Do not attempt the following: Sea Foam in the Intake

[Feds]

I repeat: do not attempt the following. Even thinking about what is outlined below will cause catastrophic engine failure, loss of home insurance, and sterility. You have been warned.


I've been noticing that I'm getting more black smoke in the hot weather. I blanked my EGR and that didn't help; but when I removed the pipe from the intake manifold, I was pretty surprised at how cruddy it was in there. I thought about how I might clean it. I could install a water injection kit, but that'll take time and money. I could take the manifold off, but again: Lots of time and a little money for gaskets. Finally, I looked to our old friend Sea Foam. Specifically, Sea Foam Spray:

http://www.seafoamsales.com/sea-foam-spray.html

Sea Foam, of course, does not recommend that you use Sea Foam in the intake of a diesel. Why? Because it is combustible, and by spraying it into the intake, you are asking for a run away engine/explosion/fire/death. I just went ahead and ignored their advice. I did, however, take my own precautions.

First, I decided to spray the stuff into the inlet (turbo side/bottom) of the intercooler. Handily enough, the cap of the seafoam container was just the right size to block the inlet to the intercooler, which would shut down the engine in the event of runaway. I chose the inlet to the cooler, rather than the inlet to the intake manifold as I wanted to clean any gunk out of it as well.

To spray the stuff in, I just removed the intercooler hose and sprayed in a quick pulse. the engine reved up a little, then settled back down to idle. I then repeated and eventually found a happy rate for the pulses. At one point, as the intercooler cooled down, a little seafoam pooled in the bottom. This caused the engine to rev up a bit, but I just put the cap over the intercooler inlet, and it choked out.

After 5 minutes or so of spraying, (half the can) the seafoam fog had rolled in, and I shut the engine down to let it soak (per the instructions). Before restarting, I shifted into 4-hi-loc, applied the brakes, and shifted the trans into neutral. I did this to allow the brakes and trans to provide maximum resistance in the event of a runaway. It wasn't necessary though. As soon as the engine started, I dropped it into drive. It gave one good rattle, reved up a little, then settled back down.

I gave it an "agressive" drive around the block (again, per the instructions), and the results were quite noticeable. No black smoke, seemingly more power (chirped the tires away from a stop sign... never done that before), and better responsiveness. I'll see how it feels on the drive in to work tomorrow. Supposed to be another hot one.

[CREGAN]

Interested in hearing more, as long as it doesn't cause anal leakage.

Craig

[Feds]

Well, objective data first: For the last week or so when I would stop at a light, there was an audible vibration from my steering wheel. Today: no audible vibration.

ob-subjectively: I didn't notice any black smoke on the ride in, but it's only 23°, not 32°, so we'll wait for tonight.

Subjectively: Engine feels much smother and more responsive, and more powerful. I'll wait and see if there's any improvement in mileage or anything.

[RichD]

Interested in hearing more, as long as it doesn't cause anal leakage.

That post caused involuntary lulz and coffee leakage all over my screen.