BareBonesXL

Maybe you didn't finish the Seafoam "treatment". The smoke is the evil being exorcised from the engine.

You do see the irony though, right? Bar's Head Seal is an additive, isn't it?

BareBonesXL

Here's your Bar's Head Seal counterpart - https://bar.pissedconsumer.com/review.html

Eduskator

Are you sure you didn't pour the motor treatment into your intake instead of the top engine spray?

I have used seafoam in the past and always had good results. Perhaps your engine parts were holding with tie-wraps or something...and as soon as the engine ran rough, everything broke lol.

jag1886

I use SeaFoam in my fuel for storage in the winter which is the only thing it was designed for back in the 50's.

chimmike

It's a petroleum product. How does it get lightly injected into the running motor and result in headgasket failure? (milky oil=headgasket failure)
it should simply burn off and cause a metric ****ton of smoke in the process.

Somethin tells me ol' boy's engine wasn't actually in tip top shape. I have no explanation for how seafoam injection could cause headgasket failure. Makes no sense whatsoever.

moparado

I'd say its remotely possible if the Seafoam was 'dumped/poured' in the throttle body basically all at once causing a condition similar to hydro lock ... especially if the head gasket was about ready to blow anyhow.

Yeah i agree, there's a lot more to the OPer's story than just Seafoam.

duck9191

Kind of my thought, enough got into the cylinder to raise compression a good bit and caused a weak head gasket to fail. I guess the other issues could be failed gaskets that were sealed with carbon/muck that didn't leak until it cleaned them. Just because it ran "good" before doesn't mean it was in any kind of fit mechanical shape, he was just lucky.

gopherman

Yeah, back in the day with carburetors, using SeaFoam definitely helped get the gunk out. Putting this stuff in any appreciable quantity through your throttle body without it being regulated = BAD. Hydrolock is a real concern with this stuff...and if you were lucky to not have it hydrolock, you most likely had one hell of a knock. Those are enough to take out gaskets, bend valves, etc (especially if you did this while it was running with an unrestricted intake). I'm guessing the misfiring that occurred afterward along with the raw gasoline being dumped through your exhaust is what did your cats in.

It really does suck this happened though...sorry to hear it man! Next time around though, don't use these "miracle treatments" because there's almost always a downside. When I was 16, I had a Pontiac Grand AM with the 3.1. I was a poor high school kid and I had a bad intake leak....so I bought a cooling system stop leak. Worst mistake I ever made...the stuff clogged the coolant passages in the head and it eventually cracked. From that point forward, I never used additives at all... for anything.

BadFish523

Alright people I have cleaned up a bunch of this thread. Some off topic and some going down the unfriendly road. We're all here to help, lets keep it that way. Agree or disagree with the OP is fine as long as it's facts and not just throwing semi insulting remarks at one another. Both sides of this argument need to keep it friendly while still debating the topic. Thanks.

duck9191

I hope consula didn't use seafoam to clean, might blow up a few innocent engines.... lol

There is a chance with any solvent that it could cause more issues by doing its job. That and the fact a lot of people can't be bothered to read directions can lead to damage too. It happens, it's not a miracle products but it does work for some situations/issues.