Today was a good day to drive.

"NKato" (NKato)
03/31/2018 at 17:05 • Filed to: Killer Queen, Crown Victoria, It is a good day to drive!

So I took the time on Friday to take apart the throttle body and cleaned it off. No photos of that, but it’s super shine now. I also removed the old, busted rubber boot on the alternator and put on a new one. The old one was chewed to hell because of rodents.

Today, I got to work on getting the Seafoam treatment done on Killer Queen. Since I’m running full synthetic oil, I don’t really need to use the additive in the crankcase. Instead, it’ll be for the engine intake and the gas tank.

So I put them in, and went for a nice long drive around King and Snohomish County, with Stew’s Self Service Garage as my first stop to scout the place out. Went onto Highway 2 westbound from Monroe to Everett. Much of the westbound road was good.

And I got to pass like...20 cars all at once via the left lane. That felt great .

My car has noticeably improved in terms of smoothness, which is also awesome. I’d say Seafoam is worth the time, as part of a maintenance regimen - what some people don’t realize is that Seafoam is not a silver bullet for any car woes.

I also checked my ECM’s loaded VIN on a whim using DashCommand, and found the VIN that belonged to Killer Queen’s donor. Nice.

DISCUSSION (7)

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > NKato
03/31/2018 at 19:47

I have considered the seafoam treatment. From what I understand it isn’t something you want to do on a regular basis. I know you mentioned it being a part of a maintenance regimen, but if you do that, just know that your catalytic converter might not enjoy it (amoungst other things).

NKato > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/
03/31/2018 at 20:26

I’m aware. That’s why I don’t plan on doing it more than once a year. Beyond that, just do your regular synthetic oil changes, and clean out the throttle body of carbon buildup, among other usual maintenance things.

It also bears noting that after I did the intake treatment with Seafoam, my car’s CEL came on with error codes for the O2 sensors, “stuck rich” was the classification, meaning it thinks the engine is running rich.

Which is perfectly normal for Seafoam, since it’s a fuel additive that’s meant to clean the engine.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > NKato
03/31/2018 at 21:20

You definitely feel like it worked for you? I have some slight hesitation on acceleration and believe that maybe due to carbon buildup

NKato > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/
03/31/2018 at 22:30

It can help with minor issues like hesitation, yes. Since my car was already in good condition to begin with, the improvements were negligible. I’m more concerned with getting my ECM reprogrammed so my car performs as it should, since it’s using an ECM from a different car of the same model and make.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > NKato
03/31/2018 at 23:00

Oh hmm you think that will trick the ecm into working things out on its own?

NKato > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/
03/31/2018 at 23:30

nah, the ECM is fine. It’s just slightly different from the ECM I had originally. Both ECMs are for the same type of car, just with different options enabled. I’ll deal with it at a dealership service shop eventually.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > NKato
03/31/2018 at 23:34

Oh that was unrelated lol. Got ya.