DIY: Seafoam your 12v VR6 (could apply to other engines)

[deniska01]

so i did the seafoam thing and it was all good but i ended up with the hose in my hand ( the one with the blue clamp ) out of the car!!! now i cant find where it goes.

[deniska01]

So i found the hose spot! i repeated the whole procedure.... driveway flor was wet (usualthing in the northwest) oily spot where the smoke was hitting the ground. and there was so much cmoke i think my neighbor was going to call 911.

[mk3alltheway]

I used this hose when doing my early style (AAA) VR6.

I also have a AAA vr6 and was wondering, should I use the hose coming off of the pcv or attach a hose to the pcv fitting to suck up the seafoam?

[gerryo619]

I just did it to the 24V. The best line I could find was the brake booster line. It was actually a LOT easier to get the brake booster line than I thought. The plug on the brake booster pulled right out (there was still some vacuum in there and I heard some hissing as I pulled on it). Dont hesitate with the brake booster. I thought I was going to break it off, and it pulled out nice and easy. Then I just let the car warm up. The idle is a little boggy with the booster unplugged, and the car died the first time so I revved it up nice and it continued to bounce through the idle until it was warm enough to suck up it's new juice. Then it sucked it all upright out of the same line without having to step on the gas to keep it from dying It was great. The hummer guys across the street were amazed when I lit it back up a few minutes later. They had never seen so much smoke (and they drive trucks ) Then I took it for a nice "spirited" drive afterwards. It ended up being a lot easier than I thought it would be, and it smoothed out my idle and power a lot. I'd recommend it to anyone no matter the make, model, year etc. Great product!!

I really want to do this on my 24v also, but I want know EXACTLY which line/hose to you. You mentioned the brake booster line. Does anyone by any chance have a picture or an illustration that I can see??

[gerryo619]

anyone?

[vwmaniac16vr6]

i dont bother with seafoam, i use the STP in the grey bottle and it works great with out all the smoke. and you can usually see a pile or piles of carbon at the end of the exhaust tip/tips.

[gerryo619]

I already picked up a bottle of SeaFoam so I'd like to give it a try. I only need to confirm where exactly the vacuum line that I want to use is located. Thanks

[izzo]

This is what I have:

Later VR6 engine owners (2000+): use the vacuum line going to the throttle body from the intake elbow after the MFA:

[gerryo619]

EXACTLY what I needed! Thank you!

[swozniak4201]

I watched my neighbor do this once. the way it smoked im sure it couldnt have been good, but he swears by the stuff....(I wont even say what he drives). So anyway, I cant help but think that dumping detergent into a engine is a not a good thing?
Isnt that what detergent in the oil is for? and what are the effects on the cat?
What about it throwing a EPC light afterwards,thats never good...
The car is telling you its not liking what your doing
What about the residue left over after a oil change now thinning out your oil. i know alot of people swear by it. Just my 2cents. Would like to see some internal engine photos of before and after use.
Deposits on the valves i understand.....

[izzo]

EXACTLY what I needed! Thank you!

Would like to see some internal engine photos of before and after use.

That's fine, I will take my motor apart before I dump Seafoam into it and again after just so I can provide you with the requested photos!

[swozniak4201]

I read somewhere that there was such a test done. I am trying to find it. I am not trying to rag on the stuff now, I just believe proof with my own eyes. And I believe I have brought up valid concerns. If it does what it says it does, I will try some in my VR.

[vwmaniac16vr6]

the seafoam may clean carbon but it dose not need to create such a smoke screen, when using the stp carbon cleaner there is no additional smoke it is catalytic converter friendly and cleans carbon with out all the smoke making it neighbor/neighborhood friendly. And as far as im concerned seeing the carbon pile at the end of the exhaust tips is believing. and you can run multiple bottles thru at one time. and as far as thinning the oil it would always be recommended to do an oil change with this service. When the dealer performs this service that is part of it and it is done after the carbon cleaning. This service is now much more popular with the new FSI motors as there is no longer fuel being sprayed before the valves and when non-synthetic oil and regular gas is used the motors begin to misfire due to carbon build up, some requiring the valves completely removed to clean the carbon off. I hope this clears up some misconceptions of why and what a carbon cleaning does and what products are best. If you want a smoke show use seafoam but if you want results you can see with out all the smoke use stp carbon cleaner in the grey bottle. good luck guys

[gerryo619]

How I do upload photos? I took a couple of pictures of my engine to see if someone could point out which vacuum line to use, but I can't figure out how to upload photos!!! AAARRRRGGHHH!!

[gerryo619]

Not sure if anyone can actually see these...?

[gerryo619]

Oh cool, I think it worked! If anyone is able to point out which vacuum line to use I would GREATLY appreciated it. My mechanic said I can use an air intake system cleaning but wanted to charge me $120 and I said no. I figured this was the same thing for a fraction of the cost if I can do ti myself...

[vwmaniac16vr6]

just anther fyi people with nitrous systems actually clean the carbon every time it is used, i just had to put a motor together for a customer who had a kit and he brought me his old motor to swap the accessories and manifolds on to the new/used motor and after taking a look at the upper and lower manifolds it was amazing to see how clean they were and the intake side of the head too. also this was a wet kit so i believe the extra fuel with the nitrous spray is what actually does the cleaning. just some food for thought. he only runs a 75 shot

[redskins1fan]

ive done this several times to all my cars..best way i found is to pull your plugs,add a little to each cyclinder,let sit for about 10 min,turn engine over with plugs out,reinstall plugs .
pour half of can in the oil,the other half suck up through a vac line..once u suck everything up,turn car off and let it sit for about 10-15 min(longer it sits the more it eats at the carbon build up)
start car and drive it hard...drive it until their is no more smoke coming out..then change your oil...
thats it

[mcalash]

Cannot emphasize enough: make sure you're in a well ventilated area...smoked out my neighbors on a beautiful summer night...luckily had to follow up with a hard drive AWAY from the house.

Do your community a favor and do this in a Kmart parking lot.

Thanks for the post.

[Easy Dubs It]

I'm still weary of trying seafoam in my vr. Seafoam has some nasty chemicals in it. Dip a piece of rubber hose in it for 30 mins then compare it to the unexposed end. Imagine what it's doing to the insides of your engine...