Seafoam Diy!

[jcrome04]

Ok first things first big thanks to nc211 for giving me the info (and courage ) to do this! hahah

You WILL need a buddy to help you for this one.

Make sure your car is at warm operating temperature. (for last step :))

1. Measure yourself out about 5.5 ounces of Seafoam. (about 1/3 of the can. I used the last of my Seafoam on my car so I used water for the pictures)

2. Find the brake booster.

3. Disconnect it. There will be a release of pressure, as it is a vacuum line. Don't worry about it, it's normal.

4. Hold the hose ON THE SURFACE of the Seafoam. DO NOT fully submerge it.

Have a buddy start the car and hold the RPM's at about 2-2.5k RPMs, so it won't die.

Remember to let the hose "slurp" the Seafoam into it.

When the Seafoam is gone IMMEDIATELY turn the car OFF

5. Reconnect the brake booster hose, and let the car sit for about 15 minutes.

Now would be a good time to wash your car, or just sit back and admire it to kill some time.

Nice watch huh ;) hahah

6. Start the car back up! It may sputter and choke, but it will start. Give it some gas as you're cranking it, when it fires up, REV IT UP!!

nc211 said it best, "Rev that sucker like you stole it!" hahah. Check out my video for the final step! :D

7. Once the smoke has almost completely dissapated take it for a spin. Don't be afraid to boost it a little to get the last bit out of it's system.

Some will smoke more than others depending on how dirty they are.

Enjoy the new-found smoothness and much smoother idle! This would be a good time to also clean the throttle body, and replace the sparkplugs :D

[dcfish]

Ok first things first big thanks to nc211 for giving me the info (and courage ) to do this! hahah

You WILL need a buddy to help you for this one.

Make sure your car is at warm operating temperature. (for last step :))

1. Measure yourself out about 5.5 ounces of Seafoam. (about 1/3 of the can. I used the last of my Seafoam on my car so I used water for the pictures)

2. Find the brake booster.

3. Disconnect it. There will be a release of pressure, as it is a vacuum line. Don't worry about it, it's normal.

4. Hold the hose ON THE SURFACE of the Seafoam. DO NOT fully submerge it.

Have a buddy start the car and hold the RPM's at about 2-2.5k RPMs, so it won't die.

Remember to let the hose "slurp" the Seafoam into it.

When the Seafoam is gone IMMEDIATELY turn the car OFF

5. Reconnect the brake booster hose, and let the car sit for about 15 minutes.

Now would be a good time to wash your car, or just sit back and admire it to kill some time.

Nice watch huh ;) hahah

6. Start the car back up! It may sputter and choke, but it will start. Give it some gas as you're cranking it, when it fires up, REV IT UP!!

nc211 said it best, "Rev that sucker like you stole it!" hahah. Check out my video for the final step! :D

7. Once the smoke has almost completely dissapated take it for a spin. Don't be afraid to boost it a little to get the last bit out of it's system.

Some will smoke more than others depending on how dirty they are.

Enjoy the new-found smoothness and much smoother idle! This would be a good time to also clean the throttle body, and replace the sparkplugs :D

jcrome04, Very nice writeup Keep up the great work B) Members will be very happy that this is posted.

[aarman4]

well done Jchrome!

[jcrome04]

Thanks a lot! :)

I just wish it was around for me! hahaha.

I'm going to try and re-wire my fog lights as well. (to come on wih the parking lights) I'm thinking maybe I'll do a DIY on that!

It, however, is only for 95-97 LS400's.

[PureDrifter]

Thanks a lot! :)

I just wish it was around for me! hahaha.

I'm going to try and re-wire my fog lights as well. (to come on wih the parking lights) I'm thinking maybe I'll do a DIY on that!

It, however, is only for 95-97 LS400's.

very nice...

post it up on CL now :P

[lexfourcam]

yea i did that to my car today and it runs alot better than it did, my dumbass brother thought i was gonna blow the engine he doesnt kno *BLEEP* about cars lol

[jcrome04]

No way Seafoam will "blow an engine"!!!

It REALLY scares people that know ZERO about cars! :D

[mburnickas]

No way Seafoam will "blow an engine"!!!

It REALLY scares people that know ZERO about cars! :D

Seafoam is good but Amsoil Power foam blows it away! Plus seafoam CAN hydro-lock a car, not power foam….

You can also use distilled water if you want and it WILL clean better then seafoam (fact) and maybe powerfoam; however again hydro-locking is an issue. Plus I am starting to think seafoam "smoke cloud" (white) is mostly seafoam and not carbon (grey/black).

[intellivised]

Does this information count for 1992 LS400s? I want to do this in a few weeks... but want to make sure I do it right!

[Lexusfreak]

Awesome write up bud! Well done. B)

[nc211]

Does this information count for 1992 LS400s? I want to do this in a few weeks... but want to make sure I do it right!

Yeah, it should be. But if you want to make sure, post of a photo of your engine bay for us and we'll compare...

Jcrome, sonny boy, you deserve a "sticky" for this one. Mod's any interest in making this one stick at the top? Seeing as how so many questions are asked about it?

PS: You can edit out my props if you like...I'm just a humble servent of passing along the knowledge taught to me from those further down the line...

[jcrome04]

I agree! It got stickied on CL and it's helped a lot of people there.

[intellivised]

I'm completely new at a lot of car repair stuff but am finally deciding to learn. I really want to try this seafoam thing myself but have a few specific questions. I'll send a picture of my engine along and maybe someone could tell me/help me with this? I plan on doing it in a few weeks.

I do have something to trade! I'm a video professional/producer by day. I don't have my own camera but a lot of my colleagues do - I'm hoping to video tape the whole endeavor (maybe even in HD!) and post it up so newbies like myself know what they are doing! No promises - all my co-workers are busy people so it's hard to get schedules to line up....

[AZ Mike]

Never mind.....figured it out.

[silvermistLS]

stupid question... but why does it go throught the brake booster?? how does that hose lead it to engine and other parts??? sorry...

[jcrome04]

Vacuum line into the intake manifold.

[JENunnez]

Seafoam does work, used it on many of the company vehicles with great results.

Good one jcrome.

[bwoods]

Just did the Seafoam. Here's my experience.

I put it in through the vacuum hose as shown in this thread. The Seafoam website or YouTube video by Seafoam I saw (can't remember which) also showed this as well as putting a third in the crankcase and a third in the fuel tank. Ran it and got the cloud as everyone else. Though I must say that I'm pleased in that I didn't have as much as a cloud as others I've seen. Must've been because the previous owner did take great care in the car and maintained it quite regularly as advertised.

I did that in the morning. Took it to my Lexus mechanic and had him change the oil to Mobil 1 synthetic.

Now the same day in the afternoon, I'm driving to Reno, but first to a store in Sacramento. We get off the highway and are waiting in stop-and-go on the exit. I notice that my Trac light is blinking and the Check Engine light is on. I'm thinking "Did I ruin my car?!!!" We get to the store and the lady lets me get online. This is around 6:30 p.m., I'm 4 hours drive away from my mechanic and besides he and all other repair shops are closed. (Fortunately for me.) I already checked my manual for what these lights mean and I'm now panicking. I'm wondering if I should spend the night and go to the Lexus dealer in the a.m. as I didn't want to keep driving and ruin my engine and/or tranny. So I call Autozone and they no longer get check engine light codes for free anymore (corporate and CA regulatory baloney) so the cheapest diagnostic tool is around $100. But then, what would I do with the code with no tools on me anyway?

While I'm surfing online for the nearest Autozone and any mom & pop garages that just might by chance be still open, I come up with the brilliant idea of searching for this problem on this forum! (Duh!) And lo and behold, I find a similar problem and plenty of references to disconnect the negative battery terminal for awhile and see what happens after you reconnect. THAT SOLVED THE PROBLEM! Both lights are off. Even with the lights on, there wasn't a noticeable performance issue or problem.

All I can say is THIS FORUM ROCKS! It saved me who knows how many hundreds of dollars of unexpected expense for a Lexus dealer to find out.

THANK YOU to all who selflessly share their knowledge and experience with all of us.

Oh, and I think it is cool to find out that even with the battery pulled, all my radio station presets were preserved!

BTW, I am now experiencing an increase of 4 MPG of 26 MPG, up from 22 highway. :D

Brad

[jcrome04]

Nice Brad that's a HUGE increase!!!

Now you just need new plugs/wires & filters! hahah. I've gotten up to 29.3mpg highway. I dream of breaking 30 every night :D hahaha

Keep up the good work man!

[bwoods]

Nice Brad that's a HUGE increase!!!

Now you just need new plugs/wires & filters! hahah. I've gotten up to 29.3mpg highway. I dream of breaking 30 every night :D hahaha

Keep up the good work man!

Yep, that is huge, I'm quite pleased. Yeah, the plugs, etc. is next. I'm on the attack!

YOU keep up the good work, good buddy. You are awesome. Thanks so much for your original post, it gave me courage to suck that stuff into my car.

[jcrome04]

Hey thanks a lot. I really appreciate it. It's always nice to hear that!!!

I was pretty nervous at first too, and wished there was something like this, when I was wanting to do mine.

[lafand75]

Hey thanks a lot. I really appreciate it. It's always nice to hear that!!!

I was pretty nervous at first too, and wished there was something like this, when I was wanting to do mine.

hello everyone. Im a newbie here. i have recently joined the forum family and i am very greatfull also for all the post about many different adventures about the ls 400's. Well i recently cleaned out my throttle body, and used the tutorial. I believe that i did everything to the best of my knowledge being the fact that im a do it ur selfer. the problem im getting is a hickup. almost or like a misfire and i cant go faster than 45mph. basically im lost and was wondering if any one has any ideas. thanks in advance.

[jcrome04]

I you can't go over 45mph your problem is a bit more complicated than a can of Seafoam can fix. You're probably in "limp-home" mode.

This being a thread about Seafoam.. you probably won't get much info on that subject here.

[amcdonal86]

I you can't go over 45mph your problem is a bit more complicated than a can of Seafoam can fix. You're probably in "limp-home" mode.

This being a thread about Seafoam.. you probably won't get much info on that subject here.

+1. Start your own thread!

[djspawn00]

I think I'll simultaneously seafoam all of the cars infront of my house.. . my version of spring cleaning and also just to annoy my neighbors... hopefully the fire department doesn't show up again...