madzx2
Member
after reading on the forum about using tanny fluid to clean snowmobile engines i started thinking about if it works or not. well today at work an older man came in for an oil change and requested having a quart of atf in with his oil. all the other techs said why would he want that, thats gonna wreak something. so i spoke up and said trans fluid is one of the best cleaners around. the old man comes out and says look at the odometer 450,000 miles on the motor he said and no problems. must work!!!
ryanryan
New member
What kind of car was it?
SWEDE
New member
Had to be a Chevy truck!!!!You'd never know what I drive, LOL!
Waters88
New member
Thats funny you mention the tranny fluid in the oil. I formerly forked at a place that cleaned vehicles. We had a regular customer who worked for an auto parts manufacturing plant. It was a small plant, and his 1997 Chevy pick up was the delivery vehicle, for an area of about 6 hours around here. He told me he did this to his truck a fair bit, that is adding in tranny fluid to the oil.
BTW, he got rid of it last year..... final odometer reading: 834,000KM( or there abouts) or about 523,000Miles.
BTW, he got rid of it last year..... final odometer reading: 834,000KM( or there abouts) or about 523,000Miles.
We used to clean out the carbon in older engines by feeding the carbs with a quart of ATF. Worked great but smoked like crazy. Had to go down a country road to do it. We also would put it in our own engines about a day before an oil change and let it do its magic. 
daman
New member
wouldnt do it...
My brothers car GA 3100 v6 has 346,000 miles did he put ATF in the crankcase? heck no....(Mobil-1)
(Flame suit on)Here's why....
the detergeancy level in atf is very low here is a UOA on some Mobile 1 atf
Calcium(a detergent cleaning additive) 230
Magnesium(detergent cleaning additive )1
Phosphorus(anti wear additive) 284
Zinc(anti wear additive) 41
Now compare that to a UOA of mobile 1 API SL currant API SM motor oil has slightly less
Calcium 2517
Magnisium 428
Phosphorus 970
Zinc 1004
oil has 10 times as much cal 400 times as much mag 25 times as much zinc and 3 times as much phos
beleive it or not.........ATF does not contain detergent chemistry. ATF does contain dispersants, which have properties similar to detergents.ATF is not formulated to withstand the combustion environment inside an engine,ATF's have little detergency or dispersancy; just enough needed to reduce varnish and keep clutch material suspended. ATF doesn't have the lubricating properties and engine needs via above UOA.
50 years ago trans fluid had more detergents than motor oil.
todays motor oils have much more detergents than trans fluid.
IF there is any minor cleaning ability to ATF, it is due NOT to the detergents/dispersants, but to three things:
1. low viscosity(ISO 68,20w) - thins out oil; thinner oil solves better than thick, gooey oil,
2. small amount of naphthenic mineral oils as solvents,
3. small amount esters as anti-oxidants, FM's, and of course their polar cleaning abilities.
just some qwick info.....id keep atf in the trans but thats me.
My brothers car GA 3100 v6 has 346,000 miles did he put ATF in the crankcase? heck no....(Mobil-1)
(Flame suit on)Here's why....
the detergeancy level in atf is very low here is a UOA on some Mobile 1 atf
Calcium(a detergent cleaning additive) 230
Magnesium(detergent cleaning additive )1
Phosphorus(anti wear additive) 284
Zinc(anti wear additive) 41
Now compare that to a UOA of mobile 1 API SL currant API SM motor oil has slightly less
Calcium 2517
Magnisium 428
Phosphorus 970
Zinc 1004
oil has 10 times as much cal 400 times as much mag 25 times as much zinc and 3 times as much phos
beleive it or not.........ATF does not contain detergent chemistry. ATF does contain dispersants, which have properties similar to detergents.ATF is not formulated to withstand the combustion environment inside an engine,ATF's have little detergency or dispersancy; just enough needed to reduce varnish and keep clutch material suspended. ATF doesn't have the lubricating properties and engine needs via above UOA.
50 years ago trans fluid had more detergents than motor oil.
todays motor oils have much more detergents than trans fluid.
IF there is any minor cleaning ability to ATF, it is due NOT to the detergents/dispersants, but to three things:
1. low viscosity(ISO 68,20w) - thins out oil; thinner oil solves better than thick, gooey oil,
2. small amount of naphthenic mineral oils as solvents,
3. small amount esters as anti-oxidants, FM's, and of course their polar cleaning abilities.
just some qwick info.....id keep atf in the trans but thats me.
Last edited: