Gil Smash

I have an LS430 with almost 125,000 miles and in about 100 I'm going to do an oil change and I had read that using Seafoam in the oil directly before a change made it so that it cleaned it out and sort of prepped it for the new oil. I also heard with a high mileage car it can potentially loosen up some stuff that you dont want moving and potentially do damage to the engine, I'm not sure how accurate that latter claim is. My question is have you guys used it and if so, do you recommend it? How long would you leave it in? Should I just use it in my gas or through the brake booster instead?

nmikmik

If you only used synthetic oil in the engine I doubt you need to use seafoam in your oil. If you used the conventional oil in the engine a lot and wasn't religious about changing it, I'd use AutoRx for engine internal cleaning instead.
Just use half in the fuel tank & half through the booster hose, you'll be all right.

Gil Smash

I used conventional for 2 changes without realizing it but now I'm back to synthetic. I just feel like since I've never done anything to clean the oil and crank it seems like a good idea but I just don't want to to mess anything up. I was thinking one third tank one third oil and one third brake booster hose.

94LSon20

If it aint broke, dont try to fix it. 140K and I've used synthetic since I bought it at 105K. Runs great

Gil Smash

Well it does idle a little rough and I know its not the plugs since I just replaced them. I dont know if that would have anything to do with the crankcase though. I assume for a rough idle all I'd need to do is do the vacuum line and gas tank treatment.

Boomer01

I've done both the 1/3 (gas/oil/vacuum hose) and 1/2 (gas and vacuum). I don't think you could go wrong with either. If you put it in the vacuum line, it will blow white smoke for a few minutes but it clears up. I'm not sure if it really helped anything, but I like to think it did. It's the same as running bottle or Techron or equivalent. You don't know how much good they're doing, but you like to think it's making a difference.

Brewmyown

Open the oil filler cap and flip it over and look at it. Then look inside the filler hole and see if you can see any sludge, gunk, etc. If it looks pretty clean I wouldn't worry about adding any oil additives. I've never really trusted any type of cleaner in the oil. I think its one of those things that if its real dirty and gunked up its too late to do anything about it without risking other problems. Gas treatments are different but that's just my opinion.

warminwisc

There is so many detergents in good oil now if ya changed dino oil every 5k with 50/50 driving you can do no harm. If ya didn't it ain't really gonna help.

Jabberwock

Modern oil typically have more than adequate detergent packages. Seafoam is basically 1/3 Isoprpyl alcohol, 1/3 light machine oil, and 1/3 naptha (lighter fluid). Nothing magic there. Likely does no harm but most likely does no real good put into engine oil.

Run 2 tanks of gas with a a can of Techron concentrate. Then thoroughly clean the throttle body assembly - use clean cotton rags and good quality TB specific spray cleaner (like CRC brand). That will very likely get the motor running super smooth again.

cdnguy

If you are idling rough, it has nothing to do with your oil. I would look at having your throttle body cleaned out - that can get gummed up. I get my throttle body serviced every 30K miles. I can tell when I'm due as the idle is not as consistent as it is once it is done.

jbraswell

I would not mess with these aftermarket additives such as seafoam.
If you want to clean the engine, use a high mileage oil like Mobil 1 high mileage 5w-30.
http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/...age_5W-30.aspx

Mobil 1 and Toyota are business partners so I trust their products much more than something like seafoam.

Pair it up with the good OEM filter like the 90915-20004 and your engine will slowly clean it self every oil change.

I use this combination in my land cruiser and works excellent.
I am using Mobil 1 0w-30 in the LS now. Just wanted to try it for the mpg curiousity.

I will go back to the std Mobil 1 5w-30 in the LS going forward.

boilerroom

i too recommend shying away from Seafoam for engines, if it is to be used at all - may be as a gas treatment at most. Not as much bang for the buck as Synthetic.

Mobil 1 is great stuff and if anyone hasn't switched to it on an older engine should, example, i still have a 94 Saturn SC2 in the garage with 65k miles, it got sludgy due to under use, lack of oil changes. I cleaned out the valve cover myself and ran a 1/2 a can of Seafoam in the crankcase after. Did 2 more oil changes with Seafoam like that all with Mobil 5000 in 3 months, and it only improved engine issues lightly and I still had a Lifter Tick, I then ran Mobil 1 and IMMEDIATELY there was a significant improvement, noise went down and tick usually subsides in like 5-10 mins of engine warmup. After such a pleasant experience - im SOLD on quality Synthetic's.

drink300

People seem to love SeaFoam. And I think it does wonders for throttle bodies, intake manifolds and the combustion chamber. However, I'd never add it to my oil directly on a high mileage car. Too much chance it might loosen debris that has fallen and stuck to the bottom of the pan and cause it to become suspended in the oil, eventually getting sucked back through with the engine oil and ending up where you don't want it. Also, engines build up natural deposits over time that actually help them stay sealed into old age. SeaFoam might cause you you to develop a leak around the seals if your engine is currently being "protected" by this type of buildup. Be careful.