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This seafoam how-to was done on my 3.9L. The same basic principles apply on all motors. For those that do not know what seafoam is, it's an engine cleaning with various methods of use (oil, gas tank, vacuum line). This how to shows how to use a proper vacuum line to clean out the heads and combustion chamber.
Make sure your engine is warm. The first thing you want to do is find a vacuum line off of your intake manifold. On most cars the brake booster line will do, but I found on my car that the brake booster line fed into the intake manifold only on one bank of the engine. Looking elsewhere I found a crankcase vent line smack dab in the center of the intake manifold after the throttle body. This insures proper distribution throughout the manifold/engine. Here is the line:
You can see the line disconnected from the head (to the right of the oil dipstick) and see that it runs to the center of the intake manifold.
Next, I plugged the hole that I pulled the line off of using a rubber plug that can be found at any automotive store or hardware store. Without this your car will have a vacuum problem and struggle to idle, or not idle at all.
Next, for the ease of things, I took a larger plug and cut the end of it off and fit it around my funnel so I wouldn't have to hold my funnel while I poured the seafoam in:
Here is what I used:
SLOWLY pour a third of the can through this line while your car idles, it should take you roughly 5 minutes. You then turn the car off and wait 5-10 minutes. Turn your car on and let it idle for 5 minutes. It will puff out smoke through your exhaust (vapors are strong and depending on your mileage the smoke may be VERY dense and look like a fire. Be sure to have plenty of ventilation). After 5 minutes take the car out for a quick spin to burn off the rest. Dump the rest of the can into your gas tank to clean your injectors. This whole process MAY (and probably) will trigger a check engine light. You will have to reset this by unplugging your battery for 10-15 minutes to reset it or take your car to an autoparts store than can clear your CEL with a OBDII scanner. This process may also foul older spark plugs, but generally does not cause any other problems then a CEL or plugs.
Make sure your engine is warm. The first thing you want to do is find a vacuum line off of your intake manifold. On most cars the brake booster line will do, but I found on my car that the brake booster line fed into the intake manifold only on one bank of the engine. Looking elsewhere I found a crankcase vent line smack dab in the center of the intake manifold after the throttle body. This insures proper distribution throughout the manifold/engine. Here is the line:
You can see the line disconnected from the head (to the right of the oil dipstick) and see that it runs to the center of the intake manifold.
Next, I plugged the hole that I pulled the line off of using a rubber plug that can be found at any automotive store or hardware store. Without this your car will have a vacuum problem and struggle to idle, or not idle at all.
Next, for the ease of things, I took a larger plug and cut the end of it off and fit it around my funnel so I wouldn't have to hold my funnel while I poured the seafoam in:
Here is what I used:
SLOWLY pour a third of the can through this line while your car idles, it should take you roughly 5 minutes. You then turn the car off and wait 5-10 minutes. Turn your car on and let it idle for 5 minutes. It will puff out smoke through your exhaust (vapors are strong and depending on your mileage the smoke may be VERY dense and look like a fire. Be sure to have plenty of ventilation). After 5 minutes take the car out for a quick spin to burn off the rest. Dump the rest of the can into your gas tank to clean your injectors. This whole process MAY (and probably) will trigger a check engine light. You will have to reset this by unplugging your battery for 10-15 minutes to reset it or take your car to an autoparts store than can clear your CEL with a OBDII scanner. This process may also foul older spark plugs, but generally does not cause any other problems then a CEL or plugs.
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