2000 S70 AWD - Seafoam "Spray" treatment

ryan29121 · Post by **ryan29121** » 23 Aug 2016, 13:17

I have been through tons of forums looking at the seafoam treatment for various Volvo models, which all seem to be slightly different than my model. Most other models mentioned in the forums make mention of the vacuum tree, which mine doesn't have. The other posts all seem to be using the liquid seafoam as well. I heard the "spray" seafoam is a less risky method as you dont have to worry about hydrolocking your engine. The spray method mentions to insert the straw end of the can right before the throttle module. The issue is that the throttle module is bolted below the intake manifold and is not accessible. There is a hose going to it that is accessible from the top. See below for a picture of my engine and where this access is. My question, would the seafoam spray make it through the hose, throttle body, and to the engine from this distance? Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance for your help!

-Ryan

hmsky83 · Post by **hmsky83** » 21 Apr 2020, 18:55

I have the same question, Can we use the black plastic tube going to the throttle body in the picture above... Anybody out there please respond !!!

And OR...

Can we use VELORIDER's original method through the brake booster line, BUT instead of using the old liquid Sea foam we would use the safer new Sea foam which is in a spray can.

Post by **rspi** » 21 Apr 2020, 20:01

I would stay far away from Seafoam. There is a vacuum line on the intake manifold.

hmsky83 · Post by **hmsky83** » 21 Apr 2020, 20:27

Can you please let me know why you would stay away from seafoam...the only reason I'm using it is how difficult it is on this model to get to the throttle body to be able to clean it.

Post by **June** » 21 Apr 2020, 21:22

Because it's unnecessary and not recommended by Volvo. There is a procedure set in VIDA undoubtedly to clean the TB. What makes you sure it needs cleaning? A couple of years back my car's TB was removed (at my insistence) for cleaning by my dealer around 150K. My mechanic showed it to me and it was remarkably clean. If your car is having trouble due to poor maintenance, Seafoam is not likely to miraculously give long term results and may even cause harm.

Fix the problem, use high quality fuel, use Genuine Volvo parts, keep clean oil in the engine, and floor the accelerator regularly. That has kept my now 16yo 197K S80 T6 running perfectly. Just my 2 cents, June

hmsky83 · Post by **hmsky83** » 21 Apr 2020, 21:31

June wrote: ↑21 Apr 2020, 21:22 Because it's unnecessary and not recommended by Volvo. There is a procedure set in VIDA undoubtedly to clean the TB. What makes you sure it needs cleaning? A couple of years back my car's TB was removed (at my insistence) for cleaning by my dealer around 150K. My mechanic showed it to me and it was remarkably clean. If your car is having trouble due to poor maintenance, Seafoam is not likely to miraculously give long term results and may even cause harm.

Fix the problem, use high quality fuel, use Genuine Volvo parts, keep clean oil in the engine, and floor the accelerator regularly. That has kept my now 16yo 197K S80 T6 running perfectly. Just my 2 cents, June

Thanks for the reply....I have 2 Volvo's S60s but this 2nd one I just bought last month and so I'm not really sure because like I said it's the Turbo model and the throttle body is very hard to get to.

On my other NON Turbo Volvo S60 it's easy to get to and I removed it and when I cleaned it and the MAF the results were unbelievable. It idled much smoother and I noticed a huge improvement in performance as before the car would struggle going up hill ( live in Seattle area). The throttle body was all black carbon especially on the inner side.

So after seeing this I have a feeling that since it's hard to get to nobody previously had done it

Post by **June** » 21 Apr 2020, 21:48

If you noticed better performance, than it had to be the MAF. It made no difference on my S80 for the TB to be cleaned, but my MAF had a intermittent problem around 190K and once replaced my car was back to normal. It had a intermittent sluggish feeling on take off and my gas mileage went down the toilet. It only had the trouble a couple of weeks. The MAF was factory and never cleaned. I was told they were self cleaning. Also all of my 02 sensors, coils, and injection system are still factory.

If your new car is running correctly and getting correct mileage, leave well enough alone I'd say. Definitely keep the oil and all filters clean and use a quality Premium fuel like Shell. My S80 has 93 Shell most of the time. When she was new she ran Shell 95 octane super Premium.

My S80 has twin turbo chargers and my mechanic had the TB removed, shown to me, cleaned, and reinstalled. Then through the wash, back to me within a hour. So there must be a secret to taking the TB off turbo models. It is buried upside down, out of sight on my car. June

Post by **rspi** » 22 Apr 2020, 08:54

hmsky83 wrote: ↑21 Apr 2020, 20:27 Can you please let me know why you would stay away from seafoam...the only reason I'm using it is how difficult it is on this model to get to the throttle body to be able to clean it.

Seafoam is NOT a throttle body cleaner. Besides that, it is known to be an aggressive combustion chamber cleaner. I have personally had a few calls with people asking me what they should do now that they have Seafoamed their Volvo's and now they are consuming oil like crazy. My thoughts are that it finished off their valve steam seals.

I don't recommend it unless you have all fresh seals and you are tying to remove carbon somewhere in the head.

hmsky83 · Post by **hmsky83** » 22 Apr 2020, 09:10

rspi wrote: ↑22 Apr 2020, 08:54
hmsky83 wrote: ↑21 Apr 2020, 20:27 Can you please let me know why you would stay away from seafoam...the only reason I'm using it is how difficult it is on this model to get to the throttle body to be able to clean it.
Seafoam is NOT a throttle body cleaner. Besides that, it is known to be an aggressive combustion chamber cleaner. I have personally had a few calls with people asking me what they should do now that they have Seafoamed their Volvo's and now they are consuming oil like crazy. My thoughts are that it finished off their valve steam seals.

I don't recommend it unless you have all fresh seals and you are tying to remove carbon somewhere in the head.

Ok so do you recommend the original Seafoam, in the gas tank and in the oil ? I guess I'll skip intake part all together. Thanks for your advice.

Sommerfeldt · Post by **Sommerfeldt** » 23 Apr 2020, 05:02

There's a lot of very rigid opinions going on here, without much sources in sight.
Seafoam might be kind of aggressive, as rspi says, but it shouldn't really be aggressive against anything but carbon, especially when it comes to things already inside an engine, already made to deal with oil, gas, heat and pressure.

Seafoam is basically naphta, kerosene and alcohol, and you can quite easily make an approximation at home, if you wanted to... In the time it's in the engine, it shouldn't have time to do damage before being replaced by other things again. That said, there's a lot of opinions, a lot of claimed success and a lot of claimed failure. You'll have to decide if you want to try it or not for yourself, I think - there's not a lot of unbiased, scientific evidence about it on the internet.

Now, if you want to clean your throttle body and intake, you'll have better results and reward from simply taking things off and cleaning with appropriate cleaners and methods. The TB can be a bit touchy about chemicals. Removing the intake and TB isn't really a daunting job once you get into it, or have done a couple of PCV replacements, but you need patience, extenders and gaskets. None of those are expensive, though for me, the first one is usually hard to come by. Had to save up for a while.

As for performance, I'd expect better response (my 850 reacted well to a clean TB), and if your MAF is going, you'll have other symptoms than, or in addition to, sluggishness, contrary to what June says.

- S