Sea Foam in Crankcase Before and After Photos.

[Gale Hawkins]

5S-FE MK2 Non-Turbo Engine Seafoam, Before and After PICS 5SFE

Found this set of before and after crankcase use of Sea Foam photos. There were no details on how long the Sea Foam was ran in the engine.

While I use it in the crankcase like for the sticking oil pump relief valve in the 2003 GM 5.3L engine I am not sure I would want to run it in an abused engine from lack of oil changing.

 

[hosspuller]

What happened to all that gunk? A clogged oil passage is bad news compared to a dirty valve gallery.

 

[Redneck in training]

I remember when first detergent oils hit the market. Lot of engines suffered catastrophic failure due to blocked oil passages.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

What happened to all that gunk? A clogged oil passage is bad news compared to a dirty valve gallery.

I agree but Mobil 1 states Mobil 1 High Mileage is safe to use in dirty engines that seems to clean like Sea Foam. They state:

"Note 1 -- If your engine has excessive sludge deposits due to less-than-adequate maintenance practices, Mobil 1 High Mileage can help by reducing the sludge left behind in your engine. For severe cases of sludge, short oil change intervals (3,000 - 5,000 miles) are recommended for the first two-three oil changes as reduction of the sludge takes place. In cases of engine damage that may have resulted from poor maintenance, even Mobil 1 synthetic oil cannot remedy years of neglect."

It seems Mobil 1 High Mileage and Sea Foam starts to 'melt' the crude back to a liquid state instead of ripping off chunks at a time from what I have read. The key is not to buy engines like in the photos.

We are running Mobil 1 High Mileage 10W-40 in the 2003 GM 5.3L with 126K miles that had the sticking oil pump high pressure relief valve that seemed to be sticking leading to failure to maintain oil pressure on a hot restart of the engine. After running Sea Foam in new oil for 160 miles (new dino oil had about 50 miles on it when half a can of Sea Foam was added to the crank case) the no/low oil pressure has not occurred after 1000 miles of the Mobil 1 so hopefully its extra cleaning power has the relief valve clean so it can move like when new.

We have to go out of town for a wedding and after we return I will run Sea Foam for 25-50 miles to get a few cold/hot cycles so the Sea Foam has some time to work too then we will drain and refill with more of the M1 HM with a new NAPA Gold filter and run it for 3000 miles. This first change will be at about 1500 miles just to be on the safe side.

 

[94BULLITT]

If you change your oil regularly your engine will not look like that.

What happened to all that gunk? A clogged oil passage is bad news compared to a dirty valve gallery.

Or a clogged oil pump pickup.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

The quick lube shop told me they have seen engines come in where the remaining oil would not drain when they pulled the plug but had to use a screw driver to make a hole in the sludge to get any to drain out. Some just have not respect for engines I guess.

 

[abeal]

Wonder if that engine overheated at some point to cake all that oil on there?

 

[Tig]

I used to top up with ATF and run for a week before my oil changes.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I think that kind of stuff only happens to engines that don't get the oil changed very often and /or run very hot for some reason. Normal use of good high detergent oils wont have a sludge problem. Running cheap oil might also have something to do with the build up, but most likely it is from a overheated engine. I haven't seen that kind of (and not that bad) sludge crap in engines since the 60's when we didn't have the best oils with good additives like we do now

 

[murphy1244]

Sea Foam on sale at Advance Auto for 7.99 a can

 

[Nooodles]

Those are just pictures without any real info. Don't be so gullible

 

[Loadstar]

For the most part in my experience it liquifies deposits. If you are going to clean a nasty engine with an additive you would definitely want to shorten oil change intervals I would go as far as to change filters between the shortened intervals.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Where in today's world do you find an engine like that pictured? There was a time 50-60 yrs ago something like that was not all that uncommon but for the oils we have today, how is it possible other than not changing the oil all together.

Here's a pic I've posted before. Car had something like 135k miles on it and has seen nothing but run of the mill dino oil. I've just got back from a 4600 mi trip and no oil added and still reading full on the dip stick. Also oil is no darker than that pictured. I typ change oil about every 7k miles.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

For the most part in my experience it liquifies deposits. If you are going to clean a nasty engine with an additive you would definitely want to shorten oil change intervals I would go as far as to change filters between the shortened intervals.

Loadstar I was very impressed with filter only change results. The 1989 F700 with the Ford big block 429 must to have not had the oil changed in 5+ years and I expect the extra long NAPA Gold filter had been used by the owner before the last two. The guy I bought it from bought it from a junk yard that was going to part it out.

The Fumoto oil drain valve that I ordered was too small to fit the hole so I had to go back with the old plug in a VERY worn hole. You know there is a fine line between stripping it out or it falling out due to not being tight enough. I did the Sea Foam in the crankcase for maybe 20 minutes at idle then drained and pulled the filter. As always I added 4 oz of oil at a time until it when from black to clear using Rotella Synthetic 5W-40 gas/diesel rated motor oil and a new Wix filter.

We went 200 miles to pick up an old equipment trailer and it was totally black. I just pulled the filter and filled the new one and screwed it on. Bingo it went clear again but a few hundred miles later it was not black but very dirty looking so did the filled filter replacement thing again and a year later (more hours than miles due to moving dirt on the place) the Rotella 5W-40 is still quite clear. The truck shows 144K miles but since the radiator was replaced years ago I doubt it is the OEM engine but could be. The engine does not burn oil. I drove it home 300 miles from near GA on I-24. It is not as powerful as the 454 in the motorhome but I am sure the plugs are 10-15 years old.

If changing a filter clears up the motor oil I assume the bad stuff is in the filter and by tossing it then it is out of the engine. In it I plan to do that every year until a new filter will not clear it up due to the drain plug condition. The new oil put in the filter gives some new additives to the old oil. On it the filter is right behind the radiator so I can change it in a flash. For filter only changes I like to do it with the engine ice cold and being inverted the crude should have drained back down. I let all the oil that will drain before I go back with the new filter.

Not sure why filter only short changes are not preached more today for dirty engines and extended change cycles. Some oil may be good for 15,000 miles but few filters are rated for 15,000 miles and often they do not filter to as small of a micron size I have read.

 

[Loadstar]

As expensive as oil is getting I will be changing a lot more filters to extend oil change outs. Most of my equipment gets oil changes by look, feel and smell of oil. Different engines vary so much on wear and usage I quit watching my miles/hours so hard on a lot of stuff to base my oil changes on.

 

[Nooodles]

That engine was overheating and or had a coolant leaki allowing coolant to mix with the oil. probably drove that way for a good amount of time. Sea foam did not clean that either. That was cleaned manually.

 

[Soundguy]

i'll tell you what I have done on super dirty tractor engines.

and yeah.. i have seen oil sumps that needed a screwdriver poke to drain.

on those.. I dropped the pan if possible and manually cleaned the lower portion with a putt' knife and then degreaser..


otherwise.. I added a quart of atf to the oil and ran till warm then drained.

if i knew that the engine had been on NON detergent oil or otherwise super neglected.. i did an oil change with 50/50 nd and detergent oil.. and a new filter.. short interval.. and beore draining.. added more atf.

I had a jd B that took 4 oil changes till the oil drained clear and the filter cartridge came out without gunk..

 

[dodge man]

My dad had a 77 Ford Granada. I changed the valve cover gaskets for him once. The valve covers will full of sludge. It wasn't over heated and it didn't have coolant in the oil. Some egines are more prone to sludge, but oils have improved a lot since the late 70's.

 

[Nooodles]

My dad had a 77 Ford Granada. I changed the valve cover gaskets for him once. The valve covers will full of sludge. It wasn't over heated and it didn't have coolant in the oil. Some egines are more prone to sludge, but oils have improved a lot since the late 70's.

Typically you don't see sludge like that in today's engines unless you have had a issue as I described. 70's was a long time ago sir

 

[Soundguy]

i don't think i've ever seen a running engine THAT bad.

I have taken apart plenty of tractor engines that were not stuck but wouldn't start.. .. some had usual gunk from 70 ys of use.. but nowhere half as near that.