If a vehicle recieves proper preventative maintenance, it should never need to be seafoamed.

I dont know that I'd go so far as to say that gunk would never ever build up with proper care, but I have to go out on a limb here and wonder what good this could do on a vehicle less than a year old.

Unless I've gotten REALLY behind the times (which is possible...see Avatar...) the sulfer smell is likely a clogged cat.

Less than a year's worth of wear, that seems improbable, but they DO have significant warranties and I wouldnt even bother with trying to clear them.

I MUST have missed something in this post...I'm going to re-re-read.

-David

edit: Ok, I'm just gonna goahead and leave that foot in my mouth for a min here...

Seafoam should not be required on a properly maintained engine but even with above average preventive maintenance, an engine will still accumulate some carbon buildup. A can of Seafoam won't hurt. IMO, if you do decent PM, you only need to run Seafoam thru the fuel system; not thru a vacuum line. But that won't hurt either.

Definitely a thumbs-up for Seafoam, regardless.

i typically keep my car in tip top shape (i'm a little overdue on getting my oil changed this time, but this is the first time i've been overdue). like i mentioned, the main reason was to try and rid my exhaust of a sulfury smell (i'd assume a cat problem), so we'll see if that did the trick.

If it's a sulfur smell, then I'd suspect the gas that's in your tank. Some fuels contain more sulfur than others and some suppliers ship fuel that exceeds the federal standards for sulfur (by accident, I'm sure). The Seafoam can't hurt but I'd try a different brand of gas or gas from another station before I get too concerned.

^^ i thought it could have been the gas originally, so i did try switching gas about a month ago (~1-2 additional fill-ups with other gas since), but it still had the smell. i figured the older gas would have worked it's way out by now, or maybe all the gas around here sucks :(

If seafoam has the power to remove carbon, I'm sure it has no problem removing seals and other important things inside the motor as well. I've got a can of this stuff in my garage for 2 years and haven't used it.

Water will also remove carbon but doesnt really damage seals.

Well...used properly, anyhow.

An old trick hearkening back to the carb days of old was to dribble a small amount in a thin stream into the throat and feather the throttle by hand.

Same type of reaction as Seafoam: Engine would try to die, smoke, etc, etc.

Ok, ok, so it wouldnt scrub carbon off of the bottom of valves and tops of pistons perfectly...

I tried this on my Bronco before sending the block in for machine work (I really expected to hydrolock that engine...so I tried it before a rebuild) and I could see where some work had been done after I yanked the heads. Not perfect...but it appeared that a good bit had been taken off.

Except for the number one cylinder. That was bad. There was a HUGE ring of carbon where the rings didnt scrape the inside of the bore.

Another old school trick was to fill the motor up with transmission oil and run it for 10 minutes or something. Then change the oil.

I'd never do it, but that's just another old man story I have.

I'll repeat what I've been babbling for the past 3 years: I use it prior to every single oil change on my 2005 GT (just turned over 60K miles) and my wife's 2001 Escape (140K on it) with no issues what so ever, period.:icon_rolleyes: I put 1/2 the can in the brake booster hose, the other 1/2 in the gas tank.