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I had a sticking lifter sound fairly frequently and added seafoam to my gas and motor then changed the oil and have added more to the oil. Haven't heard it yet. I am very surprised as I have tried numerous snake oils in the past with no luck. I also was lucky with my trans. I added seafoam trans and ran it a while. I changed the fluid and filter adding two bottles of Lucas trans fix. Most of my trans troubles went away. You gotta love that but how many here have had luck with "snake oils"

Seafoam is one of the very few things that works well for thus kind of issue. Just be sure if you added more to the oil not to run it for more than a few hundred miles. The sea foam can break down the oil and affect how well it will lubricate things. I usually run some through a tank of gas once every 4 to 6 months, and added it to my oil for lifter noise as well.

Yeah, seafoam and some Lucas products actually work pretty well. But Joseph makes a good point, add the seafoam to the oil a couple hundred miles before changing it.

You should have added it to the old oil, lol. It's like using a penetrant on a rusty bolt, it's thinner than the oil, breaks down the crud, finds the passages and allows the oil to get in and do its job again.

Hey Thanks. The feedback is very helpful. Although the can said add it to the case before and/or after a change. If after, the can said leave it in and change the oil when its dirty. You know better? Also they suggest feeding it directly into the manifold using one of the vac lines (cheapy tune up).

I have always used Marvel Mystery Oil as a gasoline additive for my MF-135 tractor and all of my 4stroke small engines, it seems to be a pretty good top cylinder lubricant and keeps the valves looking pretty good. Never tried it in the crankcase, but I've used Dexron ATF once or twice for lifter problems. All the youtube vids I've seen about Seafoam have seemed interesting.

The reason you don't want it in your fresh oil is because now there is crud floating around everywhere, through the bearings and stuff.

I'm not saying it'll kill your motor, but I do believe there have been cases when severely dirty motors led to damage from Seafoam used in such a way.

nos4blood70 wrote:...The reason you don't want it in your fresh oil is because now there is crud floating around everywhere, through the bearings and stuff.

well that certainly sounds right. the oil change w/ filter and seafoam was $30. My Linda is very aware of how much this car costs. She goes for breakfast, I go to Oreilly's. So another $30 right now would disappoint her. Never the less it appears I need to do it again. Is there something more I can do to make another change more helpful?

With these cars, there's nothing to really worry about. Just put whatever oil you want in there. I run Rotella T6 synthetic so I can change my oil in longer intervals. I usually go about 6-7k between changes.

Either way, synthetic or regular, you won't notice a difference. Just keep up on routine changes. If anything don't cheap out on the filter. That's way more important.

I know of no motor oil currently sold for modern automobiles that doesn't far exceed the requirements of any Bonneville needs. Oil has improved greatly since 2005, and especially since 1992 (my old "semi-retired" SSE). If you use DexosI oil and your engine is in good shape, you could run it 7,500 miles easily under normal driving conditions. - BC

Yep, any decent oil will work great for you. I honestly run dino oil in the Buick and run 5000 miles between changes. It still comes out looking like honey now, even at 135k. I'm sure I could squeeze more miles out of it if I switched to a better quality, but with as healthy as the motor is it's not worth it to me to pay the extra money when I barely drive the car anymore

It just kinda makes me pissed I didn't ask before. $22 and a better filter. Not so bad as I wanted High mileage castrol but bought GTX.

2002 SLE
104k
Good Weather Cruiser

At my last oil change, I used Valvoline Max Life Synthetic Blend Oil. I have been using Conventional Valvoline Oil in my cars for years. I decided to give the Synthetic Blend a try because it was the same price ($16.17) for the 5 qt. container as the Conventional Oil at the local WalMart.

My 2002 sle has no engine problems, it sounds like a healthy 3.8 engine. But with the Synthetic Blend Valvoline Oil it runs quieter and smoother, the difference is noticable and immediate. I am using this oil in all my cars now.

When I run this oil between my fingers, it feels very different than the Conventional Oil, there is less friction between my fingers.

If you have a sticky lifter, I would give this oil a try.

I also have used Valvoline Max Life ATF in the Bonny. I syphoned out 6.5 qts of ATF and put in the Max Life ATF. I have put on 500 miles since this change. This is the smoothest the Bonny tranny has run since I purchased the car. I previously used Dex III and Lucas and this improved the tranny, but the Max Life ATF is better in my car.

Good Luck,

Steven

I need a little bump here. I have put about 500 mi on the oil in the car that I added seafoam to after an oil change. I bought more oil and another filter today ($26) to do the change as suggested above. I am asking, just in case, will changing the oil with the seafoam in it actually do me any good?

Changed the oil. The old stuff was dirtier than it should have been after 500 miles. Thanks for being clear about this.

I guess I'll just throw my $0.02 in here but why does everyone pay so much for your fluids?

We have a local farm and fleet. Oil can be had for $2.29/$1.89 on sale and Purolator filters are $2. So I never pay more than $10-$12 for an oil change.

Penzoil trans fluid can be had for $3.49/quart. $2.49 for the farm and fleet house brand. In the hundreds of thousands of miles we've run these. We've yet to have an issue.


I'm glad to hear the seafoam worked for ya. Ive been kinda cautious not to put it in my brothers camaro considering the high mileage but it has a lifter noise as well that needs to be taken care of. I guess it'd be worth a try.

at any rate I still haven't heard the lifter tick since I put it in the first time. So thanks for that.

I hate to use this expression but when I was a kid oil was less than a buck a qt. Now it's 400 to 500 percent more per qt. Guess I shoulda stayed on the farm

I try not to run the cheapest oil possible because I tend to easily go 6k+ plus on a change, but I like my Rotella, and it's very cheap at Walmart.

I gotta a good battery out of walmart.
They just keep replacing it whenever I killed one.