Hey I was looking up on sea foam for the past few days and decided to try it. I put 1/2 in my fuel tank and a little less than 1/2 in my brake booster. It blew out tons of smoke like it should and it ran pretty well but after I go to start the car it seems to have a problem starting up and i have to pump the accelerator just to get it started. As long as I let it sit for about 10 minutes it will struggle to start up. Is this some type of after effect? I did the sea foaming about an hour and a half ago and let it run for 20 minutes before i shut it off. Any ideas?

 

did you drive it like a mad man afterwards?

 

no, that might be it though, i may go driving then

 

Yeah usually after an induction like you did, shut it down for 5-10 mins, start it and go for a hell run!

As a note, I have NEVER had an issue with the seafoam.....

 

The problem you are stating sounds like the check valve in the fuel pump.

 

Alright I went out driving for about an hour or so. Probably went like 35 miles. So I let it sit for another ten minutes and went out to start it up and it still struggled to start and i had to pump the gas to help it turn over. When I got it started the car was vibrating extremely bad. I started driving and after a couple minutes the car felt fine and wasn't vibrating anymore. I am left confused. I'm going to wait like half an hour and then go back out and start it. Hopefully it won't struggle but i have a feeling it will. Any ideas on what's going on!?


Fouled spark plugs? Maybe? No code throwing though but can a cylinder misfire without throwing one?

This is killing me

 

Did you take the cat off when you seafoamed it? I've read about a few cases where all the carbon and crap from your engine clogs up the cat, which is why you're supposed to remove it prior to seafoaming and reinstall afterwards. I'd bet that's your problem.

 

No, I didn't take it out, the can doesn't say anything about the cat . If I did mess it up how do I go about fixing it?

 

Take a look at your spark plus also ...seafoam will put carbon deposits on your plugs...take a wire brush to them see if that helps any.

 

Well, it's possible that it may need replacement, but no need to jump to conclusions. I'd take it out and rev the **** out of it to blow all the carbon through the cat. Also, check the plugs to make sure they haven't been fouled out. And maybe pull the O2 sensor(s) and see if they are covered in carbon and give em a shot of carb clean.

 

Where is the cat? Also, I recently changed the plugs so do you think there is a chance they are unaffected? I also am not sure where the o2 sensors are also.

 

The catalytic converter is part of the exhaust system. Since you have a 2001, I'm pretty sure your exhaust incorporates 2 cats. The O2 sensors are screwed into the cat and are connected to a wiring harness. The cat looks something like this

And the O2 sensor looks something like this

 

your supposed to suck up the seafoam and immediately shut off the car or let it stall out and let it sit for at least 10 minutes, I do an hour. Then start it and drive it hard for at least 5 miles.

Yes the seafoam treatment definitively fouls ur plugs, I changed mine after, so at least clean them. On the seafoam site it says it wont hurt the cat, says it can actually help it, but I agree it might clog it up.

 

Just saw the thread...
...and I have used seafoam on my XJ before ...2 cans at once!
No "crazy *** smoke" came out, NO NOTHING?!?! This baffled the hell out of me....considering I always thought, afterwards, your vehicle was supposed to blow smoke out like a MF'er. Mine did no such thing.

The reason why I used 2 cans, was because I thought I didnt put enough in the 1st time, so I went and bought a 2nd can.

But all Im gonna say is, nothing happened, NOTHING, when I used seafoam.

 

Maybe you just have a remarkably clean engine. Seafoam just cleans out the carbon buildup. If it was rebuilt and has low miles, then there's not much to clean. Only explanation I can think of.