxeight; 09-03-2011 at 06:11 PM.
Old 11-01-2011, 09:55 PM
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I got myself into a little situation where my gas tank has somthing nasty in it. Mazda wants to charge me $1100 to clean out the gas tank and replaced the fuel pump. Could i just throw some seafoam in there and fix all my problems? Its a new engine btw.
Old 11-03-2011, 12:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Savoelh
I got myself into a little situation where my gas tank has somthing nasty in it. Mazda wants to charge me $1100 to clean out the gas tank and replaced the fuel pump. Could i just throw some seafoam in there and fix all my problems? Its a new engine btw.
Seafoam is not going fix a broken fuel pump. it cleans injectors and can possibly help with carbon build up in the engine if done properly.
Old 04-04-2013, 08:55 PM
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I'm almost done with a full tank of gas and one can of sea foam added. There is a small difference in performance but its almost too small to measure. I noticed however that the engine seemed to be smoother( Probably cleaner injectors). Not sure how combustion effects lubrication, I always let my 8 warm up before jumping on it. I have done several 7000 rpm checks with sea foam in the tank with no ill effects at all. Mine is a 2004 4 speed automatic trans. When you hit red line the little bell that lets you know its red line sort of sucks. I hear it a lot lol.
Old 04-04-2013, 09:18 PM
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Originally Posted by sweatr
I'm almost done with a full tank of gas and one can of sea foam added. There is a small difference in performance but its almost too small to measure. I noticed however that the engine seemed to be smoother( Probably cleaner injectors). Not sure how combustion effects lubrication, I always let my 8 warm up before jumping on it. I have done several 7000 rpm checks with sea foam in the tank with no ill effects at all. Mine is a 2004 4 speed automatic trans. When you hit red line the little bell that lets you know its red line sort of sucks. I hear it a lot lol.
Hi, I have a 6 speed stick in my 04. Just for discussion sake, I had a bad cat and before I replaced it I ran Seafoam & other types of injector cleaners hoping for a cheap fix. After adding a midpipe, tuneup, & asst. sensor cleanings, it runs really good.

I have no way of knowing if the additives helped, or if it might have negatively affected it long term, but for now it seems fine.

I also started premixing 2 tanks ago after searches and sounding out members about it. Lots of different opinions, but everything is fine so far.
If anything changes I will definitely post it.

Have fun!
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Old 05-24-2014, 01:10 PM
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Originally Posted by usnidc
Seafoam is not going fix a broken fuel pump. it cleans injectors and can possibly help with carbon build up in the engine if done properly.
sorry to resurrect and old thread, but would sea foam clean out the fuel pump and any small gunk in the gas tank?
Old 06-29-2014, 09:51 AM
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I hope it cleans out at least the strainer on the bottom of the pump, and maybe even the fuel sending lines. I'm about to do that to my 2000 dodge Dakota and then give it new plugs.

Originally Posted by Arcolithe
sorry to resurrect and old thread, but would sea foam clean out the fuel pump and any small gunk in the gas tank?
Old 06-30-2014, 10:46 AM
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Fuel pump socks are inexpensive and relatively easy to change once access is gained to the pump.
Personally I like BG44K as an over-the-counter fuel system cleaner. Chevron Techron I think is decent once or twice a season for maintenance. I say that knowing it's like trying to say what brand of oil is better. Opinions and experience will differ.
Old 01-29-2018, 12:37 AM
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RESURRECTION!

I put a 16oz can of seafoam then added a full tank of gas on top. Drove it for about 125 miles and then started to get a flash CEL /misfire. I can feel it in the car response. I drove it for about 50 miles and added more gas and the flashing CEL is still there.

I changed my oil 10 months ago, but have only put 2k miles on since then.

New plugs, cat and coils about 5k miles ago...

Any thoughts?
Old 01-29-2018, 08:07 AM
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Originally Posted by takahashi j
RESURRECTION!

I put a 16oz can of seafoam then added a full tank of gas on top. Drove it for about 125 miles and then started to get a flash CEL /misfire. I can feel it in the car response. I drove it for about 50 miles and added more gas and the flashing CEL is still there.

I changed my oil 10 months ago, but have only put 2k miles on since then.

New plugs, cat and coils about 5k miles ago...

Any thoughts?
Originally Posted by Dale8000
It will be more effective if you do it this way: https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...seafoam+newbie

Seafoam won't do anything bad to your engine, though it'll deposit a bit of crap on your spark plugs so be prepared to clean them after.
Maybe start here.
Old 01-30-2018, 07:20 AM
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I occasionally put Seafoam in the tank of all my vehicles, including my RX8, as a fuel system cleaner for many, many years and have never had any issue or problem that I can recall. I suppose it may depend on how dirty your system is to begin with though. Otherwise I do anything I can to avoid having to do with removing the fuel pump module out of the tank. Even with the special tool it's still a pita no matter what. Have never had any issues that ever required replacing the fuel pump sock, which is only a rough prefilter any way ...




.

Last edited by TeamRX8; 01-30-2018 at 07:25 AM.
Old 01-30-2018, 02:57 PM
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I add Chevron TECHRON fuel system cleaner in all my motorcycle and cars (and 2010 RX-8) about every OCI of 1500 miles. I usually add it two gas tanks ahead of the oil change b/c I've noticed on my piston engines that the oil tends to darken more after Techron use - especially in the Winter. (Winter morning idling causes more oil in gas issues during warmup).
Old 02-03-2018, 11:15 AM
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Originally Posted by TeamRX8
I occasionally put Seafoam in the tank of all my vehicles, including my RX8, as a fuel system cleaner for many, many years and have never had any issue or problem that I can recall. I suppose it may depend on how dirty your system is to begin with though. Otherwise I do anything I can to avoid having to do with removing the fuel pump module out of the tank. Even with the special tool it's still a pita no matter what. Have never had any issues that ever required replacing the fuel pump sock, which is only a rough prefilter any way ...
.
Hopefully it’s not the due to the pump bc Mazda just swapped it under the recall. Haha

Front rotor is prolly dying... Front rotor...

Last edited by takahashi j; 02-03-2018 at 05:05 PM.
Old 02-04-2018, 11:34 AM
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those plugs just look old - bad rotors will not do that old plugs will
Old 02-04-2018, 03:09 PM
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Originally Posted by wannawankel
those plugs just look old - bad rotors will not do that old plugs will
They have 7k miles on them over 2.5 years. The rear rotors plugs are just lightly dusted in brown...

Just installed two new spark plugs in the front rotor. The misfiring remains

Last edited by takahashi j; 02-04-2018 at 03:16 PM.
Old 02-04-2018, 08:45 PM
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Get some data on fuel trim and airflow from the OBD port and troubleshoot from. I don't see how seafoam can cause misfire, but there are plenty of ways misfires can start.
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