..has anyone ever tried pure ATF fluid??

I have some lineman's pliers than constantly get wet (I work in the rain), so the hing always has some rust in it.

I was using them the other day to cut off some rusted transmission lines (lineman pliers have an awesome cutting blade on them), and I got some ATF fluid on the pliers.

I wiped them off and put them in my tool pouch; I didn't use them for a couple of days.

A day or two later, I grabbed them and noticed all the rust had seeped out of the joint.. and they smell of ATF fluid..

I'm wondering if the acetone helps the mixture or not.

 

Acetone may help thin it out some.

I don't know that it accelerates the oil, however.

A lot of thin oils are good on pliers. I use Tri-Flo, and sometimes Singer, and even 3-in-One.

Pop

 

Two points about penetrants.

One is TIME. I see some guys waiting a week for their juice to work and others are going for instant gratification. I've done both, especially working as a flat rate mechanic. The more time they have to work the more effective they are.

Two is IMPACT. Using a small hammer after applying the penetrant and subjecting the frozen fastener to repeated raps from various directions helps greatly in getting the oil to penetrate. Same can be done with an impact wrench with the pressure turned down.

My favorite penetrant has always been Liquid Wrench. I have used it on large and small fasteners and closely fit parts that are rusted together with great results, given enough time for it to work. I have tried all the commercial penetrants mentioned here plus LPS which is my second choice. I have yet to try the home brew.

I have also used Liquid Wrench (in quantity) to free up motors declared "hopelessly frozen up."

 

I use the ATF/acetone homebrew. I use a spray bottle with great success. I have heard the candle trick works every time but i haven't tried it. You are supposed to heat the rusty nut with a torch (I guess propane would work) and then touch a candle to the threads and allow some wax to wick down into the threads. Allow to cool and remove easily. The trick to this would be to apply the heat at the end farthest away from where you are applying the wax so it will travel toward the heat and saturate the threads.

 

try putting some wd40 in the atf- acetone mix, it really works well. you can buy wd 40 in a non aerosol form around here.

 

For me a torch is the quickest and work best. Candle wax works good also. Sometimes 2 or 3 heat cycles are required. There is also some stuff made by Loctite called freeze and release. Works great for things you can't heat. I used it on trans lines that were rusted into a plastic radiator, after 3 attempts and about 20 minutes it loosed up. Strange though the penetrating oil thats in it smells like Ben-Gay.

 

Oil of wintergreen has been use for many years as a penetrant. Thats probably what you smell Phinxter.

 

I have used liquid wrench, and it works great but it leaves a white residue that never seems to go away. I have always heard that ATF is bad for paint, so does this stuff work on painted stuff like a squeeky cardoor?

 

I dunno but whenever I use it somebody in the shop comments on the strange smell. It's made in Germany whatever it is.

 

I have always used WD as a front line penetrant though it does take 2-3 applications and a few days of sitting on badly rusted stuff. However, I found that deep creep is an ace in the hole for bad rust. It dont do much for lubrication but seems to loosen the rust significantly. The best thing ever is soaking it in a gas oil mix. Though it usualy takes a week or so.

Trying the PB blaster my father in law gave me for christmas on some shock bolts as I aim to replace my shocks this week. We will see.

 

For some reason on all these "Best-Ever-Penetrating-Oil" tests, I never see the stuff we use at our shop. It's called "Yield" and is far superior to anything I've used, which inlcudes PB Blaster and most others on the list.

 

anybody ever heard of Thrust? I don't have time to wait around for this stuff to work but BG Products packages it under their own name and I have tons of it. It seems like a good lube, penetrant I'm not knowing.
Castle Thrust Penetrating Oil

 

I tried the mixture of ATF & acetone and was surprised at how well it works. Better than Kroil IMO

 

Jim you never made a flame thrower out of a can of WD-40?

Craig

 

i use the liquid wrench line all the time , but i got some flatty valves stuck in some guides i want to get apart { a spare motor } soaking in trans fluid now . i might have to go get some acetone and mix up some and give it a try ..............