Has anyone else used ATF in fuel filter before??
Not in fuel filter, but have dosed the fuel with ATF to lube/clean the injectors. Quart to 30 gals.
If it is for an on road commercial vehicle I wouldn't do it the fines for colored diesel is high. Personal vehicle not so much a big deal. I have had good luck with the power service injector cleaner it is about the only product of theres I like but I won't use it all the time. Couple times a year in my old mercedes cars seems to keep them running smooth
The times I have used it. Has been in construction equipment is excavators dozers mini excavator skidsteers etc. I don't do it every time just ever now and then,bout 6month mark. Then again I also the one that will hold up air filter to sunlight and look for the light
You have a 300 or 240?
I have an 82 240D and a 83 300SD
I have when changing filters to fill the filter up with something if I did not have some clean diesel around, just makes bleeding the air out easier and quicker.
Mechanic fuel injection systems love a filter full of aft. It super lubes the internals of the pumps and injectors. However I tried it on a 3406e and guess what, wouldn't fire at all. My conclusion is electronic engines don't like it. TIO
Nice, I also have a 82 240d.
I do it when changing filters, and not calling you out TIO but i just did it last week on a 2012 3406 and it worked fine. I also put a quart in every tank on older diesels. I had an old IDI 7.3l I ran ATF instead of diesel fuel when I was working at a dealer selling alot of flushes. in the winter I would mix it 50/50 with diesel.
The fuel can be tested to determine if its dye or ATF. I have been down that road and resulted in the fine being dismissed.. Just my $.02
I just had an issue with my dump and a plugged fuel filter. I picked a new filter up at my NAPA and the guy that runs it asked if I wanted a quart of atf. He said fill the filter full and it will fire right off. I had my service truck with a full transfer tank so I declined. That was the first I heard of this and now I see this thread. I have added cheap 2 stroke oil in fuel before but never atf. So does filling a filter full of atf work?
I've always had good luck with it. Like i said, i add a quart to every tank on our older diesels meant to run the old (pre ulsd) diesel. A few guys around here run 2 stroke oil but cheap atf is cheaper that cheap 2 stroke oil.
Hmmmmmmm, I will give this another try and let you know what I find. I will be putting filters on a c6.6 next week.......TIO
There is a diesel truck forum that gathered up some money to do an independent 3 Rd party test of name brand popular fuel additives and the common atf and 2 stroke oil that people try if I can get a chance to look for it I will post a link here alot of result s are not what you think they will be. This test was done as a result of the low sulphur fuel causing stiction in newer engines. To get the sulphur low it strips the lubrication qualities from the diesel fuel. Sulphur in the fuel was never for ep lubricity like everyone thinks it was a contaminate.
Not trying to argue, just throwing in my knowledge, but I was always taught that the sulfur helped lubricate the injection pumps. You can also feel the difference in diesel fuel now. It used to feel almost like baby oil, now it almost feels more like a parts solvent.
I think this may have some similarities to the argument I heard in relation to them taking the lead out of gas. Some argued that if lead was added to the gas then why does leaving it out make it cost more as they were not using it so it should cost less. Problem with that thinking was that the lead was a cheap way to increase octane. So to keep the octane up high enough for at least some engines more expensive stuff or refining had to be done. Where with the sulfur in the diesel it was not ,as I understand it, an additive but just something "natural" that in the right amount did have some positive effects. I'm not sure if the loss of the sulfur alone is what caused the "problems" or if some other factors related to the methods used caused the problems. Maybe something else happened to the chemistry of the fuel in the removal process.
"Diesel fuel lubricity study" search will find you the lubricity additives study with some interesting results. ATF was not included in the study, but used motor oil, 2 cycle oil and Marvel mystery oil were and all failed. The test was a lubricity improvement only, not detergent or any other claimed benefit of MMO or ATF.
Just my 2 cents, I still run 2 97-98 Chevy 6.5L one tons. For the last year I've been using Stanadyne Performance additive and it makes a big difference in the way they run, eliminates the snarl and rattle in cold mode, hardly any white smoke on start up, and I gain 1 to 1.5 mpg using 8 oz. every other fill up. For grins I went without it for a month and the one I drive every day regressed to its old noisy self. One tank treatment brought it back. My old 94 Dodge Cummins likes it too. However, My bigger trucks don't show much change, The F-800 has the 7.8 and it does idle a bit cleaner when it's cold. That's about it.
I use it often to fill filters especially away from the shop on those harder to prime ones not for any magical cleaning purposes its just a lot cleaner than the nozzle on my tank When I worked at an auto shop the only thing my older diesels ran on was used aft from the flush machine poured though paint filter and ran 100 percent aft for years
If you have a rig with a good lift pump, never put anything inside the filter. period. the fuel flow is from the outside in, it only takes a micron or 2 and the pump is hurting. If you have to fill a filter do it on the outside holes, not the center.
Bingo. The only time you have to fill a fuel filter is when there is no thumb lever on the lift/primary pump and the injection pump doesn't have a manual plunger. Most fuel filter housings have a bleeder plug to remove at the top.
Just wondering why ATF and not engine(a bit heavy maybe) or hydraulic oil ? I have been adding 1 to 400 engine oil to the fuel since I started getting more frequent fuelpump problems . I have said it here on another post last year ,but I am woundering is it causing ash? buildup on piston crowns . I did a headgasket on 1 JD tractor and there was shadows of the valves in the cement like buildup on piston tops . The buildup was heading for 3 mm . I was thinking maybe sunflower oil might smell nicer though .
I'm not going to say to put anything in the filter. ATF, however is a pretty good crud cleaner. Ever hear of marvel mystery oil? Guess what, its ATF, one of the older classes, IIRR. Back in college, I had a professor, who had it analyzed. Anyway, it works pretty good at unsticking lifters, when mixed at about 20%, in motor oil...:thumbsup:thumbsup
Good point about unsticking lifters, I have known alot of people to flush engines with ATF. throw a quart or 2 in before a PM and drive it a day or so then drain it out and put fresh oil in. Have also used it on sludged up engines that you pull the valve cover and can't see the valves for the sludge. worked really good. Had on about 2 years ago I pulled the V/C for a reseal and saw how bad it was. drained what little oil would come out the plug, filled with ATF, start it up, drain it, repeat about 10 times. Pulled the valve cover a few months ago just to see and it looked like a normal 100k engine.
A friend of mine used to use waste oil of various types to live off-grid. He used fry grease, ATF, motor oil, etc. He reported that ATF burned almost just like diesel. Motor oil does not want to burn at all. I hypothesize that motor oil is designed to NOT burn in an engine, therefore it also does not want to burn in an injection system. Plus you may be right about ash content and other stuff. There are a lot of additives in motor oil. Of course now with DPFs they have had to limit that a lot.
I read years ago that type F ATF had some kind of mild abrasive in it to prevent glazing. I don't know if any of the current production ATF does. I wouldn't want any abrasive in a diesel injection system at all, mild or not. On the subject of ATF to clean sludged engines, I had been told a long time ago that it makes the problem worse, loosening up the sludge only to have it land in a lifter permanently, causing a perfectly good hydraulic lifter to start tapping.
The story I was given in automatic transmission class was that type F had no friction modifiers which made it grabbier while Dexron had them which made it smoother.
You're probably right, as my memory fails me often.
I had been on the road for about 20 hours driving and pulled into a truck stop to refuel at midnight and in my grogginess filled the tank halfway with gas before I realized I had grabbed the wrong nozzle. I panicked but called the diesel guru I was heading to and he told me to put 3 quarts of ATF in (I had pumped about 15 gallons of gas) and not worry about it. He told me ATF had a concentrate of the lubricants that are in diesel. For the first 30 minutes I concentrated on listening for detonation or some other odd noise but I drove the rest of the trip without incident and never had problems with the engine.