I just ran a can of seafoam through my throttle body. After letting it sit 10 mins with the engine off, I drive it for 15 minutes. When I got back home I noticed a puddle under my car. I got down and felt it and it wasn't oil and it smelled like the seafoam. Is this normal?

 

Was the engine running when you fed the bottle into it? If not, then my guess is it came out of the intake and puddled in the underpan.

Edit: Also, if you fed it into one of the ports in the intake tube, I bet your air filter is all kinds of seafoamy now...

 

Yes it was running while feeding the bottle. I was also revving the engine steadily at 2000 rpm. I used the bottle up in about 10 minutes. Then turned the car off and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then drove it around for 15 minutes.

 

Did you use the seafoam can with the straw?

If so you probably didn't secure it correctly. It could easily been a bad seal around the throttle body. Which is hard to believe because it would have been a massive vacuum leak. It's impossible that much fluid would have escaped at 2000 rpms.

What I presume it's water from the AC drain port that you could have felt. Prior to the job was the AC system running? It could of just been residual from the night before.

 

One slight mistake was doing it from the throttle body. It's easier to use the vacuum line for this task.

 

Seafoam is VERY thin aka low viscosity and gets way more so when hot it will leak though even exhaust gaskets that are not leaking air. That said, don't use the stuff it does little to nothing maybe a mild cleaning. Not worth the risk.

 

I agree and I don't use seafoam. I use the STP GDI cleaner and it comes with an aluminum straw that works well with the intake runner or the vaccum line. It's not a walnut blast but it did make a small difference in performance after one can.

https://www.stp.com/product/pro-seri...valve-cleaner/

 

Yikes I just bought this stuff and i can’t return it. Should I still use it? Should I put the straw in a different hole besides the main throttle body port? This is on an is250

 

Dump it in your gas tank it might clean things up, or do nothing. Won't hurt.

 

Yeah, this isn't an issue with the product, it's an issue of how it was used.

sean here seems to have not realized that the intake tube doesn't see enough vacuum signal to draw the Sea Foam to the engine, which is why I personally use the brake booster line. I'm guessing when he comes back, he'll confirm that the liquid he fed into the intake tube went mostly in the direction of his MAF sensor, coated the air filter and that little baffle thingy pretty good, and puddled inside his air box before leaking out the drain.

Could be wrong, but that seems most probable to me.

You are absolutely welcome to buy other products and figure out other regimens than my preferred Sea Foam down the brake line til it stalls technique. I know folks who have spent a new car's worth on Yamalube Ring Free and other magic sauces for their racing 2-strokes...which are similar powerheads to those I've kept in the same condition using the ol' "white can of death" from the gas station. It's your money. My experience has me spending mine elsewhere and not overcomplicating this issue.

 

i meant the seafoam intake cleaner, the one that comes with the built-in straw applicator meant to be placed in your throttle body. I don’t think I should be putting this particular seafoam intake cleaner product inside the gas tank, as this isn’t the regular (the popular) seafoam motor treatment or the high mileage variant. It’s meant to be sprayed into the intake manifold.

 

Additional discussion on using throttle body cleaners here the two located here - CRC Intake valve cleaning:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...-review-2.html


Seafoam Spray tutorial Video;


Seafoam states:

1. DO NOT spray into the mass air flow sensor.
2. DO NOT use a scan tool to increase RPM via the air bypass valve.
3. Not for use with diesel air intake systems.

 

Happened to me too when I did it several years ago. Looked like a puddle of oil on the ground.

I think it is just gunk that got cleaned off the throttle body.

Boy was the engine much smoother afterwards though.

If you haven't changed your transmission fluid, you should do so. Again much smoother.

 

Yes, its the excess cleaner that was not ingested into the throttle body while spraying, after being mixed with the carbon deposits on the throttle plate etc.