Seafoam or Not

[tdoster]

Removed the rocker cover on an 80's vintage Westerbeke to find a bit of sludge and what looks like carbon or corrosion flakes. The engine has suffered from absolute lack of use, having 600 total hours in 29 years and less than 100 of those in the past 10 years.

I spoke with an old guy a number of years ago who swore by the following procedure to de-sludge an old diesel. We have replaced the tanks, so we have good clean diesel. The engine itself, starts right up, does not smoke, and runs well, but does run a little rough at idle (hunts under 750 RPM):

Fill the fuel filter with seafoam as well as adding a bottle to the crankcase, then running for 30 minutes at temp, draining and changing the oil, repeat, then run hard for a couple of hours after the 2nd oil change to burn the rest out. He promised it would de-carbon and de-sludge the engine every time and be far better for the engine then leaving the sludge.

I have never been a fan of additives and feel most of them are a waste of money with the exception of fuel stabilizers and algaecides. Any comment?

[robert sailor]

Not sure about putting that stuff right inside my engine but I can tell you we use it on motorcycles as an excellent carb cleaner and stabilizer over the winter.

[Lake-Effect]

I am a fan of Seafoam for perking up gas engines.

The concern i would have with dumping alot of anything into the crankcase is reducing the lubricity of the oil and having increased wear or damage. In your shoes i would also seek more info from diesel experts before doing that.

[edit] Here's Seafoam's advice for adding to the crankase

But a little in the fuel line is ok to clean up the fuel path and injectors, which might smooth out the idle.