that_tg

I am looking to run a can of seafoam in the intake to clean any buildup it can find. The 07 being very new to me I do not want to goof it up. Please help with a picture if you can. Thanks!


Will follow this up with a new set of plugs. After looking around I went with the NGK Laser Platinum plugs.

2k6blacka8

There should be a vacuum hose running from the brake booster to the rear of the intake. Make sure you disconnect it on the brake booster side that way the engines vacuum can suck it in.

s4master1

You realize how big is the diameter on that vacuum hose for the booster?
if you use that to suck fluid while the engine is running you can hydrolock the engine and destroy it.
Seafoam is the stupidest idea to clean the carbon on a FSI engine anyway, but if you must do it find the smallest diameter hose in the intake.

2k6blacka8

I've done it a few times and I suck in a little bit at a time from the plastic cap of a brake cleaner can so I won't hydrolock it. I only fill the cap up half way and never had any problems. I've never done it on a 4.2 but you're probably right that an FSI engine is not a good idea. That's the only way I know how to do it.

bmwm750

This is a horrible idea on so many levels.......

If you want to clean the intake on an FSI motor, get yourself a walnut bead blasting apparatus and pull the manifold.

that_tg

Why is it so bad on a 4.2 FSI and not some other motor?

bmwm750

On anything but an old American motor it's a horrible idea.....

I'd go as far as saying on even an old American motor, anything that has a cat in the exhaust stream makes this a bad idea....

MP4.2+6.0

It's like a different world, but the Seafoam responses always seem come out the same here. Come up perhaps every 6 to 12 months. Meanwhile, over on the Gen 2 Mini S boards with the Prince direct injection motors and fouling issues that rival more the Audi 3.2 abandoned motor instead of the FSI 4.2, Seafoam seems to be the constantly recommended fix of choice by the DIY'ers. Of course Prince motors are Euro iron, not Detroit. Maybe it's a lesser car thing? Highly strung and fun, though not reliability winners. No mentions of the cats or O2 sensors on Minis w/ Seafoam, though I can see why you don't want the stuff anywhere near the MAF. Meanwhile, since my A6 4.2 has probably eaten literally dozens of quarts of oil with its damaged cylinder in the last several years and the 02 sensors and cats still report fine, I'm not convinced about a pint of an oily liquid is going to cause a calamity there.

Having done it myself on the Mini where it develops a loud noise that sounds like the lifters are about to blow out of the motor, it works on that motor, and immediately. The hardest part there is indeed finding a place to feed it in. I tend to use their straw device that comes with the can and clamp it into one of the big intake hoses very close in to the head and well past the turbo. On the 4.2 that would equate to something close to the throttle body and again well away from the MAF. You have to be careful though not to clamp it so tight it pinches the little plastic tube, plus the motor has to rev enough that the Seafoam doesn't puddle in the intake area. If it does, it will still work its way out on the first drive down the street from my Mini experience.