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I used Seafoam, but I have problems now... Forums > > I used Seafoam, but I have problems now... I used Seafoam, but I have problems now...
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Frontier Nissan Frontier/HB/Truck Discussion Forum

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  #1  
Old 03-08-2010, 01:18 PM
sp1000 sp1000 is offline
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2002 Frontier King Cab
2002 Frontier King Cab
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Mary Esther, Florida
Posts: 16
Default I used Seafoam, but I have problems now...

Yesterday I used Seafoam to clean the intake manifold by having the engine suck it from the brake booster hose. I only used 4 ounces and very slowly as stated on the product.
The truck now, after the engine is fully warm, has vibration/stumble/ miss between 1200-2000 RPM. It also stalls completely after a few secons of idling. What did I do wrong?
Val Baone
02 KC auto 2.4 Cyl.
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  #2  
Old 03-08-2010, 02:42 PM
xterramexico05 xterramexico05 is offline
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2005 Xterra
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 327
Default sea foam...

sounds strange.... maybe you need to find the idle learning procedure for your model... it deals with turning key to the on position and pressing gas etc... it might take you a couple of times.. you spark plugs might have gotten fouled.
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  #3  
Old 03-08-2010, 04:13 PM
sp1000 sp1000 is offline
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Location: Mary Esther, Florida
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It stalled again in traffic on the way home today andagain when I got home. I then scanned the computer, and it gave code 0172 system too rich (bank 1).
I was given the advice to drive it in second and third to keep the Rpm up as much as possible in order to clear the carbon that the Seafoam may have broken up; I did and still no improvement. I did notice, however, that even at higher RPM the motor was trying to cut out as well. I am also thinking that the plugs may have been fouled.
Thanks and I appreciate any other ideas about it.
Val Barone
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  #4  
Old 03-08-2010, 08:20 PM
Schrade Schrade is offline
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2002 Frontier
 
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Seafoam?

Next time, try the REAL stuff:



Do the factory diagnostic procedure for the code that you're getting. Get it from a local mechanic, and pay him if you have to to print it out from his computer.
__________________
Traded my '94 vette for an '02 Frontier. What's wrong with me? What's right with me???

Last edited by Schrade; 03-08-2010 at 08:23 PM.
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  #5  
Old 03-09-2010, 10:47 PM
xterramexico05 xterramexico05 is offline
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i found this procedure for 2002 nissans..
1) Drive the car to "warm up" temperature. Make sure your idle is close to 700 rpm.
2) Ensure any battery draining devices are off. Ie. headlights, interior dome lights, HVAC, stereo.
3) Turn the car ignition key to "OFF"
4) Wait ten seconds
5) Turn the key to "ON" (not start)
6) Wait three seconds.
7) Perform the following five times in five seconds or less. Fully press the gas pedal and release.
8) Wait seven seconds from last of the five releases.
9) Fully press the gas pedal and hold down. Within ten seconds the "Service Engine Soon" light should begin to blink.
10) Wait another ten seconds (while still holding the gas pedal) and the "Service Engine Soon" light should stop blinking.
11) As soon as it stops blinking, release the pedal, start the car and check the idle (should still be around 700 rpm)
12) Let the car idle at 700 rpm or so for about 25 seconds, rev the engine a few times and then let it return to idle.
13) Shut the car down.


sea foam is not snake oil... it cleans the carbon deposits on your engine...
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  #6  
Old 03-10-2010, 09:48 AM
sp1000 sp1000 is offline
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2002 Frontier King Cab
2002 Frontier King Cab
 
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Location: Mary Esther, Florida
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xterramexico05 View Post
i found this procedure for 2002 nissans..
1) Drive the car to "warm up" temperature. Make sure your idle is close to 700 rpm.
2) Ensure any battery draining devices are off. Ie. headlights, interior dome lights, HVAC, stereo.
3) Turn the car ignition key to "OFF"
4) Wait ten seconds
5) Turn the key to "ON" (not start)
6) Wait three seconds.
7) Perform the following five times in five seconds or less. Fully press the gas pedal and release.
8) Wait seven seconds from last of the five releases.
9) Fully press the gas pedal and hold down. Within ten seconds the "Service Engine Soon" light should begin to blink.
10) Wait another ten seconds (while still holding the gas pedal) and the "Service Engine Soon" light should stop blinking.
11) As soon as it stops blinking, release the pedal, start the car and check the idle (should still be around 700 rpm)
12) Let the car idle at 700 rpm or so for about 25 seconds, rev the engine a few times and then let it return to idle.
13) Shut the car down.


sea foam is not snake oil... it cleans the carbon deposits on your engine...
Well, I read that Seafoam use may have fouled the plugs, as stated above; so I replaced them last night. Engine ran well immediately while cold, but after a test drive around the block, it stalled again in the driveway. During the test drive, I kept it running in 1st gear, but I could tell that it wanted to die around 3-4000 RPM. So I thought it might need a fuel filter. I changed it, and again, it improved, but still stalling without warning.
This morning I attempted to go to work with it, but after 7 miles it stalled again, right next to a auto service shop. I turned it in to them, and after a couple of hours they called me back with the verdict: It has a bad MAF sensor; they would order it and finish the work in a couple of days, for the princely sum of $672, parts and labor!
I hope they troubleshot it right. I did not want to take it to Nissan for fear of really getting raped for this job. The shop says that Nissan would have changed the entire throttle body along with the sensor for a much bigger tab, while they can get just the sensor and fix it much cheaper.
Any feedback from you master mechanics is welcome, and thanks for your tips, so far.
Val Barone
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  #7  
Old 03-12-2010, 05:57 PM
Schrade Schrade is offline
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2002 Frontier
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 186
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by xterramexico05 View Post

sea foam is not snake oil... it cleans the carbon deposits on your engine...

Seafoam, snake oil, same thing. It gets reduced to carbon when it burns. It's full of wax and oil, and some other complex hydrocarbons.

Don't believe it? Pour some out, and light it. Watch the black smoke. And the EPA blue lights. Now pour out some gas, and light it. NO black smoke.

There ain't no 'Magic in a can'.
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  #8  
Old 03-13-2010, 03:38 AM
sp1000 sp1000 is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Mary Esther, Florida
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Although my use of the Seafoam probably had nothing to do with the MAF sensor going bad, I still wish I never used it. My truck has now been in the shop since Wednesday waiting for a new throttle body. Apparently, the MAF sensor alone is not available. I am definitely never going to use anything to clean the inside of the engine from now on, and the remainder of this stuff I will use it to clean parts in a bucket.

Val Barone
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  #9  
Old 03-20-2010, 04:51 AM
sp1000 sp1000 is offline
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Well, after a couple of days' wait and $715 later, the new throttle body with attached MAF sensor went back in. The shop cleaned the EGR manifold ports while the throttle body was off, and now the engine runs perfect. Also, no more EGR code P0402.
This was a VERY costly repair for a 4-cyl base-model work truck with only 72,000 miles on it, in my opinion, and I hope and pray that there won't be more of these kinds of repairs needed.
The shop admitted that it was not easy to diagnose with the general test equipment they had/vs the actual Nissan machines; and from what I can tell by searching the threads, the MAF sensor has either never gone bad unexpectedly on other people's 4-banger Frontiers, or they are not reporting it.
Keeping my fingers crossed, now,

Val Barone
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  #10  
Old 03-20-2010, 11:02 AM
CHALLENGER
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Seafoam is good when used as a fuel stabilizer,have never used it as a cleaner.I use (four power)manufactured by conklin.Just pour it in a full tank of fuel every 3000 miles.Have used it for over ten years in 6 or 7 vehicles and motorcycle.Haven't had any problems and have not needed to replace any fuel filters.Reguardles,none of these cleaners will clean a carboned EGR valve without pulling the valve and cleaning it.
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  #11  
Old 04-01-2010, 07:08 PM
Schrade Schrade is offline
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2002 Frontier
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 186
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CHALLENGER View Post
Seafoam is good when used as a fuel stabilizer,have never used it as a cleaner.I use (four power)manufactured by conklin.Just pour it in a full tank of fuel every 3000 miles.Have used it for over ten years in 6 or 7 vehicles and motorcycle.Haven't had any problems and have not needed to replace any fuel filters.Reguardles,none of these cleaners will clean a carboned EGR valve without pulling the valve and cleaning it.
If I knew no better, then I would guess from this post that Seafoam dissolves stuff that would NORMALLY get caught by filters. Stuff that normally shouldn't go through the lines, or the injectors, or the cylinders, or the cats, which DO filter hydrocarbons.

Seafoam ain't gonna' dissolve grit or rocks. It WILL solve organic stuff, which is like EXTRA hydrocarbons. And they're gonna' stop at the cat. $$$. Seafoam ITSELF is EXTRA hydrocarbons, and guess where they stop too CAT $$$.

Quote:
Well, I read that Seafoam use may have fouled the plugs, as stated above; so I replaced them last night.
Oops. Just clean them with a toothbrush and gasoline.

Quote:
Engine ran well immediately while cold
Every engine, even with MAJOR problems, runs fine cold, Open Loop, and fuel injectors in MAX pulsewidth. That's why you HAVE TO tell the shop to have the car running and warm when you pick it up from repairs.

Did you keep the throttle body and MAF? You can sell them on eBay since nothing was wrong with them nope trust me give you a quarter for 'em PayPal?
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  #12  
Old 04-01-2010, 07:42 PM
CHALLENGER
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If that is what you got from my post then you need to read it again ,I stated that I had never used it for a cleaner and if I was getting rocks in my fuel I would quit buying fuel there.
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  #13  
Old 04-02-2010, 03:27 AM
sp1000 sp1000 is offline
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2002 Frontier King Cab
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Mary Esther, Florida
Posts: 16
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After a week in the shop (Tuffy auto service Center) the throttle body was replaced. I asked for and and received the old one in return. The engine runs ok, but the idle speed is slightly higher in P or N, and there is a stumble/hesitation/surge around 1200-1500 Rpm, depending on whether I accelerate or decelerate. I removed the air cleaner housing to check for a vacuum leak from an accidentally disconnected hose, and to my horror and disgust this is what I found: the throttle body is used!!
I paid $ 715 for this job, expecting a NEW part.
I am getting back to them next week to rectify the situation. To their credit, however, they cleaned the EGR ports/tube and fixed the P0402 code "free of charge", they claimed.
Stay tuned for further developments.....

Val in FL
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  #14  
Old 04-04-2010, 11:14 AM
Waitingtundra Waitingtundra is offline
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2003 frontier kingcb xe
 
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Location: se louisiana
Age: 66
Posts: 38
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xterramexico05 View Post
i found this procedure for 2002 nissans..
1) Drive the car to "warm up" temperature. Make sure your idle is close to 700 rpm.
2) Ensure any battery draining devices are off. Ie. headlights, interior dome lights, HVAC, stereo.
3) Turn the car ignition key to "OFF"
4) Wait ten seconds
5) Turn the key to "ON" (not start)
6) Wait three seconds.
7) Perform the following five times in five seconds or less. Fully press the gas pedal and release.
8) Wait seven seconds from last of the five releases.
9) Fully press the gas pedal and hold down. Within ten seconds the "Service Engine Soon" light should begin to blink.
10) Wait another ten seconds (while still holding the gas pedal) and the "Service Engine Soon" light should stop blinking.
11) As soon as it stops blinking, release the pedal, start the car and check the idle (should still be around 700 rpm)
12) Let the car idle at 700 rpm or so for about 25 seconds, rev the engine a few times and then let it return to idle.
13) Shut the car down.


sea foam is not snake oil... it cleans the carbon deposits on your engine...
byyackie manakie panokie! YEA RIGHT
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  #15  
Old 04-04-2010, 12:47 PM
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youngbull youngbull is offline
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2002 Frontier Crew Cab
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 4
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dirty egr may have been the cause from the cleaner dislodging some pieces that plugged it
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