Any downfalls to the ATF trick?
 

Heres the deal, I found a GXL that was sitting in a parking lot for quite some time. After much time I found out the owner, went and talked to him and this is what he said about the car. He bought it for $350 and the front rotor has compression but there is no compression on the rear rotor. It was driven however with no compression in the rear rotor. This car is in ok condition and I would like it he said he wants about as much as he paid for it. He has only driven it twice in months. My rotary owning friend and I are going over there to check it out in a few days, but my question is what are the chances of the ATF trick working. I don't have the money to buy a new rebuild (I am only 17, now is the time you yell at me for being to young to own it) so if the ATF doesn't work I don't plan on buying it. Should I do the ATF trick on both rotors or just the rear one. And is there any chance that ATF could do damage to the car. Seeing as I will try to do this before I buy it. Thank you very much (in advance).

you can get a used motor for less than $500.

the atf trick MAY work but probably it will not. MMO or Amsoil power foam seem to work better.

If something is stuck, then ATF might do the job. You have nothing to lose if the engine is already bad.

However, there are of course downfalls to ATF'ing your car:
-fouled plugs
-clogged cats
-eats oil o-rings, coolant o-rings
-massive amounts of foul smelling smoke
-may cause large chunks of carbon to dislodge and fall off of rotors. Even though ATF doesn't eat carbon very well, it can still cause this

But like I said, if it's already dead, nothing to lose...

Agreed, I would rather use MMO..... You also should do a compression check before taking someones word on the engine condition. You may be surprised with the results.

ATF treatment should be considered a last ditch attempt to loosen a motor, and in many cases will simply cause more problems than it might fix