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2G beware! seafoam fried my lc1 sensor

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too_genecide

Proven Member
83
10
Jan 26, 2013
yuma, Arizona
Like the title says I believe seafoam damaged my lc1 o2 sensor.
Yesterday I used seafoam to clean my intake and cc by introducing it through a vacuum line. I've done this many times on different vehicles but this was the second time I used it on my lc1 equipped dsm.
The first time I used the seafoam my wideband readings were pegged lean for about a mile of driving then they started fluctuating, and after about 10 minutes of driving returned to normal.
This last time the readings fluctuated but never returned to normal.
I checked the led and it was flashing a code indicating that it had overheated.
I recalibrated the sensor and now it just reads a steady 21.9.
I just ordered a replacement sensor from O'Reilly Auto which I believe is the correct sensor.
Bosch #17014 is the part I ordered I'll let you guys know how it turns out
 
Next time, don't waste your money on seafoam. I thought everyone knows it's snake oil.
 
Next time, don't waste your money on seafoam. I thought everyone knows it's snake oil.

I disagree, I have used seafoam on my car in the past and then pulled the intake off a few months later and you could clearly see where the seafoam had removed carbon deposits. Now I can't say if I gained anything by doing it, but it did remove carbon build it
 
The only way I could see seafoam doing anything to your sensor is by the carbon it caused to come loose fouled your sensor. There are ways to clean the sensors without damaging them but I don't know if it would be worth your trouble.

If you had THAT much carbon you had other problems which could have caused the sensor to fail later anyway. When we did my friend's car several years ago he had a pile of black soot on the ground behind his car and that was by far the most extreme example of carbon I've seen from using seafoam. I've used it on at least 10 different cars and have never had a problem. You can have some trouble if you allow your car to suck in too much to quickly, which is why so many people do it in bursts with the smallest vacuum line on the car.
 
i have used seafoam about 4 times with my mtx-l. still reads fine as it coincides with the narrowband during closed loop


but an italian tuneup > seafoam
 
Who doesn't like snake oil?
While in auto tech school I was introduced to upper cylinder cleaner by Mopar. It was taught that it was a sound product. Seafoam is supposed to be very similar so I use it occasionally. I have not tested or confirmed the results of seafoam so I cannot comment on the snake oil comment.
I read somewhere that seafoam burns hot but you can't believe everything you read on the internet. The error code that the led was flashing was for an overheated sensor.
 
Seafoam does work to dissolve carbon deposits, I used it to clean my pistons and valves when rebuilding my motor.

The reason you fried your sensor is because when you run it through a vacuum line, it's introducing additional fuel into the combustion chamber.. in turn causing you to run EXTREMELY rich while the product is running through your motor. This excessively rich fuel mixture is what kills the sensor. If you want to prevent the sensor from crapping out, remove it before running anything meant to "clean your intake and crankcase".
 
If you are trying to clean carbon only, just introduce water as you would seafoam. It will steam clean the piston tops and the combustion side of the valves. OLD mechanics trick. I don't know how it would effect a wideband sensor but it has never ruined a narrowband sensor. It will kick out a lot of black soot when you really rev the motor, like the seafoam does. You let it suck in through a vacuum line but don't let the engine die, keep it revved up then at the end really rev it and it will clean....and its FREE. On a carbureted engine, I would just fill a pop bottle and pour it in the throat, keeping from stalling the motor as it will ingest it faster than it can steam it out.
 
Seafoam does work to dissolve carbon deposits, I used it to clean my pistons and valves when rebuilding my motor.

The reason you fried your sensor is because when you run it through a vacuum line, it's introducing additional fuel into the combustion chamber.. in turn causing you to run EXTREMELY rich while the product is running through your motor. This excessively rich fuel mixture is what kills the sensor. If you want to prevent the sensor from crapping out, remove it before running anything meant to "clean your intake and crankcase".

I dont believe my afr went anywhere risky, certainly nothing more than a good pull on near-stock ratio.
there are lots of anecdotes out there of a person's sensor going wonky after a seafoaming. nothing reproducable reliably. "dont use this product!" exclamations typically ensue.

im not worried. its been shown with bore scopes that it does indeed work, to some degree. i dont think it is a magical cure for buildup though.


removing the wb02 is not an insane idea at all. but plug the bung or expect a lot of smoke in the engine bay.
 
Seaform is just a blend of naphtha/mineral spirits. It's not removing carbon in the intake. What it's doing is just slightly dissolving oil in it's tracks from the pcv valve. It's not delivered in a fog/mist so it doesn't coat or fully clean everything. You are better off just removing the intake manifold and soaking it in mineral spirits and manually cleaning the back of the valves if you want to really remove any gunk. You want something that works to clean pistons? Use water, it's free. Otherwise that small trickle of seafoam isn't doing anything.

There is a reason why BMW and other direct injected car manufacturers recommend walnut blasting of the cylinder head/intake valves and not seaform or carbon and sludge removal.

Most of the seafoam is just tricking down the vacuum line and mostly going down one cylinder. Two if you're lucky.
 
There are plenty of youtube videos where they use a borescope to look inside the cylinder before and after. It does clean up some carbon deposit. I've used it in all 3 of my cars and never had an issue. I had AEM WB when I used it on my dsm and WB worked fine afterwards. Don't take this the wrong way, did you follow the instructions?
 
I'm not saying it doesn't work. It just not really as effective as people believe it to be. That smoke show your seeing is a small bit of oil and mostly the product burning off. It's no more effective than water in the combustion chamber, and water is free.

Ever seen an engine thats been running meth injection?

Look at the MSDS of seafoam. It's a motor oil/naptha blend with rubbing alcohol.
 
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I'm not saying it doesn't work. It just not really as effective as people believe it to be. That smoke show your seeing is a small bit of oil and mostly the product burning off. It's no more effective than water in the combustion chamber, and water is free.

Ever seen an engine thats been running meth injection?

Look at the MSDS of seafoam. It's a motor oil/naptha blend with rubbing alcohol.

yep. machine oil, naptha, isopropyl alcohol.
sometimes simple is better. never tried water before, though. water, being a byproduct of the combustion process, is already present in abundance but only after ignition.
how long before somebody dumps enough to hydrolock as a result of reading these posts LOL

another thing is water may decarbonize piston crowns but buildup happens in intake manifold, valves, and behind exhaust valves. seafoam would help more there than water could touch.

though i wonder how much broken up deposits, rather than dissolved, get caught in the gap between piston and cylinder wall and possibly ring lands.
 
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yep. machine oil, naptha, isopropyl alcohol.
sometimes simple is better. never tried water before, though.
how long before somebody dumps enough to hydrolock as a result of reading these posts LOL
That is why the warning NOT TO STALL THE ENGINE was inserted in the thread comments, but the only way to hurt it is if you try to turn it over AFTER it is locked. I have been using water since 1979, when the Marine Corporal turned mechanic, showed me when I worked for him. He was a mechanic in the field so he new a lot of tricks. ANY liquid could possibly lock it, since it is uncompressible. Common sense would come into play here also. :thumb:
 
That is why the warning NOT TO STALL THE ENGINE was inserted in the thread comments, but the only way to hurt it is if you try to turn it over AFTER it is locked. I have been using water since 1979, when the Marine Corporal turned mechanic, showed me when I worked for him. He was a mechanic in the field so he new a lot of tricks. ANY liquid could possibly lock it, since it is uncompressible. Common sense would come into play here also. :thumb:

oh I agree full stop. some people take advice meant in moderation to extreme levels because, hey, if a little works in 2 hours then a lot must do the same job in only half the time!

if smart was truly communicable, there wouldnt be so much profit in ebay turbos.
 
Kinda gotta throw that "disclaimer" in there for the type of person you described. ROFL :thumb:
 
4 stroke, and its a private formula, Techron does not make Yamaha Ring Free, they have been accused of it but its actually not the same thing, not even close. Yamaha has a tech run it through an engine at times and determines if a teardown is needed based on the outcome of running fuel with it vs fuel without it, I can tell you several times they have had me pull a few heads off an warrantied valve guide repair based on how it ran with Ring free in it and also how the gas analyzer read with the Ring Free vs draining it and running straight gasoline.
 
For those of you innovate lc1 users bosch #17014 is a genuine replacement wideband sensor. The mtx-l on my bike uses the same sensor.
I think from now on I'll only use the mopar combustion chamber cleaner.
 
There is a reason why BMW and other direct injected car manufacturers recommend walnut blasting of the cylinder head/intake valves and not seaform or carbon and sludge removal.

Apples and oranges. You wind up having to decarbon direct injection intakes and valves on those cars because the normal cleaning effect from fuel in the air flow doesn't happen leading to deposit buildup from PCV. Seafoam introduced via the PCV or other vacuum line is a more concentrated form of the detergents in "Top Tier" fuels.

Mopar Combustion Chamber Cleaner (MCCC) is what the dealer used along with a strong injector cleaner as a part of the normal factory service. Maybe it was just to boost profits but it didn't hurt performance or longevity. When I tried both MCCC and Seafoam,
 
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