Seafoam In Oil

[oren102]

Has anyone tried putting in some of this magic stuff in their oil before an oil change? This has been discussed widely around the internet but i cant find many people, actually anyone who has tried it on a FI sportbike. I've read that a few guys tried it on their older virago's without any adverse effects (mind you, one of them actually rode around for 200km with the stuff in there...)

I'm just wondering what it would do on the clutch? I'm thinking to put 1/3 in the oil, let it idle at 3000 rpm for about 5 minutes and than change the oil (with filter).

Opinions? Experience?

I do put 1/3 of a can in my gas after every oil change. Not sure if it does anything but figured it can't hurt and my bike does start up and run very well so...

[toysareforboys]

I wouldn't put it in your oil. It's likely to break up debris in your engine which could damage bearings, etc. Best to let the gunk stay where it is

No problems putting it in the tank though, just don't put it in your intake/vacuum lines/oil!

Use the highest quality, largest filter you can run on your bike, that'll be the best protection for your oil/engine. Not sure what bike you have, for most Jap bikes, in order of filtering ability, Amsoil EA15K13 "long" if you can fit 3.35" filter or EA15K12 if you can't, Purolator PureOne PL14610 "long" if you can fit 3.5", PL14612 if you can't, Baldwin Premium B1402 "long" 3.5".

-Jamie M.

[FiReSTaRT]

TAFB called it right. Fuel system only.

[eastcoast_gsx]

LOL... 21st century snake oil.

[FiReSTaRT]

LOL... 21st century snake oil.

Has its uses. It's good as a stabilizer and for light cleaning of the fuel system.

[infernobuster]

Dont know about using it for your motorcycle in the oil due to the clutch .. but i have used it in previous vehicles in the oil.

You put it in, warm up the vehicle and dont put any load on it ( ie driving it anywhere) and drop the oil.

[RockerGuy]

I've used it on my previous bike, but for short distance.

Diesel oil has a lot of detergents, if u want to clean your motor, that would be my recommendations

[oren102]

I wouldn't put it in your oil. It's likely to break up debris in your engine which could damage bearings, etc. Best to let the gunk stay where it is

No problems putting it in the tank though, just don't put it in your intake/vacuum lines/oil!

Use the highest quality, largest filter you can run on your bike, that'll be the best protection for your oil/engine. Not sure what bike you have, for most Jap bikes, in order of filtering ability, Amsoil EA15K13 "long" if you can fit 3.35" filter or EA15K12 if you can't, Purolator PureOne PL14610 "long" if you can fit 3.5", PL14612 if you can't, Baldwin Premium B1402 "long" 3.5".

-Jamie M.

That's what I was thinking too. I've read around that a few guys had problems with their cars after they let it sit in for a bit because it knocked off the carbon that was holding everything in place (was fixed with some new seals).

I personally buy my filters from flying squirrel, I forgot what they were called (some black and green box-help me out) but considering i change my oil & filter every 2000km/2500km's I'm not worried about the filter not being good enough (i use rotella t6).

I've used it on my previous bike, but for short distance.

Diesel oil has a lot of detergents, if u want to clean your motor, that would be my recommendations

Seafoam is more of a preventative measure. Most of us on here (especially those of us that religiously look at the technical section, most likely yourself included) are all about keeping the bike in top shape. Any product that could possibly help us out and make the bike in "like new" shape is a product that I'd consider using.

So you're saying you put it in your oil? Did you ride around with it for a few km's than drop it and change? Do you have a wet clutch, did you feel anything strange with regards to the clutch?

I'm not sure about doing this only because of the whole carbon holding everything in place issue. I'm quite sure it's safe for all the seals and such (or else people wouldn't be swearing buy it). I'd love to hear from someone who has actually tried it in supersport with a wet clutch (I highly doubt any ducati guys would try it in their oil haha... wayyyy too precious).

[RockerGuy]

Dude stop wasting time and money and just ride the bike.

You're using rotella which is a diesel oil. D oils have alot of detergents in them to fight the carbon build-up in diesel engines.

You already change your oil at 2k km, thats enough to clean and flush any buildup u may have. How much cleaner do u want it to be?

How about tear down your engine and make sure there's nothing there whatsoever?

[oren102]

Dude stop wasting time and money and just ride the bike.

You're using rotella which is a diesel oil. D oils have alot of detergents in them to fight the carbon build-up in diesel engines.

You already change your oil at 2k km, thats enough to clean and flush any buildup u may have. How much cleaner do u want it to be?

How about tear down your engine and make sure there's nothing there whatsoever?

You forgot to add "End Rant".

[Tripletrouble]

You forgot to add "End Rant".

Not a rant at all. He makes perfect sense. I'd be more worried about wearing my drain plug threads out than dirty oil changing my oil that frequently but each to his own.

[oren102]

Not a rant at all. He makes perfect sense. I'd be more worried about wearing my drain plug threads out than dirty oil changing my oil that frequently but each to his own.

I wasn't asking to be criticized of what I choose to do. I'm here seeking knowledge and experience about seafoam in oil and not about my maintenance habits.

[dricked]

The oil filter is probably a HiFlo. I used some seafoam in my 600 because the previous owner had seemingly neglected to do frequent oil changes so the oil went fairly dark soon after it had been changed (almost upon start up). I just warmed the bike up with the seafoam and some cheap clean oil and dumped it, then did 3 more "flushes" with the rest of the cheap oil I had, the oil stayed clean after that. Change your oil as much as you want, I probably do it as much as you if not more. If your oil stays fairly clean between changes I wouldn't bother with the seafoam.

[toysareforboys]

The oil filter is probably a HiFlo. I used some seafoam in my 600 because the previous owner had seemingly neglected to do frequent oil changes so the oil went fairly dark soon after it had been changed (almost upon start up). I just warmed the bike up with the seafoam and some cheap clean oil and dumped it, then did 3 more "flushes" with the rest of the cheap oil I had, the oil stayed clean after that. Change your oil as much as you want, I probably do it as much as you if not more. If your oil stays fairly clean between changes I wouldn't bother with the seafoam.

You can send your oil to be analyzed for $18 (or $26 if you want TBN) so you know if you're changing it "too often". A quality filter will stop the oil from going back as well, using those Amsoil filters I linked above, the oil comes out a nice honey colour, same as it went in! After doing oil analysis on my old R6 I was able to go 11,000km's on my oil, with only having to change the filter every 5,500km. So I only had to change my oil every other oil change Saves some serious coin if you are using any flavour of synthetic.

-Jamie M.

[Brian P]

In every engine that I've ever owned, in which I've used a good-quality synthetic oil changed at the factory recommended service intervals, I've never observed any significant sludge or deposit build-up under the valve cover.

Short trips that never allow the engine to warm up, and driving patterns that involve puttering around barely above idle speed and only for short trips, and inappropriately using cheap non-synthetic oil in a hot-running application that ought to be using synthetic and then not changing it often enough, are the usual causes of sludge build-up. If that's not your driving pattern and that's not your (negligent) maintenance habit, don't worry about it and don't try to do anything to remove sludge that probably isn't even there to begin with.

[nobbie48]

LOL... 21st century snake oil.

Seafoam was, to my knowledge, developed for boats as a spring fuel flush. Suddenly it's a cure-all for everything that WD-40 can't fix.

[silverbullet132]

No problems putting it in the tank though, just don't put it in your intake/vacuum lines/oil!

What is wrong with putting it in vacuum lines? That is listed as one way to put it in the system on the instructions.

[toysareforboys]

What is wrong with putting it in vacuum lines? That is listed as one way to put it in the system on the instructions.

No comment.

-Jamie M.

[infernobuster]

What is wrong with putting it in vacuum lines? That is listed as one way to put it in the system on the instructions.

Zero issues with putting it in this way. That is how i did it with my old truck as it states per instructions. 1/3 into the vacuum line, 1/3 into fuel and 1/3 into oil.

[oren102]

I've been treating my mom's old 97 camry with 1/3,1/3,1/3 and it runs great, no issues for the three years i've been doing it. Than again it might not be the seafoam but just the amount of preventative maintenance I put into it...

Anyhow, I wont be putting it in my bike oil, I'll leave the testing to someone else :P If someone ever does come across this thread who has done it on a bike, I'd love to hear from you!