fsmyth
Full Access Member
Two stroke oil has some detergents but it's mostly added for lubrication and it's designed to combust without leaving deposits. That's why it's a pretty good lubricity additive for diesel fuel.
As I have said before, ATF DOES NOT have a very robust detergency package (compared to motor oil) because an automatic transmission is a closed environment. An engine is ingesting dirty air (the air filter always lets some dirt thru) and the combustion process adds to the contamination. Also, ATF is not designed to combust, so it will leave deposits when it burns. Finally, it adds very little lubricity to the fuel... even versus pump fuel with the correct amount of additive or especially fuel treated with an supplemental additive.. or even 2-stroke oil. Doesn't do much harm but it doesn't do much good either. Just a waste. The possible saving grace to some modern ATF formulations is that some contain esters which can be good solvents. It all depends on the type and how it works on whatever sort of gunk there may be in an injection pump. Still hoping Mell will chime in on what sorts of gunk he might see inside pumps and how much it interferes with the injection system.
My whole post was in the context of a N/A IDI. It has burned some stuff that simply
amazes me. And seems happy for the most part. It absolutely LOVES hydraulic oil
My waste ATF goes in it's own drum. If I get a good batch of 70/30, I will add it to that.
Otherwise, I use a 85/15 WMO/RUG mix. Still keep the side tank straight #2, just in case.
The WMO and ATF mixes seem to burn almost as clean as #2. Very little additional smoke.
The only other truck I had that would burn all this and be happy was a Mack.
The John Deere is OK with it also, but I alternate straight and mixed tanks.
The Cummins gets #2 and ashless 2-stroke at 200:1. Only.
Not sure if I would trust ATF to clean up a pump. Seems to me that some of the
cleaners in the store would probably be more effective (Sea Foam, etc...)
It would be nice to know if ATF actually DOES clean it up - what and how much.
Not ever having the problem (probably because of the RUG mixes), I personally
have never tried it. Keeping an open mind (what's left of it).