Using ATF in Oil before oil change?

Good morning everyone!

I've been lurking on TW for a couple years now and gleaning from the exp people have had on a variety of things.

I haven an '08 Taco 2.7L 4x4 SR5 manual trans, access door, fog light mod (got that off TW!) and I use 0w-20 Mobile 1, living in a Nothern Lat, I find it works great!

After doing some searching on here, I couldn't find a thread that addressed using ATF (not ATL, lol) in your oil prior to an oil change. I have never done this myself, but recently someone told me about it and how they've done it.

Has anyone ever done this practice in order to clean out any deposits in your oil system? As I understand it, they'd put about 1/2 qt cheap ATF in their oil and let it sit idling for about 30 minutes, then they'd do their oil/filter change. They said the ATF is a straight detergent and as long as you don't leave it in, it won't hurt anything.

Sounds a little risky, but I'm not a mechanic, so I don't want to speak out of turn. Will this make a difference?

Also, has anyone ever done Motorkote? Isn't that a detergent too? Thanks for any feedback!

 

I wouldn't mess with it personally. The benefits of doing such a "clean" just isn't worth the time IMHO. Drain the oil, refill with your preferred choice, change the filter, and leave it at that. The benefits are probably very minimal/non-existent anyway.

 

You typed ATL.

Did you mean ATF, as automatic transmission fluid?

If you have regular oil changes there are no deposits to be 'cleaned up' in the lubricated areas of the motor.

There are some situations where using ATF for certain things can be helpful. A well maintained engine isn't one of them.

As far as other OTC magic elixars, forget it. And you don't need any boutique lubricants either. What you are using is great.

 

Haha, yup... my first post and I put in Atlanta's airport code instead of Automatic Transmission Fluid. And I probably spent a good 20 minutes looking over my post just to make sure I wouldn't look like an idiot!

Thanks for the feedback!

 

I used to do this with my Scout II. I usually did it 500 miles before the oil change. It never hurt anything. My oil always came out dark black afterward, so it appeared to clean everything out. I did it to condition the engine seals, especially rear main.

 

Maybe on a new to you vehicle that still has the original oil and filter at over 100,000 miles

Myself I never heard of adding ATF to engine oil

 

<<< 2000+ posts deep and I still look like an idiot so don't worry.

I'd avoid dumping ATF in my engine. Drain, refill, drive. That's all she needs.

 

in the past decade or so oil's have addressed sludging issues that plagued motor oils in the 90s due to the lack of detergents. you really dont need to do anything as long as u do oil changes on time.

 

ATF/Seafoam flushes can also plug oil pick up screens and damage catalytic converters. Only use for dire situations in my opinion.

Toyota has a oil sump flush chemical that's approved if desired.

I just do SCREAMING hot oil changes, I want my oil to come out like firey hot lava.

 

The 2.7 is a great engine--I would not put ATF in.

 

I remember years back, when I would purchase a "new to me" used vehicle, I would add some AT fluid to clean out engine block. Worked fine and never had a problem. Now days, if you keep up with oil changes, I can't see a need for it anymore.

 

Had an old Ford Ranger years ago that started dropping oil pressure as I accelerated. Drained all the oil, added 5 quarts of diesel and let it run for 5 mins. Drained, refilled with oil and nothing, didn't help....just saying, I have no point, lol.

 

not worth destroying your engine,

 

These post are just ignorant. They clog up the thread and provide no useful information. If you don't have any tips/advice, go on.

 

I heard this years ago: ATF has mild detergents in it; no where near as harsh as, say seafoam or gunk. So I tried it in my foolish 20's.

I had an accord with VVT. I did a flush and it got the sludge out: I put clean motor oil in, put 1 quart ATF, ran it for 30 min at idle and the stuff that came out when I drained was black as night. I thought that was AWESOME. 200 miles later check engine light went on. I was on the road and almost home. 50 miles later I went into limp mode. the oil control valve on the VVT got clogged from shaking up the sludge. It ran rich, dumped gas in and blew out the CAT. The ATF didn't harm the engine. the crap I stirred up did.

This was a car I bought brand new, did 3000k oil changes (conventional) Castrol 5w20 and I did it the ATF flush at 25k. Luckily my stupidity was covered by a warranty. Dealer didn't bat an eye. I did not harm the engine and it ran fine after the oil control valve and the cat was replaced. I sold it not too long after dealer did all the repairs, just because I hated FWD. The person I sold it to put another 150k on it without a problem before she sold it, so it didn't do any lasting harm. I'm just glad it was under warranty.

After that, I've used strictly synthetic and haven't done a flush since. Never will.

 

You don't have to use ATF. You can but not for a very extended period of time and I'd never add a quart to the engine oil and drive it for 3000 miles. They used to do that back in the 70's and 80's. Draining an engine, filling it with ATF and running it for 5 minutes was normal back then. Not now. That was with dirtier carbed engines.

If you have a dirty engine just run a name brand oil like Pennzoil at 2000 mile intervals a few times and change the oil and filter every time. Other than that you can use my favorite. Change the oil and filter and replace one quart of oil with "Rislone". Run it for 1000 miles, change, repeat and do that until your oil is clean. With dino. Synthetic is too expensive for a Rislone flush. You could try 1000 miles the first time, 2000 the second time and 3000 the third time depending on just how dirty your engine is.

Rislone doesn't clean everything out all at once. It takes time so it doesn't clog oil galleries and such. It works very well though but will take a few oil and filter changes. If the engine isn't "really" dirty you don't even need Rislone. Just do the same with Pennzoil dino at very short intervals. It's got at LEAST as good of an "add pack" as far as detergents are concerned as "any" other oil on the market.

I might add that I use Amsoil exclusively and am not a Pennzoil salesmen. I just know a damn good oil when I see it and Pennzoil is. They are in love with it over at "Bob Is The Oil Guy" and if they like it, it's gotta be real good. Not that other name brands aren't. I use Amsoil Signature full synthetic because I run extended drain intervals and Amsoil pretty much invented synthetics way back in the 70's. I had my oil analyzed at 7500 miles and the last time Blackstone Labs said to run it another 2000 miles the sample was so good. I'm going 8500 this time which is just another 1000 miles to be on the safe side. I'll be changing it tomorrow. I'll see what the sample looks like this time.

 

I never knew anyone that put ATF in the oil back in my youth or dumped ATF and ran the engine for 5 minutes prior to changing

Then I was in with a crowd that ran very fresh Chevy Short and Long blocks .

Was this a import thing

 

Or just use quality synthetic oil in the first place.

 

Thanks everyone for your input, I've decided not to do it and just use Mobile-1, 0w-20 at 3k intervals for a while. From what I've read it has enough detergents in it to keep from all that sludge build up. Thanks again, this website is great!

 

I may be much older than you but they did exactly that back in the 60's and 70's and into the early 80's. I worked at a Mobil station when I was 17 back in 1977 and the mechanic there told me all about it. He was a damn good mechanic and had worked at various dealerships for decades. He actually did it numerous times. Back then, before multi-grade oil they just ran 20 wt. in the cars where it got really cold (sometimes just 10 weight) and then changed to 30 wt. when summer came around.

That's the way it was back then if people didn't change their oil every 2000 miles or 3000 miles max no matter what oil anyone used. Back then he also told me about a guy who died because he sat on one of those "press in oil spouts" we used to stick in the oil cans so we could fill the engine with it. The guy died. That steel spout went right up his butt.

These days the oils are so good none of that is necessary unless someone buys a really neglected vehicle used. If you had to, due to a neglected engine, you could run ATF for 5 minutes in these newer cars as well. It wouldn't hurt a thing. Unless it broke loose so much crud all at once an oil gallery got clogged. That's why I recommended Rislone in the previous post. It takes a few oil and filter changes but it won't clog up the oil galleries.

Rislone has been around for many decades and still works for filthy engines. Using a high quality engine oil is an even better idea than Rislone if the engine isn't really dirty because the cleaning is even more gradual.