Sea Foam in crankcase?

I have a 76 kz900 that I resurrected last year. Finally got her running really well after syncing the carbs myself ( the Kawasaki shop never got them right for some reason ).

For the heck of it I bought some Sea Foam today. Put 1/2 the can in the gas tank and started her up. The only initial difference was that the choke was not required almost immediately. I did NOT notice any clouds of white smoke at all as some people have experienced.

My questions are:

1. Has any one used Sea Foam in their crank case?
2. What were the reasons and expectations for doing so?
3. What were the results?

Thanks for the input.

Ross

like it loosenes sludge???...


i did it after reading on here for a while...half a bottle in the tank and half in the case...drove it short 10 mile runs to work and back and changed it to new oil /filter after 30 miles or so...the only thing i noticed was that the shifts were crisper and engaged solid,right after putting it in...it drove "tighter" imo....but that could be a placebo effect......either way it felt good knowing i mighta washed some 1970's crud out....

Yes, I have thrown maybe four or six ounces of seafoam into the oil a couple of hundred miles before I change it to get a good removal of crud when I drain the oil.

I add seafoam to the crank case. Roy

Thanks for the input guys. I was a little leery of putting an addative in the oil. I'll give it a try.

I thought that seafoam was kerosene based :huh: ??? Wouldn't this be bad to mix with oil just like its bad if gas gets mixed with oil? I'm sure it might help clean sludge, but so does gas... I might be wrong here, but I dunno, kinda would worry me...

I used to use Sea Foam in the crank case all the time. I would add about 4oz every two weeks or so. It cleans the system pretty well and evaporates after a few hours of running. This is why I switched to "Rislone". It will not evaporate and you do not have to keep on adding it. I mix it about 4:1 with my oil and it keeps the system clean all the time.

sft1662 wrote:

I thought that seafoam was kerosene based :huh: ??? Wouldn't this be bad to mix with oil just like its bad if gas gets mixed with oil? I'm sure it might help clean sludge, but so does gas... I might be wrong here, but I dunno, kinda would worry me...

Seafoam specifies right on the can that it's good to use in the crankcase and a lot of people do add it to the crankcase oil. When to add seems to be debatable (Thou the website does have it's own "When to add/change instructions") with plenty of people finding it leery to add seafoam to the oil earlier than 10 km before an oil change and don't drive anywhere while other people add it quite some time before hand and run it like normal oil. I would be most worried about how the engine and transmission/clutch share the same oil. Seems plenty of people do use it thou, if it does help with shifts then maybe I'll give it a try too, sometimes the bike doesn't quite grab the next gear as easily as I'd like it to

This concept has no effects on the clutch friction plate composition?

What about rubber seals?

No harm to stock idler timing components (plastics)?

Interesting, never thought about sea foam in the cases....

OMR

In my experience, you'll only get smoke by adding it directly to the intake. On my truck, you let the brake booster vacuum hose suck it in until it stalls, leave it off for a couple minutes, then start the motor and let it idle for 15 minutes or until the smoke stops. Be ready to change your plugs, it can fowl them up.

I don't know how you'd do this on a bike with carbs, unless you spray it right in the carb throats.

djturnz wrote:

In my experience, you'll only get smoke by adding it directly to the intake. On my truck, you let the brake booster vacuum hose suck it in until it stalls, leave it off for a couple minutes, then start the motor and let it idle for 15 minutes or until the smoke stops. Be ready to change your plugs, it can fowl them up.

I don't know how you'd do this on a bike with carbs, unless you spray it right in the carb throats.

I use "Mopar combustion Chamber Cleaner" for this. It coms in a spray can and foams up like foamy engine cleaner. I heat the bike up and remove the spark plugs one at a time. I spray the Cleaner into the plug hole until it comes out the hole and quickly replace the plug. I than let the bike stand until morning, at which time I take it for a spirited ride. I than repeat the procedure again. I do this a couple of times a year. It keeps the chambers and valves squeaky clean.

This is what it looked like inside the bike after I took it apart to install the new top end.