Adding atf to diesel fuel

[div7racer]

When I was filling up my truck tonight,a guy with a 1995 3500 box truck told me to add a quart of atf to each tank of fuel.He said his truck has 350,000 miles on the origional motor,and runs like the day he bought it (and has never even had the valve cover taken off).Is this a common practice,either with atf or some other additive?Just wondering what the experts here think.

 

[rubberfish]

It won't hurt anything. Using ATF is kind of old school.
Along with 2cycle oil and the likes. Proper store bought
stuff is good as well. Try to use something, take your pick,
at least every other fill-up. It's good for the inj pump.
Especially since the brewers have been going with a
"lower sulphur" blend of fuel. That used work as a lubricant
for the pumps. Now it's recommended you add it yourself,
not sulphur, but the other stuff. Everybody has their fav
for some reason or another, either cost, availability, etc.
Pick one, any one, it does a pump good. Personally, I'm
not loyal to one, I use what ever I get my hands on.

 

[Whit]

I agree that something needs to be used as an additive but ATF wouldnt be mt choice, Never know exactly whats in there fer sure, My choice is any fuel aditive as thats what it is made for, Atf wont help as a centane booster or a anti-gel, there are many quality additives out there that will have the whole package,I know in the olden days alot of folks would use their used motor oil in their fuel too JMHO

 

[BMF]

People use all kind of crap. I once watched a guy pour half a bottle of ATF down his carb. in a grocery store parking lot. He was driving an old ford pickup and said he doe's this every 3K or so. I coulldn't believe the old thing cranked. Drove away in a cloud of smoke though.

 

[MUDDY]

dont do it. atf isnt designed to be burned. they say it more of a solvent instead of a lubricant. the p7100 pumps are more forgiving but they say it will harm the later vp44 and earlier ve and the new cr w/ its pricey injectrs. stanadyne,powersrvice,howes, redline,,,,,,,etc all make goood stuff designed to run in the fuel

 

[PackRat]

People use all kind of crap. I once watched a guy pour half a bottle of ATF down his carb. in a grocery store parking lot. He was driving an old ford pickup and said he doe's this every 3K or so. I coulldn't believe the old thing cranked. Drove away in a cloud of smoke though.

That was a widely used practice, among gasser, back when I was on the service bay. Lil old ladies who never get out of town, come in complaining of a poor running engine, or top end noise.

Last thing, before qiutting time, we'd pull the air cleaner, and give it a dose of ATF, while holding it about 3/4 throttle. When you get good at it, you could use the ATF, to keep the engine from running away with itself. Let it sit overnight, and go run the carbon out of it, the next morning.

A pretty good trick, is to put a T in your buddies vaccum line, and stash a bottle under his hood. One it starts sucking the ATF in, it will buck, smoke, and generally be embarrasing.

 

[TooMuchBoost]

I like 2 stroke oil especially if you are running K-1. It raises the BTU's, adds some lubrication and enough of it will raise the HP.

 

[div7racer]

Thank you all for your replies.I guess I should be putting something in the tank every other fill up,and it wont be atf !I will go to Pep Boys or Kragen or the like and see whats available.Thanks again,and Happy Holidays to you all.

 

[PADIESEL]

My ???? most atf is red will that die the fuel red? Then what if the dot dip your tank??????

 

[holtzer1]

My ???? most atf is red will that die the fuel red? Then what if the dot dip your tank??????

your screwed cuz they will never believe its atf...all they will see is dollar signs for a huge fine, untaxed fuel DOT

 

[wanderer]

your screwed cuz they will never believe its atf...all they will see is dollar signs for a huge fine, untaxed fuel DOT

Word dude. I was dipped a few years ago, and I was admittedly "dirty" with dyed fuel in one tank. While I was talking to the revenuer, I asked about ATF, and he told me it would show up as the governments' dye, and you would be fined.

 

[PADIESEL]

That what I was thinking damn just drop an extra dollar on the right stuff.....

 

[steved]

ATF will eventually eat diesel injectors if used a lot...it has FRICTION MODIFIERS in it which act the opposite of a lubricant. It also contains a lot of detergent which, will also clean deposits out, but not all deposits are bad. I don't know how much is harmfull, but someone dumping a quart into 200 gallons versus us dumping a quart into 35 gallons is a significant difference.

I have used ATF to remove carbon from gassers by dribbling it into the carb...it works great, something about the cold ATF hitting the hot carbon causes it to spall the carbon off from components.

I too have been dipped...whenever I run crosscountry, I quit using Marvel Mystery Oil for the same reason...probably not an issue if you have fuel receipts with you, but I don't want the hassle.

steved

 

[tomm]

With the onset of ULSD I atarted adding Power Service and since my LP died last week, I am adding 10 oz of TC-W3 2 stroke oil per fillup as well.

ATF is a no no as is anything synthetic.

Folks say 2 stroke will clog injectors but the Power Service keeps em clean.

No more smoke than usual and engine is quieter.

 

[redram2500]

What is "dipping" and who does it and what leads them to do it?