Fuel Additives - Transmission Fluid

After 34 years of running twin diesels it was necessary to have my tanks cleaned. An access port was cut in the top of the black steel tanks. Baffels were cut away and 5 gallons of goop was removed. Baffels were reattached and inspection panels attached and sealed.

An old sea salt advised that a quart of transmission fluid added to a 300 gallon fill makes a good biocide. Has anyone tried this?

MVDarlin said:

After 34 years of running twin diesels it was necessary to have my tanks cleaned. An access port was cut in the top of the black steel tanks. Baffels were cut away and 5 gallons of goop was removed. Baffels were reattached and inspection panels attached and sealed.

An old sea salt advised that a quart of transmission fluid added to a 300 gallon fill makes a good biocide. Has anyone tried this?

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Surely someone has tried this, but if you believe you need to use a fuel additive to solve a problem, why not use one that has been engineered and sold for the purpose?

There are several on the market and they probably don't cost more than transmission fluid.

They are far more expensive.

With clean tanks, no water leaks into them, good clean fuel and regular turnover you can avoid the need for any of the "stuff" recommended by old salts. But old myths die hard.

How does the old salt know it true lyrics is a brocade? And how well do you trust him.

For similar sized bottles, I can't imagine the difference in price is worth it....I would investigate if it were gallons and gallons used every year and the price difference made it worthy of the effort.

I've had excellent results with Biobor JF. $20 to treat over 1200 gallons.

I'm struggling with this one: "...true lyrics is a brocade?"

I think spell check has has done that to you.

Keep water out of it and use the fuel, as somebody suggested. Biobor was invented for generators and other devices that sat around for long times without being used...wait...hmmm.

Oh well, I've never used it...

MVDarlin said:

An old sea salt advised that a quart of transmission fluid added to a 300 gallon fill makes a good biocide. Has anyone tried this?

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Why the heck would transmission fluid kill bacteria that live in the boundary layer between water and petroleum?

If you want to use a biocide, use a biocide.

I use Biobore and Stabill as directed.

Greetings,
Mr. 11. "If you want to use a biocide, use a biocide."....But, but..."They are far more expensive." I hear ya brother...

I just love fuel additive threads Any chance the transmission fluid would give better boat speed at the same RPM or should I stick with gun oil

Greetings,
Mr. g. You have NOT been paying attention! Tang!

Some old guy in the parking lot told me that mixing equal parts seawater and gasoline would make my car go downhill faster. What do you guys think?

when i ran my big truck 60 series detroit i would use lucas fuel additive and when changing fuel filters i would always fill the fuel filters with the lucas fuel additive cleans out the injectors real good like giving it a tune up just my two cents

never add trans fluid to fuel!! you may get away with it for a period of time or it may blow out the injector tip first time you do it. its just not worth the risk when there is no proven benefit to adding it. you are much better off using know additives for gelling or algae.

Xsbank said:

I'm struggling with this one: "...true lyrics is a brocade?"

I think spell check has has done that to you.

Keep water out of it and use the fuel, as somebody suggested. Biobor was invented for generators and other devices that sat around for long times without being used...wait...hmmm.

Oh well, I've never used it...

Click to expand...

My singing is definitely a biocide, crowd repellant and maybe a paint remover too....

Sorry, on the road and Internet hasn't been an on demand luxury most days.

newbe said:

when i ran my big truck 60 series detroit i would use lucas fuel additive

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Lucas??I`d be worried about the lights and electrics failing.

MVDarlin said:

They are far more expensive.

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You live in Mexico for crying out loud!

Take a bit of that money you're saving on labor and spend it on the right product for the job.

You really need to be careful here, you're starting to sound like a sailboater.
:lol:

+1

Sorry to offend you. I was only asking for information on the viability of tranny fluid as an additive. I thought that was the purpose of posting, to get information from others. I do not need unsolicited opinions about my finances.

Oh, and I do own a sailboat as well.

MVDarlin said:

Oh, and I do own a sailboat as well.

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You must be rich

also back in the day old truckers used trans fluid in their tanks to help clean them out and the engines some of them would swear by it working but thats a driver talking too

Lubricity Additive Study Results - Diesel Place : Chevrolet and GMC Diesel Truck Forums

Look up and read the link above. Trans fluid is not in it. I just posted it to show that there are a LOT of additives out there and many of them are actually harmfull except to the seller's pocketbook.

Some of these suggestions got started many years ago when a lot of diesel engines would burn almost anything. That is not the case any more for most of our engines today.

CPseudonym said:

Some old guy in the parking lot told me that mixing equal parts seawater and gasoline would make my car go downhill faster. What do you guys think?

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Old guy is right way water-fuel emulsions gome marine diesel engines future, save fuel gonsuptions 5-15%, To reduce carbon, to reduce NOX.

Read this, pleace

The Motorship | Emulsion fuels target market acceptance

MVDarlin said:

Sorry to offend you. I was only asking for information on the viability of tranny fluid as an additive. I thought that was the purpose of posting, to get information from others. I do not need unsolicited opinions about my finances.

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It was just a joke.

C lectric said:

Lubricity Additive Study Results - Diesel Place : Chevrolet and GMC Diesel Truck Forums

Look up and read the link above. Trans fluid is not in it. I just posted it to show that there are a LOT of additives out there and many of them are actually harmfull except to the seller's pocketbook.

Some of these suggestions got started many years ago when a lot of diesel engines would burn almost anything. That is not the case any more for most of our engines today.

Click to expand...

Very Interesting reading! Thanks

Can someone enlighten me as to where this idea of sucking diesel from boat tanks from a tube that comes down from the top, comes from..? Thereby guaranteeing the goop that forms when some fuel sediment and water, which sinks to the bottom, slops around long enough to emulsify into a nasty sludge that can then block filters if enough gets stirred up, then sucked up. Capt Bill will probably have an answer, I guess. But will it be a good answer..?

As opposed, I mean, to draining the tanks from the lowest point, so any such water and sediment is constantly being drained and filtered out in the primary filter and water separator, so never builds up. My boat is set up like that, and the filters last literally years. Nordhavn have a similar set up, I believe. Fuel pickups make sense for portable tanks like outboard motor fuel tanks, but when they are permanently plumbed in, why this weird set-up.. It has always puzzled me. Seems a recipe for mucky tanks. However, I now understand better now why MVDarlin made a comment about cleaning tanks on a different thread - recent bitter experience, clearly.

I believe that the Automatic transmission fluid as a diesel additive had nothing to do with enhansing lubricity, water displacement or biocide.
Rather, it was recommended as a way to help clean a slightly misfiring injector.
I remember reading a Mercedes Benz diesel maintenance training manual produced in the 1970's that spoke of using ATF in fuel this way.
I also note that in the days before latex gloves became popular with mechanics, my hands were never cleaner than when I repaired/rebuilt automatic transmissions. ATF has a way of cleaning that is amazing.

My dad drove a 4 cylinder Mercedes diesel for about 10 years and 350,000 miles before a tree fell on it. When it began sounding too "diesely" or knocking too much he added a can of ATF to the fuel. Worked every time to restore the engine to its happy spot...
Bruce

Bruce,
I remember that as well.
And in the 50's ATF was used in gasoline engines (crankcase) to clean them up when they got sludged up. At that time a lot of cars had run for years on non-detergent oil. I remember putting kerosene in w the oil on dad's chevrolet wagon 6cyl to clean it up. As I remember it worked re the sludge (more or less) but caused other problems. Dad got a new Chevrolet w V8 engine and ran detergent oil.

Re ATF now in fuel oil for diesel boats .. there is a lot of additives in ATF that may/probably will cause trouble. Anti foaming additives for example. When the additives in ATF get to combustion tempetures (that they never were intended to do) who knows what's going to happen. As several have said here using additives designed for the purpose is much smarter. PeterB and Clectric make a lot of sense.