chuydizzle Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 hi everyone I have a 1993 subaru impreza l and i was just wondering how to use the sea foam. i tried it the other day but i failed at that attempt. i put half a can of sea foam into my gas tank and half into the oil. thats the way i thought it was going to throw away all the junk it had like the carbon build up. well i put it and nothing happened. I left the sea foam in the oil and drove about 23-30 miles. the next day i changed my oil due to no results. i looked up sea foam on youtube. it looks to me that you actually have to put it in through the line from the booster. my question is can i put the sea foam into the car and do the carbon build up and leave my new oil in the car or should i change it again? please help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 sea foam can be added to the gas, oil, or intake....so you did it right. it depends what you're trying to do. what are you trying to do? i see carbon build up mentioned, what makes you think that's a problem? we can probably give you some pointers if you let us know what symptoms or problems you're having. as for carbon build up in the intake, replacing the PCV valve and cleaning whatever valve controls idle is probably the best place to start. those typically get gummed up and the PCV valve is a replacement item that many people neglect. cheap ($7 or so from Subaru) and easy to replace. there's a number of threads already on here about how to suck this stuff into the intake, might want to search for those. good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuydizzle Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 thank you for the info grossgary. where would the pcv valve be i tried looking for it but havent. i also was looking for the oxygen sensor so i could replace it. but still no luck finding it. i am actually trying to raise my mpg's right now im only getting 22-24 mpg's. they say that these particular models are suppose to go around 29-33 mpg's so im told by numerous of people. i have a fram air filter replaced it a while back and it actually still looks in pretty good shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I would start with the airfilter, plugs, and wires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuydizzle Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 well i was told by a friend that you dont have to change the oil after using the sea foam. i arleady did change the plugs and the wires but need the air filter doesnt look to bad though. thank you for letting me know ericem. i found where the pcv valve goes changed it 3.00 dollars. now i need to know where the o2 sensor goes. thanks alot guys. im about to use sea foam so ill check back later. zzz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 You should only use a OEM PCV valve. It is like $7 at your dealership. Same with the o2 sensor, but as long as it is bosche it is OEM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2.5GL Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 29-33 MPG? Imagine an egg strapped to the gas pedal and you have to push on the egg to drive. DON'T BREAK THE EGG and you MIGHT get 33 MPG. Did you use NGK plugs and Subaru wires? Those other plugs from big box stores aren't any good. Get NGK or Nippon Denso from a parts store or Subaru Dealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Ditto on using only OEM PCV valve and NGK plugs. A half can of Seafoam in the oil is just fine. I've done it on my Impreza and waited until my normal 2500 mile interval to change my oil; no point in changing it earlier IMHO. I get 22 to 27 mpg depending on the amount of highway driving I do. Winter time my gas mileage is lower than summertime (I don't know if that's due to the weather or the 10% ethanol in the gasoline). People who claim they are getting over 30 mpg are either very careful with their driving or "embellishing" the results. If you have an EJ18 with manual transmission, 30 mpg is not unattainable (an automatic transmission can cost you about 15% loss in mileag). However, my EJ22 with 5MT gets what I posted at the start of this paragraph. As to the O2 sensor, it can certainly affect your mileage, but I have 155K on my Impreza and I think it would be a waste of my money to replace it. Unless you're getting a check engine light for the O2 sensor, I wouldn't change it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuydizzle Posted January 17, 2009 Author Share Posted January 17, 2009 thank you edrach. well i did seafoam the car and so far so good. alot of smoke came out. edrach you said you have a 155k on you impreza but mine has 260k and its an automatic so im also told that if you put the spray on sea foam in the intake it will clean it out. so im also going to try this today. also how many times can you use sea foam on your engine? :cool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 thank you edrach. well i did seafoam the car and so far so good. alot of smoke came out. edrach you said you have a 155k on you impreza but mine has 260k and its an automatic so im also told that if you put the spray on sea foam in the intake it will clean it out. so im also going to try this today. also how many times can you use sea foam on your engine? :cool:You can use it as often as you like, but if it's not improving anything, what's the point. If you have an EJ18, 260K on the engine, and an automatic tranny your gas mileage is just fine. The only reason I would spray seafoam directly into the intake is to clean the air control valve (sets your idle). If your idle is okay I wouldn't bother with the direct injection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 I have used Seafoam, and found it to be a good product. However, multiple write ups on another car forum say that Seafoam is hard on engine seals. As a result, I never leave Seafoam in my engine for long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crash321 Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 I to have used waterfroth (seafoam). I Introduced it though my PCV hose and let the engine sit for 15 minutes and started it and poured more through as the car ran (about half the can) then poured the rest into the gas tank. Although the car smoked like crazy, I did not see any improvement in my mileage or performance (but I thought both were good anyway). Some swear by it but I am a firm believer in getting it done at the shop where they have the injection equipment to get a more thorough job done. I have only seen improvements in mileage and performance going that route even though it costs about $100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuydizzle Posted January 19, 2009 Author Share Posted January 19, 2009 well i put the seafoam directly into the air intake using the seafoam spray. my idle actually lowered about 75 rpms so that is freaking awesome. my car before using the seafoam would turn off randomly. i would be driving and all of a sudden when i would let go of the gas it would turn of. even after using the seafoam it still turned off so what is a result of this engine dying out on me while driving? please anyone help me figure this thing out and together we can make this car like new. thank you all for your opinions and data i appreciate it very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schlit Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 I to have used waterfroth (seafoam). I Introduced it though my PCV hose and let the engine sit for 15 minutes and started it and poured more through as the car ran (about half the can) then poured the rest into the gas tank. Careful, pouring too much seafoam in at once is an easy way to hydrolock an engine... I'll blow some through the intake before changing spark plugs, but would never place a solvent in the crankcase. A few short hot oil changes will do just as good for sludge removal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crash321 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Careful, pouring too much seafoam in at once is an easy way to hydrolock an engine... I'll blow some through the intake before changing spark plugs, but would never place a solvent in the crankcase. A few short hot oil changes will do just as good for sludge removal While pouring it through the engine was running, so no hydrolock danger, also the pcv valve actually meters the solvent at a little bit at a time, so again no hydrolock danger. Also the pcv is more centrally located compared to other vac sources. Just a thought:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schlit Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Too much liquid at once in the cylinder will create an overpressure....whether you have the engine running or not doesn't make a difference. You either blow the engine right away or when you start it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaruplatt Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 well i put the seafoam directly into the air intake using the seafoam spray. my idle actually lowered about 75 rpms so that is freaking awesome. my car before using the seafoam would turn off randomly. i would be driving and all of a sudden when i would let go of the gas it would turn of. even after using the seafoam it still turned off so what is a result of this engine dying out on me while driving? please anyone help me figure this thing out and together we can make this car like new. thank you all for your opinions and data i appreciate it very much. Sounds like you cured some kind of idle problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuydizzle Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 thank you i did fix it a bit. but what about it turning off on me while im driving? any one? penny for your thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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