Finally Got Some SeaFoam Through the FPR Hose

A week or so ago, I got some SeaFoam Motor Treatment because my gas pedal has been sticking a bit and causing resistance when you first step on it. The result is jack-rabbit starts and very poor acceleration control after stopping. I was reading that maybe the problem might be build-up on the butterfly valve in the throttle body. Then I read some forums (both HondaCivicForum.com and CivicForums.com) that talked about SeaFoam. So instead of taking things apart to get in the throttle body, I figured I would try to use SeaFoam to clean things out. As instructed, I took a 1/3 of a pint and put it in the crankcase where you usually put engine oil in and then I put 1/3 of a pint of SeaFoam and put it in the gas tank. Later that day, I filled up the gas tank because I think that's what you're supposed to do after using SeaFoam and then a week later I had my normal oil service. Most of the posts I have seen recommend using SeaFoam right before an oil change so that the gunk is loosened up and then later drained when you get an oil service. Right after putting SeaFoam in, the sticking gas pedal got noticeably smoother, but it was still there. However, the last 1/3 of the bottle is supposed to be sucked up by one of the vacuum hoses that go into the intake manifold.








Last week, I had two unsuccessful attempts to disconnect the hose going from the fuel pressure regulator (fpr) to the intake manifold, because I was afraid of breaking the hose or not being able to get it back on. After making a post on HCF, a helpful response told me not to worry about breaking the hose since replacing it is cheap and you can get a silicone hose replacement to make it easier. So today I made a third try to disconnect the hose on the FPR. A screwdriver wasn't much help, but I did use some pliers to squeeze the hose, where there is no metal piece inside, and loosen it up a little bit. After pulling with a LOT of force, the hose finally came loose.

The car was already warm from running errands, so I re-started her to get the intake running and the suction in the hose going. Since I have heard that you should use a little bit of SeaFoam at a time when using a vacuum tube, I only poured out about an ounce or two into a plastic water bottle with most of the top cut-off. I guess if too much SeaFoam is used bigger chunks of gunk can break off and get stuck in the engine somewhere. Following the recommendations I've read, I kept the hose on the surface of the liquid in the cut-up water bottle and sucked it up a little bit at a time. During this time the idle was getting a little nutty and the engine started shaking badly. Apparently if you give the car more gas this helps the problem, but I didn't have anyone helping me so I just ignored the shaking. After all the liquid was sucked up, I turned off the engine and waited for about 10 minutes. I re-connected the hose and went for a drive. Surprisingly the Civic didn't smoke at all, but I wasn't really revving the engine much. I was expecting it from the burning of the carbon build-up. Either there isn't much carbon build-up or the amount of SeaFoam was too minute to make a difference. I'll have to try to repeat the procedure with the rest of the bottle and see how that goes. My first impression of driving around was that the throttle was a little bit smoother but not that much. Maybe I'll have to dump more in until I get more results. If the gas pedal resistance doesn't go away, I'll have to try spraying some silicone lubricant on the gas pedal inside the car, since that is easy to do. Then I might have to try out the throttle body cleaning that I've been avoiding.