Question - ATF instead of Motor oil in engine?

[Astro14]

It's a logical fallacy that goes like this: transmissions are clean inside, therefore ATF cleans well.

When, in fact, transmission are clean inside because they don't have carbon, acids, and other combustion byproducts forced into them.

ATF has fewer cleaning agents than regular motor oil because the internal transmission environment is less demanding than the internal engine environment.

As far as it working, well...correlation isn't always causality...

 

[itguy08]

Trash pick an old lawnmower, pressure washer, etc. Get it running. Drain and fill with ATF. Watch what happens.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Who would be stupid enough to put ATF in an engine?
This site sure does attract them. Could be a troll.

 

[4wheeldog]

Silly people.....EVERYBODY knows you add ATF to the gasoline, as a top lube.

(I keed, I keed......But I have seen it done.)

 

[RGR]

Originally Posted By: jdavis
your engine that calls for 0w-20?

http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=51&pcid=9

Will it blow up? Run OK? Clean like [censored]?

What would really happen?


Not sure. Give it a try, and report back.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: itguy08
Trash pick an old lawnmower, pressure washer, etc. Get it running. Drain and fill with ATF. Watch what happens.

It'll run just fine...

I did it after running my "smoker" out of oil, filled it with ATF and cut the grass... It did smoke a bit heavier on the ATF...

Yeah about three years later it blew up, but was because of a loose rod cap bolt, crank journal and rod bearing surface were fine...

Anyone that thinks a quart or two in either trans or engine in a emergency situation is going to cause a catastrophe, has no real world experience... Seen all this stuff happen at the used car lots...

Don't use gear lube in a World Class T-5 that requires ATF, that will destroy the fiber lining on the syncro cones...

 

[MolaKule]

ATF should only be used as an emergency (very short time) measure. I.e., if ATF was the only thing in my trunk and the engine sump or whatever had a bad leak, that is what I would use in order to "limp" home.

As others have stated, it does not have a sufficient set of additives or the proper base oil mix to prevent wear.

 

[stchman]

Originally Posted By: racin4ds
I would never run it 100% in the sump but a quart in place of motor oil works, and is not wives tale at all. My father, my grandfather and myself included have done this with engines that had noisy lifters and gummed up internals. I owned several 2.8 and 2.9L fords with the dreaded lifter ticks, guess what? a QT of ATF fixed 95% of it! ATF is OIL! its just dyed red and sure it doesn't possess the qualities of motor oils but it may surprise you how well it works.


What probably happened since ATF is usually quite a bit thinner than engine oil, it thinned out your engine oil. The oil was then able to get into tighter areas and clean any gunk out.

Originally Posted By: Astro14
It's a logical fallacy that goes like this: transmissions are clean inside, therefore ATF cleans well.

When, in fact, transmission are clean inside because they don't have carbon, acids, and other combustion byproducts forced into them.

ATF has fewer cleaning agents than regular motor oil because the internal transmission environment is less demanding than the internal engine environment.

As far as it working, well...correlation isn't always causality...


Precisely. An automatic transmission is essentially a nearly sealed system. A transmission does not suck in MASSIVE amounts of air and burn a fuel.

 

[SirTanon]

I can't speak to whether ATF cleans anything, but I can attest to personal experience regarding ATF and oil leaks.

My last daily driver - a 2003 Mercury Sable with the 3.0 liter Duratec engine - had developed an oil leak, which was apparently somewhat common for this engine. This was around 145,000 miles or so. I switched to Valvoline MaxLife for a couple OCIs without much, if any, in the way of improvement. After reading some threads on here, I decided to add some ATF to my engine oil - maybe a pint or so - as top-off oil.

After a couple thousands miles, the oil leak was gone. Not reduced - it had completely stopped. I could park the car in my driveway, with a new sheet of cardboard undernead the engine, and pull the cardboard out 24 hours later, completely clean. No drips.

Did the ATF alone do this? I can't say for sure, but considering I'd run for approximately 10,000 miles previously on Max-Life and still had drips, I'd say that the odds are good that the ATF must have helped seal the leaks.

Thoughts..?

 

[Shrubitup]

Originally Posted By: meborder
funny to me, is that i don't hear many people asking what would happen if they use motor oil in their transmission as a miracle cure for some transmission ailment.


I don't use it as a cure but in my old 98 Honda Civic with 5 spd MT I used 10W30 all time which is what manual recommended back in the day. Use it in my wet clutch Kawasaki dirt bike where the transmission oil is separate from motor oil (two cycle).

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: stchman
What probably happened since ATF is usually quite a bit thinner than engine oil, it thinned out your engine oil. The oil was then able to get into tighter areas and clean any gunk out.


Really ???

 

[stchman]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: stchman
What probably happened since ATF is usually quite a bit thinner than engine oil, it thinned out your engine oil. The oil was then able to get into tighter areas and clean any gunk out.


Really ???


The same thing could have been accomplished by using a quart of 0W-20.

 

[jdavis]

Guys, I'm not putting ATF in my engines.. This thread is a what if only to conjure up a discussion. It looks like some people do in fact put ATF in their engines though..............

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: stchman
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: stchman
What probably happened since ATF is usually quite a bit thinner than engine oil, it thinned out your engine oil. The oil was then able to get into tighter areas and clean any gunk out.


Really ???


The same thing could have been accomplished by using a quart of 0W-20.


really ???

 

[Wildcard]

Originally Posted By: Charlie1935
I really don't believe it would be good for your motor, but to satisfy our inquisitiveness try it for a 10,000 mile OCI and post the results.


Hahaha

 

[Branson304]

That straight up sounds like a really stupid idea and I don't know why you all are even discussing it...

 

[stchman]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: stchman
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: stchman
What probably happened since ATF is usually quite a bit thinner than engine oil, it thinned out your engine oil. The oil was then able to get into tighter areas and clean any gunk out.


Really ???


The same thing could have been accomplished by using a quart of 0W-20.


really ???


Really????

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

When I was younger I used ATF to clean the carbon from the tops of my pistons. Just pour it into the carburetor slowly while keeping the engine from stalling. And, it makes A LOT of smoke, but cleans the top end!

 

[virginoil]

Originally Posted By: jdavis
your engine that calls for 0w-20?

http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=51&pcid=9

Will it blow up? Run OK? Clean like [censored]?

What would really happen?


Sounds like an idea, please proceed and let us know how you go.

Do a VOA for ATF and a UOA at each OCI.

Do this at least 3 OCIs to establish a baseline.

Please post results.

Not sure if it will blow up an engine.

 

[Charlie1935]

Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
When I was younger I used ATF to clean the carbon from the tops of my pistons. Just pour it into the carburetor slowly while keeping the engine from stalling. And, it makes A LOT of smoke, but cleans the top end!

So will water.