My dad says if I put a little transmission fluid in my engine it will get rid of the lifter noise.

 

How?

 

I heard that too. Zinc. Try something with zinc in it. Probably won't help. What's done is done. But slight chance it may.

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Trans fluid is a high detergent and cleans out sludge and can free sticky lifters. It can also cause damage if left in too long. I know of people that add some around 20 miles before an oil change, but I'd never try it.

 

No, zinc has nothing to do with it.

ATF (especially ATF4) is a great cleaner. it will break down gum, varnish and carbon in the motor. BUT!!!!

Don't use too much or leave it in for too long. 1/2 qt at the most for a couple undred miles.

Next time your hands are covered with grease and oil, use some ATF on them and you'll be surprised at the result.

 

Tranny fluid is high detergent. In theory, it will clean the oil journals and help the lifters get more oil in order to keep them quiet. That kind if thing hasn't helped my 90, so I run thicker oil. It seems to take care of the problem. I run 15w50 Mobil 1 full synthetic. My 4.0 only has 146k on it, and the lifters are very noisy with standard viscosity oil. Runs beautifully on the Mobil 1 though.

 

its a old school trick been around longer than most of you guys been alive some time it works some times it dont

 

this is a bit off topic but I think some anecdotal evidence that atf in your oil may not be as risky is it is being portrayed.

I have known people who run 1 out of 6.5 qts atf in their ford for as much as 2.5 K every other oil change, and others who did a strait atf oil change and ran it for 200-300 miles every 3rd. I quit working at the lube shop after a year so I cant say how long those motors ran but they were both over ~140K at the time and the owners bolth said they had been doing it since 'day one'.

If I buy a car with a sludge problem I will run a 20% atf oil change for up to 2.5 k and repeat every other oil change until the problem clears up.

I seldom buy a car with less than 140,000 miles and rarely keep it for more than 60,000 but my mpg improves as the sludge clears, and the only engines I have ever needed to rebuild are air cooled vw's and I buy those on their last legs any way (they are a lot cheaper that way).

 

I've seen mixed results with this. It definitely is "old school"!

We used to own a GM dealership and one of our oldest mechanics used to use this technique "back in the day".

I wouldn't leave ATF in the oil for very long though if I tried it. And using a commercial
sludge cleaner may be a bit safer.