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Adding ATF to your diesel fuel?
- Thread starter REDWOLF
- Start date
snowtrac nome
Well-known member
I personally wouldn't add atf I saw some tests once and the 2 cycle oil scored the best uses atf was the worst new atf wasn't much better. Its about impossible to get all contaminants out of your used oil, so you can expect to shorten the life of moving parts in your injection system. The injection pump is intended for oil with the viscosity of diesel mix too much oil and over the long term you are going to have an adverse effect on accumulator springs in the injection pump. Some pumps are more durable than others, but your db-2 was not known for its long life to start with, compared to a bosch ve pump it is quite affordable. if I was to mix fuel it would be with 2 cycle oil as it is blended to stay in suspension in a solvent where as motor oil and atf will settle to the bottom of the tank in the long term.
cucvrus
Well-known member
Life expectancy of the oil in my Son's case was 4 Hours max. He did not carry used oil with him. He put it in the tank when he left home and it was gone by mid state Virginia. Personally I would use it up 1 QT per tank and I am sure you will be fine. Or NOT and dump it in a waste oil furnace. Good Luck.
I belong to the CAF and a lot of guys I know have used Marvels Mystery Oil in their aircraft for years. There was a report done by an aviation magazine some years ago about how the internal parts and cylinder walls looked "almost new" after a MOA after using Marvels consistently. So we started using it on our farm in all our diesel tractors and equipment for about the last ten years, We have one JD with over 8,000 hrs that has never had anything done normal maintenance. I put a quart per tank full in our HMMWVs. Who knows,,,,,,
dmetalmiki
Well-known member
The inner works of automatic transmissions have close tolerances and run hot. A.T.F. is required and used for that purpose. There are no contaminants in it. I have used one quart to a full tank for many years, and all my trucks are coming up to 14 years of heavy use. Many heavy truckers use about that ratio to good effect. However, IF you use old used A.T.F. it needs refining and filtering as fine as you can. It can contain asbestos from band linings. Not so much now days. I personally filter down to 1 micron.
I absolutely do notice the better running and quieter engines.
I absolutely do notice the better running and quieter engines.
pmramsey
Active member
Running Marvel Mystery Oil in an aircraft of any sort negates one's insurance coverage and becomes cause for the suspension of one's pilot certificate (contrary to popular myth and informed journalists, pilots are not licensed) should the stuff ever be discovered in the fuel tank of an aircraft being flown. However, the only time it might be discovered is in an NTSB crash report in which case the widow is just plain SOL.
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Lonnie
Member
Not sure of the makeup of various ATF types, but the type "F" had a friction modifier added to help clutches grab better. I used to put type "F" in many GM performance builds to get a better shift. Not sure how this translates to it's lubricating quality but thought I would throw it out there.
Personally I'd use the ATF to change the trans fluid in one of my vehicles & put the savings from the fluid change into a case of good diesel additive.
Personally I'd use the ATF to change the trans fluid in one of my vehicles & put the savings from the fluid change into a case of good diesel additive.
It totally depends on what the coverage states.
One coverage does not fit all aircraft.
I’ve never flown a piston powered anything so can’t comment on that part, but if you want to trash a turbine, that’s a quick way to do it.
I personally use two-cycle oil in all my diesels.
It's inexpensive, designed to be burned and it works.
ATF fluid, with friction modifiers, doesn’t sound good for an injection pump or injector.
Plus, It’s not designed to be burned.
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Gunzy
Well-known member
If the fluid was free go ahead and use it at 1qt per tank. I had some Dexron/Mercon and ran it at 2 qts per tank on my HEMTT 2 stroke (158 gallon tank). I have also dumped in 45 gallons of 10 wt (from a hydraulic system) that was clean with 100 gallons of diesel and used clean motor oils (usually 15W40) as a way to bring up lubricity. These were all free oils. When I am buying an additive I usually get Diesel Klean. It made my Detroit 8V92 smoke more but ran fine with the same power output. The little Detroit 6.2 4 stroke likely isn't going to be bothered at all by a little Type F atf.
alpine44
Member
Just want to share a recent experience of running a 7.3L Navistar (Ford Powerstroke with different ECU) without additional lubrication additive.
After burning about 700 gallons of straight #2 ULSD, the injection events were fading out softly and randomly at mid power. Idle and full power was fine and no error codes were thrown. The missing injection events were more frequent when the engine was warm.
An old school diesel injector shop that I called for help asked me whether I was using any lubrication additives in the fuel. Bashfully, I responded with "NO" still hoping that the HEUI setup would be more tolerant to ULSD than the older pump-injected engines. Following the injector shop's advice and not knowing what else to do, I added the recommended amount of "Power Service" diesel additive (closest truck stop did not have Stanadyne). This fixed the problem within minutes.
Since then I add Stanadyne additive to ALL of my diesels (GM, Mercedes, Navistar, Onan, Hatz, Farymann, Deutz). The reason for not using B100 Biodiesel -the clear winner among lubricity enhancers- is that it is hard to get where I live and potentially problematic if there is any (condensation) water in the tank.
After burning about 700 gallons of straight #2 ULSD, the injection events were fading out softly and randomly at mid power. Idle and full power was fine and no error codes were thrown. The missing injection events were more frequent when the engine was warm.
An old school diesel injector shop that I called for help asked me whether I was using any lubrication additives in the fuel. Bashfully, I responded with "NO" still hoping that the HEUI setup would be more tolerant to ULSD than the older pump-injected engines. Following the injector shop's advice and not knowing what else to do, I added the recommended amount of "Power Service" diesel additive (closest truck stop did not have Stanadyne). This fixed the problem within minutes.
Since then I add Stanadyne additive to ALL of my diesels (GM, Mercedes, Navistar, Onan, Hatz, Farymann, Deutz). The reason for not using B100 Biodiesel -the clear winner among lubricity enhancers- is that it is hard to get where I live and potentially problematic if there is any (condensation) water in the tank.
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Just bought a Gallon of Optilube winter from their website.
http://opti-lube.com/diesel-fuel-improver/winter-blend-diesel-fuel-improver.html
#1 To prevent gelling up here when we get those 40 below days.
#2 For lubricity improvement
It was $69.62 delivered for 1 gallon.
1 gallon treats 512 gallons of fuel.
That is just over 13 cents a gallon or about $3.50 to treat a tankful in the M1009.
Lucky for me, when I use my own truck for lodge business, the lodge has agreed to pay for the fuel for that errand.
So it seemed appropriate to spend a little extra to get this stuff.
Claims to protect the fuel from gelling down to minus 50 F.
We never get that cold but where the truck spends the winter it gets every bit of minus 40 a few times a winter and minus 20 regularly.
http://opti-lube.com/diesel-fuel-improver/winter-blend-diesel-fuel-improver.html
#1 To prevent gelling up here when we get those 40 below days.
#2 For lubricity improvement
It was $69.62 delivered for 1 gallon.
1 gallon treats 512 gallons of fuel.
That is just over 13 cents a gallon or about $3.50 to treat a tankful in the M1009.
Lucky for me, when I use my own truck for lodge business, the lodge has agreed to pay for the fuel for that errand.
So it seemed appropriate to spend a little extra to get this stuff.
Claims to protect the fuel from gelling down to minus 50 F.
We never get that cold but where the truck spends the winter it gets every bit of minus 40 a few times a winter and minus 20 regularly.
Been a while since I posted, and i'll admit I haven't read all posts, but thought I'd give my two cent opinion. There are guys here much more knowledgeable than me, so keep that in mind.
If I was given atf, i'd look at it as free fuel. I'd mix it with diesel, though. I've run it before and works fine. As for long term effects, good or bad, I don't know. Also be aware that red fuel could be mistaken for off road use only diesel for construction or tractors. Where I'm located, I wouldn't worry about that but if I lived near oil fields or frequent construction sites, i'd think about it more.
If it's used atf, i'd want to filter/clean it real good.
If I was given atf, i'd look at it as free fuel. I'd mix it with diesel, though. I've run it before and works fine. As for long term effects, good or bad, I don't know. Also be aware that red fuel could be mistaken for off road use only diesel for construction or tractors. Where I'm located, I wouldn't worry about that but if I lived near oil fields or frequent construction sites, i'd think about it more.
If it's used atf, i'd want to filter/clean it real good.