Has any of you guys ever filled the crankcade with ATF and run the motor for a few minutes to clean stuck rings and valves.? Apparently it makes the rings snap back into their "good compression" position. Don't know what type of ATF though (Mercon/Dexcron, TypeF?)
Please let mr know.

 

I don't fill the crank case, I just replace one quart on a fill with Dexron. Don't use Type F as it has friction modifyers to help the asbestos clutches in the older trannies to grab.

 

Really ???


Not trying to sound incredulous, but I've never heard of this.


Is this a recommended practice, or an "at-your-own-risk" kind of thing?



Rob.

 

you know what's even better? pour the ATF in the carb. cleans out all kinds of carbon deposits. think that's tame? try it with a glass of water. seen it done, done it. as for "recommended practice," i'd have to plead the fifth.

 

the trans oil is still a lubricant, it just has more detergent to it, no real risk to it, it also has additives that help soften the seals. Recommended, no, it hasn't been officially recommended that I know of, but it isn't any real different than something like Marvel mystery oil or such, and it is basically safe. If you can put something like Sea Foam cleaner in the crank case, you can surely run trans oil.

 

I have heard of people putting water in the carb to clean things out, but they used a spray bottle. As from what I know you cant compress a liquid. If you pour too much water, oil (liquid) into your engine you will damage you engine badly! (can not compress a liquid! the piston WILL STOP DEAD INSTANTLY and it will damage things BIG TIME! So be careful!

And if you do use the water or oil trick I would change the engine oil right after!

Steve

 

I once used a product called engine flush on my engine followed label directions and cooked a 65,000 mile motor....... the safest way to clean your engine is to change the oil as many times as necessary to make it clean..... nothing but motorcraft 10w40 goes into my New 347 stroker ....... that by the way i hardly get to drive ...seems my son really likes the power...... the gas mileage...... arrrrrrgh!!! but if he drives he has to pay for the gas...... hes going to need another job ....LMBO

 

A pint of kerosene works too.

 

Believe that Fellro's description of ATF and its properties is correct. He also nailed it when he mentioned how similar Marvel Mistery is to ATF.
I filled my crankcase with nothing but 1 gallon of Marvel + 1 qt. of Motor Flush + 1 pint of oil detergent additive and ran it for 5 minutes. After draining and repalcing that mix with 5 qts. of fresh 10-30 + 1 qt, of Marvel, I can tell you that, If anyyhing, the oil pressure is slightly higher now, However if my motor's piston rings were stuck, this procedure didn't fix the problem 'cause I still have as much blowby as I did before.
That's why doing it over with only ATF (all 6 qts. of it) seemed worth a shot at the time. Right now though, I'm not fully convinced that it'll make much of a difference.
Learned about this ATF trick through a friend whoose mechanic had apparently unstuck the rings on his Firebird's V6.
Figured that if worked on GM's it should work on Fords too.

 

maybe you need new rings? rather than trying to unstuck them... rings are cheap and arent a very hard job either.

it only took my a lil while to replace the rings in my 300 after i ran out of oil (long story) and drove for 50 miles like that. surpisingly the cylidners werent damaged but the rings were practially gone and just fell off the pistons when i pulled em out of the cylinders. I had ALOT of blowby and it made my engine all better.

 

the automatic tran fluid is a good way to clean the engine and swell the seals. I have done this for years and never had any issue. in addition to my 83 f350 crew i have a 94 f150 with 173000 and it doesnt leak or burn oil. But I have also changed the oil every 3000 miles.

If you do put tran fluid in your engine only run it for about 1000 miles and then change over to 10-40 or 10-30 for your tyipical 3000. I try to do the tran fluid thing about twice a year.

 

Using ATF or Marvel Mystery has been going on evidently since before many of you guys parents even met. Plus many other non-typical applications for other automotive 'fluids'.
Never really heard of filling the crankcase with it though. As long as it's done in moderation and you don't expect miracles, things should be fine.

Probably wouldn't recommend in newer sensor laden vehicles unless planning on replacing them all anyway.

One thing you might want to think about though.
Consider using the ATF or Marvel as it's described on the Marvel can.
Adding some to the oil, some to the fuel tank, and maybe a bit down the carb. This way you can drive the vehicle for a while and really do a better job of blowing the 'soot' out.
Have done this on older big blocks and have been quite pleased with the results.

 

atf sounds like a good long term fix. for a real quick engine cleaning add 1 quart diesel fuel to oil and run for 5 minutes then change oil

 

The term is oil change tune-up. As recommended to me by a long time friend and mechanic, this is the general procedure he used(I've used it on several engines now, and have had good results).

Buy the cheapest oil you can find(it's not going to be in there long, so Wal-mart 99cent crap is fine) Buy enough of that for one oil change, less one litre, replace that litre with ATF(I've never been picky about which one) and a filter.

You're also going to buy enough oil, and a second filter to change again(This is where you buy your favorite brand of quality oil, I'm a huge fan of Castrol products)

Warm your engine up(15 minutes or so of driving should do) drop the oil/filter, spin on the new filter, add the cheap oil/atf mix, and take the truck for a short blast down the highway to get it to operating temps and highway rpm's.

Go home, drop the oil/filter again. I've often bought a couple more liters of the cheap oil, and poured it through with the drain plug removed just to purge that last bit of oil that likes to stay in the bottom of the pan.

Now install your new filter, good quality oil, and you'll find the engine nice and quiet, the oil will stay clean for a lot longer, and providing the internals are not really worn out, you should notice a bit more power/performance/response out of it.

Keep in mind, this is for slightly sticking/plugged up rings, or for an engine that runs well, but hasn't had a regular oil change in a while.

To get the most benefit from it, having the rest of the engine in a good state of tune will make the most difference.

If your engine is suffering from low compression(worn rings/cylinders, or leaky valves) don't expect this to make much of a difference. The only replacement for worn parts is new parts.

 

My Dad would drop the hot old oil, add 4 qts of diesel fuel with 1 qt of 30w, IDLE the engine for a few minutes, drain, change filter and refill with oil of choice (anything but Pennzoil he always said) and change again after ~1000 miles. Always did this when he bought a used car. He did the treatment on my first car, a 50 Chevy. The junk came out BIGTIME!

I think the idea has been around for a long time, just different ways of doing it. I'd be a little cautious on a really dirty high miler ... might loosen up enough crud to either kill the engine with grit or else open up all the old leaks.

Roger