fragmare

I was out in my garage the other day talking to my neighbor, who's a mechanic at a transmission shop, and we got on the subject of engine buildup. He said a good way to flush an engine is to drain the oil, install a cheapie oil filter and then refill with the oil with about 1.5 quarts of ATF mixed into it, then run it for a few hundred miles... What?! Is that even safe for the engine? I can sort of see where he's coming from, with the detergent properties of ATF and all... but I'd imagine the weight and viscosities of the ATF and the 5W30 I normally use would be wildly different. Anyone tried this or have any input?

97civkid

I have also heard this before but you only used ATF and only let it idle for about 5 min

BryanM.

iTrader: (1)

I've heard that one before and I wouldn't do anything like that.

Is your motor really sludged up or something?

jchope

ive used it at a lube shop i use to work at when we where out of are oil flush

redm3turbo

Never heard that....would personally never try it.

Blacknight117

iTrader: (1)

Isn't that why they make seafoam?

fragmare

No, not really. We were just having a conversation and the subject came up. In fact, the bottom of the head, valve bottoms/faces, and piston tops are all clean as a whistle. When I had the head off while replacing my head gasket, I took that opportunity to carefully clean everything with carb cleaner, oven cleaner (fine on metal, just be careful you don't get it on anything rubber or plastic), an old toothbrush, a shop towel and my trusty thumbnail.

I have no idea what the bottom end looks like, but I'm about to find out when I change the oil pan gasket here in the next day or two.

95EG2

they make engine flush and yes seafoam i heard works good. but atf i wouldnt trust that. it called automatic TRANSMISSION fluid for a reason

greenteadude

ATF is rich in detergents so its definitely useful in flushing out crud in your engine.. I've used it as a flush before. ran my engine for 30min before draining out the oil.

Hidenplanvew

I dont know about 30 I guess depends but I was tought by my grandfather who was a mechanic. Fill like oil, run till hot and drain, Flush with cheap oil, drain and drain, fill with good quality oil. Its a very old school thing to do, and was normal years and years ago.

Gio345

Im a Mechanic and Yes you can use ATF as a flush, but only put about 1 quart more or less and have the car idle for about 15-20mins then drain and replace filter and your good to go (: