GaborL

I've been searching CL and other sites but I can't find any info.

I've had LS400s, 430s, but on my new 460 I can't find the brake boosters vacuum line where I intend to put seafoam.
I read somewhere that the 460 doesn't use vacuum assisted brake boosters. So my question is, which vacuum line do I pull off the intake manifold to pour seafoam into?
Can anyone help?
Pics if possible?
Thanks

Devh

The LS 460 is a hybrid E brake system. It may not use traditional brake booster.
In my opinion and experience using seafoam for over 10 years I would not use it for an induction cleaning.
Why do you need to do an induction cleaning?

GaborL

I've used seafoam on almost all of my cars. Whether it was through the induction system, fuel system, engine oil, it just out my mind at ease, knowing it cleans vital internal components.
Do you not recommend I do this on my 460? It's got about 130K mi.
I've poured about a half a bottle into my (full) gas tank, but I wanted to run it through the intake system to clean it up. I'm guessing it has never been done before on this car.

Devh

Seafoam has little to no benefit with newer cars that are not equipped with antiquated EGR systems. I stopped using it long ago because it doesn't put a dent in any part of the air fuel system. It was a very big fad at one point but there is nothing except maybe harsher solvents that may work to some degree but they are not oxygen sensor safe. You cannot put a dent on the carbon with an induction cleaning especially with seafoam. The only thing that is useful is using top tier gas so that the D4s port injectors clean the intake valves overtime. Some of the newer cars that are direct injection only are suffering from carbon deposits on the valves and there is no solution in the world that can take care of it and that's why they are cleaned by media blasting.
These new engines also run very clean because the PCV intake hose is located post throttlebody so that the butterfly plate and the IAC valves do not get gunked up like they did in cars more than a decade ago which probably benefited from cleaning.
It's your choice to use it but just know there are cars just like yours with the same mileage that probably didn't run anything special in them and the risk of the unknown is not worth it.

Doublebase

I used to use seafoam, but the fact of the matter is that it does basically nothing. Does it smoke the parking lot out? Oh yes, and don't be fooled that it is doing anything because of that. What you are witnessing is the seafoam being burned in the cylinders, nothing more. You can get the same affect by most anything if you pour an entire can down your intake manifold. Remember that carbon deposits are some of the hardest substances on earth, they don't come off with over the counter solvents.

Case in point - I own a Honda Accord and supposedly everyone that owns one seafoams it as regular maintenance, so I did. Eventually I ran into a dirty egr problem, I ended up removing my intake manifold and cleaned it...all those years of seafoaming that engine did absolutely nothing. Nothing. It took me an hour of scraping to clean that intake out (maybe more).

I understand why you do it - it makes you feel good - but don't feel bad if you don't do it either, because the stuff doesn't work.

robert1408

There is no vacuum brake booster on an LS 460. The brake pedal operates a small , un-boosted master cylinder which provides only a hydraulic reference signal to an electronic actuator.

tbilisi79

I remember using sea foam on my 73 lincoln . I wanted to clean up the carb a bit. Well it not only cleaned up the carb, but also did something to all the gaskets . Motor was leaking oil from all over the place after that. Someone told me later that it can have a bad effect on oil gaskets . Well it did in my case.

Doublebase

You poured it in the oil? I know it's a three phase "cleaning process". You can put it in the gas tank, intake and sump, but I always just stuck to the tank and intake.

tbilisi79

I did some research and people said I can slowly put it into the carburetor and let it soak for a while.
Car smoke for a while like it was supposed to. But cable covers started leaking pretty hard after that day and oil pan was also in bad shape.

I slowed down the leaks by tightening up the valve covers and oil pan.

Not saying this could be an issue on our cars, just sharing my experience.

On my 92 Lincoln I just use it in tank once a year.

Devh

There is some anecdotal evidence that Seafoam can dislodge depots in the gas tank and then clogs the fuel filter.
I wouldn't add it to the oil either because it may ruin the formulation of the oil. Seafoam at best does nothing but at worse can do damage. It's best to stay away from Seaform altogether.

darksands

I put seafoam in the oil and the oil came out dirtier than usual on my 5000 mile oil changes. Not saying it works but that's what I saw.

satiger

iTrader: (1)

I have been using Seaform for the past 10+ years. Once used on my ES with 3 way method, ie using brake booster line, gas tank and in engine oil. It smoked a lot. I am not sure it improved anything or not as I tend to use quality gas and oil, changes PCV valve frequently etc. However I didn't see any issues or damages so far.

I normally add Seaform to gas tank on my all vehicles including LS. I prefer smooth idling. When I purchased LS, I noticed idling was not very smooth (again an average driver wouldn't notice). Now its as smooth as my ES/GX. Could be combination of various things, good gas etc and possible usage of Seaform. I can't be certain. How ever, as said earlier I haven't noticed any adverse issues of using Seaform on my ES/GX for the past 10+ years.

More reading on Seaform can be found on Bob Is the Oil Guy forums.

NickTee

Seafoam is a great way to spend money without doing anything other than making a large cloud of smoke. If you want to effectively clean your engine, you're going to need to disassemble it.
Carbon deposits are far to stubborn to be cleaned by something as weak as Sea Foam. Adding it to the combustion process does pretty much nothing for the same reason. Even stronger solvents, like carb cleaner, are not effective without soaking and sometimes scraping. If you want to get halfway there, remove the spark plugs and spray carb cleaner on the pistons and valves and let it soak. That's still more effective than adding sea foam.

All-in-all, you're wasting your time and money and risking potentially hydrolocking your engine and damaging something if you add too much sea foam.