DIY Engine Flush using Automatic Transmission Fluid
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 21 окт 2021
- Many old time mechanics used to use ATF to flush the engine when doing an oil change.
ATF fluid contains detergents not as potent as a full engine flush formula/solution. Is it as effective? I'm not a scientist but I'm going to run it through my 5.3L Chevy engine.
In this video I’m using low-cost ATF fluid to flush the engine on my 2006 Chevrolet Silverado with 330,000km. Let’s see the results! 
Авто/Мото
Other youtuber's don't care that we can't see the sound, thanks for zooming in.
Yep. I could see the wave sounds better! 😅
You need to leave the ATF fluid in for awhile.., 1000 miles is what I do every other oil change and mine no longer ticks. The shop wanted to charge me $1889 for new lifters and cams. But $4 worth of ATF fluid saved me a butt load of $$$&
Thanks for the suggestion! That’s huge savings… 💰
Butt load 😂 it’s boat load
Its safe to drive around?
1000miles esp....
@@teddy_awdB19personally i asked around do it for 100 or 200 so it can get in the system 1000 may be to long i wouldn’t
I’ve done that very thing in the past myself with positive results I’ve also used it as a fuel additive which cleans the entire fuel system. 1/4 quart per full tank then immediately run a strong mixture of Berrymans B12 Chemtool or Seafoam to eliminate any oily residue. Improves fuel mileage. Also Marvels Mystery Oil is an excellent product which can be used in the engine as well as fuel..
Everything’s eventual but preventive maintenance is just one piece of the picture when it comes to a vehicle’s longevity.
Little Things Count!
Nice of you to include the one-month-later updated. Thanks.
My pleasure. Hope you enjoyed the content/experiment!
How did you go?
Jeez 😅
My truck started doing this when I missed my oil change by 3k miles. Ran synthetic atf I got from the gas station for 500 miles , and it got quieter. I ran a convention atf +3 and it totally took the noise away completely. Changed the oil every 3k from then on out and it's ran perfectly
Nice! Glad you got your engine noise resolved! 👍
Stick with full synthetic instead of synthetic blend and your engine will last as long as you use your vehicle. Mobile 1 is a decent filter too.
I heard the old school fluid conventional atf works better than synthetic atf like you said
theres a diff tween ticking and knocking, thats diff a lifter tick, if hear knocking 8 outta 10 times its main or a rod journal's and they do sound different. but the atf trick is an old school thing we used to do even back in the 70's. good job :)
Thanks for your insight on that (ticking vs knocking). Much appreciated!
Exhaust manifold leak makes the tiking sound also.
Agreed! Not this in particular unfortunately but yes totally agree!
😮
This trick has fix low oil pressure for me too. the pressure relief valve can get stuck in the open position.
Auto parts used to sell ENGINE FLUSH in qt. cans back in the 60's , was nothing but ATF and said to runn for 100 miles before oil change useing leaded gas.
Marvel Mystery Oil? Used to use 1/3 quart prior to oil changes on the last car I had. (3000-5000 miles)
I have the same truck, same sound, I ran the 1 quart of ATF for a month and ii has so much sludge build up at the bottom of my oil pan the the oil pick up tub got clogged. Had to pull the pan and clean about 2 inches of sludge and clean out the tube. crazy!
Wow, that’s nasty! It’s great that you could pull the pan and clean it out, that’s quite a bit of work. 👍
Thx mate, cheers Graham
Good video.
Great video
Better put 20% ATF and run for the whole oil change interval.The clap goes away.
hey bro great video lol glad it worked out
Yeah I have used trans fluid for years to flush an engine. I only put a half a quart and let it idle for 1O minutes. Then change the oil. It works on getting all the weird noises and it will run pretty quiet aftwards.
Going to do it now ❤
Nice. Thx for sharing your experience on this.
I found out your injectors will cause the same sound, if its running rough change the injectors. Surprised me. God Bless
Wow that's crazy. Never knew that
@@lmsdiy I have worked on vehicles my whole life and would not have believed it if i never seen it, my son in law had a 2002 gmc with a 5.3 and i would bet my life it was a lifter ticken it was running rough so he put injectors in it from amazon about 50 dollars for 8 and when he started it, was like a new engine, quite as a church mouse. And ran like a scolded dog, that was 2 years ago, he still has the truck, and still runs like new with almost 300 thousand on it now, it had about 150,000 on it when he changed the injectors.
@@randallhorner5970 wow, that's amazing! For $50 I might replace them all just for the fun of doing it, whether it helps or not! 😁👍
Amen
You right people forget fuel knock exist
That’s an exhaust leak your hearing. Common on these engines that the end bolts on the exhaust mainifold bust off. They have a fix it’s called kap adapter.
If u have low oil pressure when its tapping its ur o ring in your pickup tube there notorious for that
I’ve been chasing oil pressure issues. I put new o ring. New pump. New oil pressure sensor and still had low pressure. It’s the good old main bearrings. :(
@@B1gbleu if its not that did u change out the fliter behind the oil sending unit it gets clogged alot and alot of ppl dont know to change it also
Shell rotella T5 10w-30 will do some cleaning also
How how when it's just oil😂
Because its a Heavy Duty Diesel Engine Oil... Lots of detergents.
the knocking is a lifter! a quick fix pull the intake and replace the lifters on that side ,,i would do both sides anyway,,may as well change the pushrods at the same tome put back together and you good to go till the truck falls apart! its a chev so it will rust to death before you need to do it again :)
I wish I would have done that (got a different truck now). The older 5.3L engines without AFM are awesome and I think it would have been worth doing this work.
They are trapped lifter design. The valley under the manifold just has knock sensors on that Gen3 vortec. You have to pull the heads to get to the lifters. Still it is not a big job. Well worth it on these engines, they will make it to 300,000 as long as they have somewhat clean oil and descent oil pressure.
You have a bad lifter or 3. Should leave atf in a few weeks then drain. Probably have to do lifters/springs/cam maybe too. Drive it.
You should replace one qrt of oil with atf. It won't hurt a thing and will likely fix your lifter before you flat spot your cam.
yes i agree. i had ticking and low oil pessure in my chevy avalanche. used motor medic, ran for 10 minutes. replace oil with 0ne quart atf. it is quiet and good oil pressure.
I can't tell you how much I am not willing to do this, and how bad it is for your internal engine parts... any automotive engineer or mechanic will tell you to never put anything but oil in the crankcase if you want it to last a while. But I too have wanted to flush a dirty engine once in a while and did a lot of research. Your engine is much much better off getting a slow gradual flush, using some less aggressive solvent, in smaller quantities - something like a pint of Marvel MO while idling engine for 10 minutes. Then changing oil afterwards. Do that twice in a row the engine will gradually clean itself if your oil changes are frequent enough. To me - running ANY solvent in your engine is counter-productive to what you want to do! Solvent does not lubricate, I don't want to have the worn out engine that is the cleanest inside of them all, why?
ATF is oil though.@@robertmaybeth3434
@@BigEightiesNewWave So is 3 in 1 I'm not filling cars with that either.
@robertmaybeth3434 MMO has solvents, just do a double oil change to get all the old oil out. The new oil will do a much better job in cleaning and protecting.
Cut open your filter, to see how much sludge and metal particles there are!
Oh man that's a great idea!!! I should have done that!! ☹️
I second this comment. Lots of useful information can be found from cutting the oil filter.
I would have ran for 1000 miles . Did on 64 chevy 6 and engine was clean as new
Do you still get the ticking at cold start
It doesn't actually make that noise when it's cold, per say. Engine temperature doesn't seem to be the factor. It's intermittent but when it occurs it's usually at idle, like maybe when I'm waiting in a drive-thru.
Those GM transmissions need the fluid much more than the engine.
Don't leave the original fluid in until its brown they are unforgiving, especially after the engine overheating the heat migration into the transmission adds additional hurt.
It won't hurt to add a half litre to the scammed up engine and drive for a couple days.
Ideally the 5-W30 is supposed to keep it clean. Its when guys cheap out and go one year or even longer without changing it and then only drive around the corner only never long trips just putt putt around a few blocks that this damage builds up.
Right...I'm pretty sure the previous owners didn't keep up on maintenance the way they could/should have!
@@lmsdiy Synthetic is the best if you can afford it but even cheaper regular stuff is a help. I learned the hard way buying cars that the original owner did nothing and I had to replace the goofed transmission later.
Basically every 20-25,000km change fluid and the trouble is minimal.
Same with the Differential fluid and Transfer case fluid, and brakes and power steering fluid.
The brake fluid is only designed to be good for 2 years old and guys leave it in a decade.
@@RetroCaptain Good advice to go by... Maintaining good quality fluids is so basic and so vital!
It worked for me 2007 vw Passat.
It was sounding really bad. It sounds much better. Should I leave it in for 100-400 miles?
Personally I drain it and don't drive with it in. I heard some people do but not for too long especially depending how much you put in. I only do it and idle it for ten minutes and then drain it.
@@lmsdiy Hearing about use of flushes, I think one of the more harsh ones was by Gunk, I cut it before 5 min because it was starting to make engine pings and ticks, it was a 69 Fairlane 302 and it may have thinned it down too much, it seemed to smell like kerosene, has that ever been the case
@@joeboxer3365 I had the same where the oil smelled of strong gasoline when I was doing an oil change. Since the flush and using valve cleaner solution it seems to be better. The oil changes are not smelling like gas/kerosene anymore. I think the combustion wasn’t optimal before I did other work and that might have been why…
@@joeboxer3365 Engine flushes generally contain Naphtha which works quite effectively to remove sludge. It may smell like gasoline
@@lmsdiy You have a clogged PCV valve I think, or else the old gal's had an automatic choke on the carb that's stuck shut all the time.
You need to run your engine for 2 to 3 hundred miles
Thoughts on MMO vs ATF? Both being used, of course, for the same reasons.
Never tried it though I probably have the same thoughts as you...some say it's basically ATF, and it probably works about the same is my guess... 😄
@@lmsdiy Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I guess from what I've heard, I figured it was probably a little safer than ATF, considering you can just leave it in there and not have to worry about draining it out, but probably not quite as effective in the short term and probably has less detergents, if I had to guess. It seems the large majority of people who use it as directed, swear by the stuff. 🤷🏼♂️ Bought some a couple of days ago. We shall see. Only time will tell.👍🏻
@@addie750 I'm curious and looking forward to hearing your experience / feedback on using it.
@@lmsdiy it might take a while to report back, but I will do my best. I actually picked up 2 quarts of MMO. One for my suburban and one for a friends Yukon XL. After all the research I figured I would try it in my personal vehicle to help with typical LS ticking. The real test will be my friends Yukon XL. Her Yukon seems to have a lifter that periodically gets stuck. We are hoping that it will permanently unstick the lifter, but we shall see.👍🏻
@@addie750 Interesting... Hope it does help to solve both of those. What year is the Yukon XL? Is it an Active Fuel Management (AFM) engine?
Just change your oil every 2-3k miles now, every time you miss your oil change interval you are shortening the effective oil change interval. Don't think neglecting your oil change for the first 50k miles is ok because your car is "new" then start to change your oil at 5 k is going to fix anything your engine now needs a 2-3k oil change interval even with synthetic oil
Did you even change the oil filter? I didn't see that part in the video.
Yes, of course...that comes after draining the oil and removing the old filter. If you're really interested you will see the old black Mobil 1 filter on the oil drain pan at the 4:23 mark. Either I installed a new filter or I drove away without one on. 😂
@@lmsdiy Oh wow, that went by so quickly I didn't even catch it! Yes, I did see the old filter there. Sorry, I just didn't see you unscrew the old one. Not trying to be critical, I really did enjoy your video. Good job!
@@LA_Commander Thanks! All good. 🙂👍
Engines have seals, rings and gaskets. Some metal, some rubber and some silicon.. transmission fluid swells up rubber.. so you might flush the engine well, and get an improvement, but can cause issues elsewhere.
Hey thx for the insight. From what I understand and have read, transmission fluid does not cause rubber to swell, like silicon spray or brake fluid would. So don't mean not to appreciate your input but I think that might be incorrect. Thoughts?
I did read that it may affect seals and gaskets. Maybe it's the amount of time it spends in contact with these parts? I.e., occasional flush running it for ten minutes vs using it in the engine for hours and hours? Would that be the difference?
@@lmsdiyIt can be 1 litre in for a week and won't hurt.
Its being 4.5L and left in for 3 months can soften the seals. They go bad anyway after a decade!
Once the oil is changed the teeny bit of Dexron left behind won't do anything bad.
I work with hydraulic equipment.
One customers employee got the hydraulic fluid and a plastics chemical that looked similar, mixed up and poured an 18L pail into the sump.
The machine didn't flinch, kept working correctly.
The plastics chemical was designed to soften rubber and plastic during production.
Ive personally swapped out to non recommended fluids in systems and had no problems.
Some oils are very compatible if you know what you're doing.
Super interesting! Thanks very much for sharing that @RetroCaptain.
Or.....knock knock. Who's there? Connecting rod #4!
Ticking is gm's cylinder deactivation system clogged and half stuck. It will wipe out the cam lobe in no time
Most of the time, yes, and completely agree. The 2006 engine doesn't have AFM.
That's some darkass oil bro. Need to change more often.
No doubt, hey? I bought that truck at 300k and I don't think the previous guy took very good care of it. I've since traded it in for a 2013 and I'm taking great care of it. I had a lot of work to do on it but it's running great now.
You definitely have to put a couple hundred miles on it before you drain it
Drain it again so you get the flush solvents out and put new oil in it.
Thanks for the tip!!
@@lmsdiy you dont have to drain it X2 . ify u could remove oil pan and clean it
@@bahroz7173 Not a bad idea but depends on the vehicle. Some oil pan removals are a huge amount of work and not just removing a dozen bolts. Depending on the vehicle you might have to replace the oil pan gasket if it’s not reusable. I don’t have this truck now but would investigate the level of effort if I still had it. 😁
@@lmsdiy its also true. It depends on the vehicle for EX i have toyota yaris its super easy to do it. Toyota is not complex like others
@@bahroz7173 nice...! Lucky!
You can also drain your oil. Add a new oil filter. Fill up with ATF. Run on idle for 15 minutes. Drain, add new oil and filter.
Next oil change should be @ 1000 miles.
When running all ATF of you can add 1 quart of regular engine oil with 3 or 4 quarts of ATF. Idle 15 - 20 minutes.
Please DO NOT DO THIS! I'd be nervous just running with just half a pint of ATF in the crankcase let alone running the engine while full of the stuff. ATF does NOT have the right additive package nor even the right viscosity to substitute for engine oil. And if you ignore that advice there's a good chance you'll destroy your engine.
@@robertmaybeth3434
This is to be done only on older vehicles with high mileage and problems with sludge build up. Been doing this since the late 90's.
10 minutes run is just not enough to clean
You need to run ATF in there for like 30 to 50 miles. Wide-open throttle sometimes.
no.
atf is not oil like oil is. atf is a detergent first and a lubricant second.
you do need to drive the engine but not hard you will do bearing damage.
spirited to get some heat yes. wide open your doing more harm than good.
@chehystpewpur4754 wrong, lubricant first, hydraulic fluid, extreme pressure lube and detergent last. I've been testing ATF and Engine oils for 30 years.
@@tssci6774 really? not saying your wrong but ive always seen and heard atf doesnt lubricate as well as it cleans. it is a hydraulic oil but it has way more cleaners in it than it has thickness. atf can and will shear. but it also can clean almost anything. dex3 is the last trans fluid i believe to be atf. dex6 is deff a different oil. i like it but it doesnt burn like 3. older transmission fluid used to have whale blubber in it. and was a much better fluid. lubricant and cleaner.
@chehystpewpur4754 any oil will shear from extreme heat and chemical and particulate contamination and oxidize from moisture. A transmission is not exposed to combustion byproducts, is for the most part a closed system, thus does not have high amounts of detergents, dispersants, and anti-wear additives. It does have more anti-foaming, seal swell additives, and contains extreme pressure lubricant additives to protect planetary gears inside. It is single weight oil, SAE 10/15 at 100C, and no viscosity improves. ATF has to lubricate, maintain pressure like a hydraulic oil, like a gear oil to protect gears, disperse contaminents, counter acids, protect seals, provide enough friction for the clutches, resist extreme shear in the torque converter and clutch packs, and cool the transmission. It does clean but we're talking about a much different environment compared to an internal combustion engine.
What's a litre...we in England?
Canada.. And the rest of the world
For USA it's approximately 2 quarts
Metric is why the Japanese have such reliable engines and accuracy vs US made grenades.
You can't be serious?
@@joeboxer3365you have no clue either. 1 L = 1.06 US QTS
OP I hate to contradict you but I used to work for a government fleet, seen the results when this was done once and personally, I WILL NOT PUT ATF in my crankcase, in any quantity for any reason. ATF has all the right additives inside, to be sure, but they are meant for an auto trans NOT YOUR ENGINE! Putting ATF in your engine is asking for internal engine damage, I know because I saw this done by mistake once, and the engine was completely ruined and had to be replaced.
Hi @robertmaybeth3434, thank you for sharing your opinion and experience for the community. If I experienced what you did I'm pretty sure I would feel the same.
Like anything, there's probably more to that story, but there are also countless mechanic and service technician examples of how this has been a practice that has been in use for decades without the same result that you experienced.
Nonetheless, I don't encourage anyone to do this if they do not want to or are not comfortable with it. It's really for entertainment and experiment curiosity purposes. 🙂
@@lmsdiy Nicely stated, but putting ATF in your crankcase is still very bad advice.
@@robertmaybeth3434 what kind of damage can occur when putting ATF in?
@@user-ek8up5jx6v The possible damage is anything caused by lack of/failure of lubrication. Especially on highly loaded engine parts like camshaft(s). Engine oil has an additive package that includes anti-wear additives like moly and "friction modifiers because of that BUT ATF does not. So if you flush your engine with ATF there's a chance after you restart, or down the road, you are going to start that engine and hear noises that weren't there before. My point is NOT to say "Don't flush your engine", I'm saying take a conservative approach to what you dump in your car's engine that isn't engine oil!
@@robertmaybeth3434 I see. Thanks for the explanation. I appreciate it! Should I just use a regular engine flush or is there something else I can try similar to ATF that won't let parts run dry?
The is an old way old trick.. I don't think synthetic works should be regular ATF
Definitely works way better with atf +3 or any conventional atf. Synthetic will still work, just not as good.
At this point im asking what cant atf do 😂?
The local car shop would drain the oil, put a few quarts of ATF and let it run for a while. Drain and fill with oil.
ATF is pretty much all detergents.
Run as drive the car or let car idle
Internet myth, it has far less detergents than regular oil. I've been testing oil as a profession for 30 years.
You are right @@tssci6774
Dispersants, not detergents.
That tik tik I think you did it with a key to simulate the tik tik, it doesn't sound real
Sad that it is a real sound 😂
@@lmsdiy
I thought it was a spell sound 😂😂😂 and tell me if the tik tik was removed from the flush atf
@@fernandopozuelos22 lol sadly no. Engine oil remained cleaner but the sound never went away. Fun experiment though 😃
@@lmsdiy I understand, I can get a ceratec from liqui moly it helps 60% with the tik tik
Forget all that BS. Empty your oil. Take 4 litres of ATF and pour into engine. Run engine for 30 seconds then leave it rest for 30 minutes. Drain and leave draining until it stops dripping. Change filter. Refill with oil. Brilliant
What 30 seconds will do??
@@jaym.1106 ..some recommend even less. Believe me, the engine is like new. Go for 15
I can't understate how much I don't want to do this to any engine of mine but if you must, I'd do a second oil change to run the car for an hour then change immediately afterwards. Some of that ATF's bound to be left behind inside the engine even if you left out the drain plug for a week. Thus an additional oil change as a "rinse".
@@jaym.1106 Circulate the ATF inside the engine - so the deposits and sludge have an opportunity to soak for a while.
Why??? It has less than half of the viscosity and far less detergents, dispersants, antioxidants and anti-wear additives than fully formulated API spec oil. The problem with carbon, varnish and sludge in an engine is due to 10-20% of old oil is left in the engine after every oil change. That old oil that goes through another oil interval is causing the problems. I use a fully formulated oil as a rinse oil after every oil drain. I get 99% of the oil out. New oil cleans, protects, and last longer. After 190k miles, engine is still clean as a new. Use the rinse oil 3x before recycling, only adds $8 extra cost, and 15 minutes of time to the job.
The "why" is easy. Because I felt like it, it made a fun experiment on my 330,000 km truck, and I like experiments. No disrespect to your question... I'm just giving you a truly honest and straight-up answer. Appreciate your sharing of other options that sound pretty darn good to me!
@lmsdiy try something unique. ATF is out dated, repeated adnauseum and not an experiment by any stretch. Try Radial Chromatography to inspect oil condition. Two drops of hot, used engine oil on a elevated blank business card stock. Allow to disperse for 6 hours. Examine with a magnifying glass, backlight, and blacklight. Do this over the course of the oil life.
Do some technical reading instead of just opinions of other ignorant people.
@liberals_destroy_everythin2497 who are you replying too?
That's silly and a waste of money. I've been driving for 34 years, driven several vehicles over 200k. Just change the oil and filter every 5k or 6 months.
Run about 100 miles and change again
Fully sythetic oil is good for 20,000 miles. Changing oil every 3000 miles is a hangover from the 1940's,50's .
Although you are right that the oil lasts a lot longer these days than ever, I'll definitely bet money if you change your oil at those intervals on 2007 and newer Chevy trucks, your AFM hydraulic lifters will fail and you'll be pulling apart the engine to fix that because of oil changes...
@@lmsdiy In Europe engines are designed for extended oil changes. Ford Europe ,oil changes are recommended every 18000 miles. Mercedes Benz oil changes are recommended every 27000 miles for the latest Euro 6 engines. I run a 2002 vauxhall Astra diesel . GM specifies oil changes every 20,000 miles for this vehicle. Personally i change the oil every 10 to 12000 miles.
You guys are lucky over there!!! Wish I could say the same... :( The old Chevy engines, maybe. The newer ones in Canada with AFM/DOD are terrible for hydraulic lifter failure due to extended oil changes. 🤦🏻♂️
Extended oil changes like that show their affect after 100K and were implemented to reduce fleet oil consumption. If you intend to keep your car always follow the "severe driving" conditions change interval.
@@GrzegorzDurda couldn't agree more. I bought this truck very used and don't know the history on maintenance. But I do a lot of regular maintenance on my stuff and use a severe schedule too
Bad lifter
Is it possible that it's more than one bad lifter? And that it mostly only happens when the oil pressure is not high - like idling, cruising. When I'm towing the trailer and the oil pressure is higher (using tow/haul mode), it doesn't do it most of the time.
It would make sense because they are hydraulic lifters I believe. But a mechanic checked it out and thinks it's not lifters and that's it's wear in the the camshaft or crankshaft (I don't recall exactly what he said).
@@lmsdiy was reading for my dodge avenger 2.4L it showed some lifters stick in open position due to faulty release, and I'm thinking it could do harm to camshaft, after all this I think I'much prefer solid adjustable tappet lifters
Make sure you use ONLY ATF 4 . Dont use that new stuff.
bro you must drive vehicle few hundred miles at least three. ten minutes idiol doesnt clean much.
Thanks for sharing the tip. I’ve definitely heard that as well and (and the opposite). 🤷🏻♂️
I think as long as your engine and oil ends up being cleaner than before, mission accomplished! I did this on several vehicles and the engine oil was much cleaner on the next few oil changes. 🙂
I think I will take it for a drive the next time I do this, like you suggested. Thanks.