I was at the local parts store today and I saw this dude pouring transmission fluid in the engine oil spout. He said he does it about 500 miles before and oil change to clean the engine since all the tranny fluid really is, is a detergant. I thought he was crazy! Any truth to this?

 

I did a google search and other people are doing it also. Ive never heard of such a thing.

 

yeah ive heard of this too, and it is true. tranny fluid is a lubricant that is also a pretty good detergent

 

Trans fluid has high acid content which does the cleaning. Apparently it will put holes in your clothes if you don't wash it out.

 

Old school engine cleaner. Before sea foam or gunk.

 

woah... never woulda though to do this. How much do they use? Apparently it works, but I wonder if its worth doing...

 

I do this...General rule is to substitute 1/2-1 qt of oil for same amount ATF in the engine. Been doing this to my Intrepid since I got it with 88K and the oil looks cleaner now at 118K then it did when I got it. The only negative is it can make any leaks worse because there's no gunk to seal the leak.

 

If you use synthetics oils, this gets done the whole time you're using it, assuming that it gets changed at good intervals. While it may work for the old time stuff, I'd be really reluctant to use it in the new engines with all the different coatings they have on them.

Just my .02

 

Yep, Ive heard of it before but again, dont pour a lot of it in there.

 

Tranny fliud is a super grease cutter for all-around. Years, I've used trans oil for first-pass for cutting the black grease from the arms and hands before using the normal shop cleaner, clearns deeper and less effort. Put it in a spray bottle next to the GoJo.
Add it to paper towels and rub off greasy road spatters and then normal wash.
Works great.