posted 27 October 2000 01:16               

My check engine light came on while at the Blue Ridge Parkway, so I take it to my friends shop and using a Snapon computer they determine the code: P0134. Problem with first O2 sensor, they run a further test which shows it’s voltage regularly dropping well below the minimum, but this still doesn’t prove anything. They reset the light and it stays out. But then, he takes a jar of water, about 1.5 pints and using a section of vacuum hose connected to the vacuum port for the cruise control he quickly dips the hose in the water repeatedly while reving the engine, not very high, producing plenty of steam and a really small deposit of black on the ground under the exhaust pipe. Next using exact same method with an injector cleaner, not sure exactly what it was but will find out and post here, this time producing plenty of smoke, both black and blue. She survived I thought to my self. Did not expect any difference in the car but I was wrong. This made a car that felt great feel much better, pulls stronger, revs smother, louder exhaust. You can definitely feel the increased power at all speeds. This from a car that already felt great!

This car has had only three years of use, then one year off, just turned 18k. I routinely see 7k rpm so I didn’t think I could have any carbon built up. Who’da thought?

posted 29 October 2000 01:52               

Definitely taking my other 4 cylinder car over for the same thing this week.

posted 01 November 2000 20:41               

Even if your car runs great and you routinely rev your car to the rev limiter as I do, this may well be the cheapest power mod out there, $5.74 for a can of Sea Foam brand Carbon Cleaner and some H20, a section of vacuum hose, piece of cake for anyone to do. Next up will be the 960 when I take her out of storage this spring.

posted 02 November 2000 13:37               

Apparently Napa sells Sea Foam products, whether they all stock the Carbon Cleaner I am not sure, though it may be possible to get them to order it. Have not been able to track down a definite source yet. If Mazda still sells their Top Engine Cleaner P/N 0000 77 2025, then that will work, am told GM has one too that will work.. If I can find out more I will post back here.

posted 28 November 2000 14:31               

quote:

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Originally posted by Chemical Spill:

If Mazda still sells their Top Engine Cleaner P/N 0000 77 2025, then that will work, am told GM has one too that will work.. If I can find out more I will post back here.

Ryoko

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Chem,
Any further news on this? I am v. interested in this myself but unable to source any obvious equivalent to "Sea Foam" products which are not available here in UK. A Mazda part no. would be great. I sense my 10 year old "urban" BBR turbo would love this clean out to bits.
Cheers
Hob

posted 29 November 2000 20:36               

Havent had a chance to do much outside of work lately, two new networks going in and the worst part of it is the soft and miniscule thinking from operating system vender, hence the name MicroSoft.

Trying to get a chance this week to go down to Rustburg and pick up another can of the Carbon Cleaner. Will endeavor then to contact the manufacturer and find out if there is any distribution in England. Will post back here. Have you called a local Mazda dealer and asked for the Top Engine Cleaner part number 0000 77 2025 as mentioned in Mazda's TSB?

posted 05 December 2000 07:34               

quote:

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Originally posted by HobGoblin:
Chem,
Any further news on this? I am v. interested in this myself but unable to source any obvious equivalent to "Sea Foam" products which are not available here in UK. A Mazda part no. would be great. I sense my 10 year old "urban" BBR turbo would love this clean out to bits.
Cheers
Hob
I found some info on this proedure at the following site: http://w3.one.net/~roz/cars.z28/seafoam.html
hope it helps.
Sean.

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posted 05 December 2000 07:54               

quote:

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Originally posted by seano:

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posted 05 December 2000 14:31               

quote:

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Originally posted by miner:
My son's '91 does not have cruise control so where would I inject liquid & cleaner into?

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Even though he doesn't have cruise control, the vacuum port is still there. It's a little nub on top of the throttle body and it will have a rubber cap on it. You'll need a length of vacuum hose to suck the water with.

Kevin

posted 05 December 2000 21:08               

The instructions on the sea foam site don't give me a lot of confidence. I would like a how-to set of instructions that's more involved than "Keeping engine RPM in the mid-range, dip a vacuum hose into the water, being careful not to let it suck up too much water." Aside from destroying the engine, how can I tell if it's sucking up too much water? How long should I dip the vacuum hose each time? What's the interval between dips? How long should the whole procedure take, assuming 1.5 pints of water? What are some tell-tale signs that I'm doing it wrong? What are the signs that I'm doing it right? Is it necessary to stall the engine? That's not something I feel confident with. And, final question: Is this procedure a whole lot simpler than it sounds? Oh, and I do not plan on using the Mazda orifice; something about letting the hose sit in the water and trusting that orifice to let the proper amount through doesn't sit well with me.

I searched the Power archives and came across this thread, started by Hyuri: http://www.miataforum.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001340.html
Needless to say, I'm a little nervous now! If somebody can help out here, I would greatly appreciate it! When I'm done, I'll post the instructions and pictures on my web page, crediting those who contributed, of course. I think it would be helpful if the Forum has a place to go to get instructions for this somewhat-scary, yet immensely helpful, procedure.

posted 06 December 2000 12:20               

"What? No Perrier?!?"

What, pray tell, did the carbon removal have to do with the VOLTAGE dipping?

PS. Before trying this at home, I suggest interested parties go to the POWER Forum and do a SEARCH on Carbon Removal. If you make an error, i.e. too much fluid too quickly, your engine dies (condition called Hydraulic Lockup.) Read the Forum cautions first.
Better yet, get a few bottles of Techron head/valve/injector cleaner and add it to your tank. Perhaps not as effective, but not likely to freeze your engine.

posted 10 December 2000 19:28               

I believe you have to use a chemical designed as a carbon cleaner in order for this to work completely. I don’t believe Barrymans Chemtool or fuel injector cleaners that are not labeled for use as a carbon cleaner and to be fed through the intake manifold will have the desired effect. Mazda and GM both are reported to have Top Engine Treatment chemicals that are carbon cleaners. One should use only a chemical that is oxygen sensor safe, which Sea Foam is, it is an EPA registered product too. I was told that Sea Foam carbon cleaner Part No. SF16, UPC#: 1881200001 was normally available at Napa, and while I could not find it on the shelf here in Lunchbag VA, they do have other Sea Foam products and I believe I could ask them to get it for me. The can shows an address: “Manufactured for Sea Foam Sales Co. PO Box 5178 Hopkins MN 55343-1178.

It was exceedingly simple, taking well less than 10 minutes.

The operation as performed on all my cars as I observed follows:

• Engine should be fully warmed up.
• Connect a 18" vacuum hose from the port above the throttle normally used for the cruise control.
• Take a jar (normal size mayo or spaghetti sauce jar) filled with water (this would be just under 4 cups)
• One hand holding throttle open so engine remains in the 3 to 4 thousand rpm range.
• Dipping hose in water over and over approximately once a second for about 1/2 (0.5) second or less, less often if engine slows significantly, engine will run rough so use throttle to maintain engine speed until all the water is gone which will take only a couple of minutes more or less.
• Repeat with the 16 oz can of carbon cleaner.

Remain alert and focused and just don’t let the hose stay in the water/fluid for much more than half a second at a time and you should be safe. I did observe my mechanic at times leaving it in for more than half a second but not more than one full second, I don’t think I would leave it quite that long, longer than that and you may feed in too much liquid and result in serious engine damage, so this is a potentially dangerous operation. You know you are feeding in too much fluid if the engine speed drops signifaicanly even though you are trying to maintain it with the throttle. I strongly recommend against leaving the hose in the fluid long enough for the engine to stall as in the link posted by Stu, even the Sea Foam can talks about letting it stall out while running at a high idle. There is no way I would do that to my car and this was not done to any of my cars and I still had excellent results. Starting with water gives it some extra cleaning and is worth doing (carefully).

I dearly whish I had known of this process years ago, there is no question that it has made significant improvements to my cars. I would not hesitate to do this myself to any car. Yes it is a whole lot simpler than it sounds and I will not hesitate do it to myself to my 36 thousand dollar Volvo when I take it out of storage in the early spring. And there after to all my cars about once a year or every 5000 miles.

I have not yet been able to contact the Sea Foam company or find a source for this product in the UK but if you are there I would try Mazda. If I learn more I will post it here.

posted 10 December 2000 20:17               

ChemSpill, are you saying that your friend used nothing on the hose? Just a plain old vacuum hose? I guess he was using the tempo to let the right amount of fluid in.

The B12 did help a little bit in overall feel, but when I pulled my plugs the tops of the pistons were still looking like charcoal.

Where is Lynchburg, VA? Maybe I'll just take a trip out there and have your friend torture my car, too.

posted 10 December 2000 20:35            

quote:

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Originally posted by Chemical Spill:
I was told that Sea Foam carbon cleaner Part No. SF16, UPC#: 1881200001 was normally available at Napa

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I found it yesterday at my local Carquest while I was there for something else. I think B12 would work as well.

I was gonna give the procedure a try today and stated taking pictures, but I got carried away by girlfriend before I could start. Now I'll have to wait for month since I am leaving the country tomorrow.

posted 11 December 2000 00:57            

quote:

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Originally posted by Chemical Spill:
It is also a good idea to take the car out for a rev-fest afterwards.

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posted 11 December 2000 22:45            

I followed Chem's helpful instructions: water first and then Sea Foam, but I let my engine stall with Sea Foam. I thought, heck, if both Madza and Sea Foam tell you that you have to stall it then it should not hurt. The engine is still running so I guess it didn't hurt.

I posted some pictures here
They are still in random order and without captions. I don't have time to arrange them right now. Gotta take another flight. I will do it while in Italy if I get really bored or if someone asks.

Is it running better? Hard to tell. Maybe. I didn't notice a significant difference. Well, apart from the trail of thick white smoke that I left in the neighborhood while I was doing the rev fest.

I changed my oil afterwards. I switched from Dino to Mobil 1. That did make a difference. My engine seems to spin more freely now.

posted 12 December 2000 03:38               

I can say when I had this done to my cars, each time I stood there with a really low expectation of feeling any difference after getting back behind the wheel, all are really low milage, see red line at least once every time I drive them and are meticulously maintained. But each time I could tell immediately a notable increase in power, not huge but you could definitely tell a difference, very much worth the effort.