Now that Christmas break is here, and I can afford to have my car be out of comission for a few days, I want to do the ATF treatment to my engine. My only concern is that, because I live in Nebraska, the temparature is very cold (lows of 14 at night, and highs of 34 in the day). Will the cold temperatures in my area adversely affect my ability to properly carry out the procedure? I'm taking inherant problems with the cold temps, not simply my qualms about working in the cold (I might have access to a slightly heated garage, which would be more around 40 to 50 degrees).

 

It shouldn't hurt it, actually, the atf will help your car start easier because it's helping build compression.

 

Doing the ATF treatment in a closed garage..... now THAT I would like to see. Do post pics.

 

inittab: lol, yeah, i'm sorry, but i don't have a particular interest in being esphyxiated (sp?) clearly, i'd open the garage up beforehand

 

LOL. That would be great!

 

if it runs fine now, you won't be doing a damn thing except making a big smoke cloud when you start the engine the first time afterwards.

 

"if it runs fine now, you won't be doing a damn thing except making a big smoke cloud when you start the engine the first time afterwards."

Ya, I thought the ATF trick was only to get a dead engine running, not something you just do, just to do. I know first hand the greatness of ATF but it's not something you just do.

 

I believe he's talking about using ATF to remove carbon buildup in the engine; not just squirting it in to temporarily aid compression for a cold start.

I dunno, I've only just read about it, never done it. It would seem, however, that the cold would affect it as it would any solvent - slow the solvent activity down. You may have to let it "soak" longer.

 

The BEST way to remove carbon is water. While running the engine at a good rpm, squirt water into the intake. Or hook up water injection.

 

I've had a rotor sitting in a bucket of ATF for several *months*.

Carbon is still there except for where I scraped it off.

If an engine has poor compression because there's carbon keeping the apex seals from moving freely, then a week or two of sitting bathed in oil (ATF or MMO or regular ol' motor oil will work, as long as it's high-detergent) will get things freed up again. But if it's working OK, then it will do nothing except annoy the neighbors.

 

And what's the problem in that? lol

 

Yeah, annoying the neighbors is always good ...
Anyway, as far as doing it just for doing it, no, i'm not. my car has a hell of a time starting, especially when its cold out, and i'm beginning to find that the previous owner didn't take as good care of it as i thought, so i thought it'd be a good idea to make sure i don't have a dirty engine.