As this thread has indicated, there's 3 types of people, those who use it and swear by it, those who would never use it and think it's crazy, and those who have no idea wtf we're talking about. The question is, who's actually right and who has proof of what? :P

 

http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/atftrick.htm

 

2 years ago my 7 sat for 6 months, waiting for the engine to be transplanted to another body. I dumped ATF into the UIM every 3-4 weeks and cranked the motor to circulate it a bit. Otherwise it just sat. At the end of this the motor fired right up, no problem (the amount of smoke coming out of the exhaust was RETARDED) and I haven't had a problem with the motor since.

I'll have to check the fuel log, but I'm certain I've put over 100,000kms on that motor since then (I drive a LOT) and she's still 100%. She doesn't smoke on start-up nor under load. If the ATF harmed the oil seals, that damage has yet to show itself...

 

Aaron, you keep stating that the ATF harms the side seals. Don't you mean the oil seals?

 

Aaron..you say in that write-up of yours...people always complain about there car burning oil afterwards....I've never read anything like that at all...although I'm sure I haven't been browsing RX-7 boards as long as you...but care to share some with me....

Sonic Rat: in his write-up..he refers to the atf harming water seals.

Ive done atf in my car....and one of my friends does it all the time. It didnt clog my cat what so ever...nor foul my 02 sensor..im just curious to where people get there info...first hand experience here. Its obviously gonna foul your plugs.....big deal....its not like you do it every week..so whats the harm in a plug replacement...put the atf in...let it sit...run your car with your old plugs to burn it off...drive it for a bit..then change em..I think for carbon cleaning...the water trick is my preference...but i believe atf will not do a damn thing to a rotary engine that wasnt going to happen to it already...i.e. if it was good loose a water seal...i think it would have happned with or without atf.

 

I do agree though for unflooding an engine...motor oil will work just fine...anything that wil allow you to get a better seal so you can have enough comp. to start a flooded engine..

 

Yep, I mean oil seals. I sometimes use the term interchangably...

ATF is not a sure way to harm the car, but it certainly doesn't help.

3 things go in an engine: gas, coolant and oil.

 

I've also done it after my rx7 had been sitting for a couple months. Before the ATF trick, the engine was a little hard to hand-crank. After the ATF trick, it started like a charm. You know, because charms start really easily.

 

Apex seal was hurt, so this didn't hurt anything except all the mosquitos in the vicinity.


-Ted

 

ive put marvel mystery in my engine before.....let is sit for the week in there while i was down to my bareblock porting my manifolds and before I even installed my engine..you can see the carbon drip off the rotors. I think that MMO might be a better bet...but I believe the water trick through a good vacc. line is the way to go. Its all about how comfortable you feel doing it to YOUR motor..

 

I understand the arguments against, but it has worked for me. I think MMO is the better option, though.

Worthy of note is that I have NEVER used this to unflood an engine. For that I usually just pull the EGI COMP fuse, and in extreme cases, pulling the spark plugs.

The only instance I would really recommend its use is for an engine that has been sitting idle for an extended period, usually over a couple months.

Aaron, I have to say I disagree with your theory that the ATF attacks rubber. There are rubber seals, and hoses, in an auto tranny also. Granted, there are different types of rubber, but I don't think there's that much of a difference between the rubber used in A/T's and that used for the engine seals. What seems more likely in my opinion is that the carbon worked loose from the apex seal recesses damaged the seals, as they would me much more abrasive than the ATF would be (considering that ATF is a lubricant).

That's my 2¢ anyway...

Ren

 

thank you! i agree....

 

I *just* used it to unflood a severely flooded engine (due to getting fuel DUMPED into the engine as the fuel injectors were removed). I had also just put in new spark plugs. However, I let the ATF burn off for about a half hour and the exhaust cleared right up very quickly. Are my brand new plugs wasted now? Should I replace them, clean them, or will they be okay?

I too, was concerned about the ATF in the engine, and probably would have used either oil or MMO if I was thinking better, but ATF was at hand.

The ATF sat in the engine for about an hour and a half, due to the time it took me to get a battery charged enough to crank the engine properly. However, the engine *did* start, better than it has ever started before, and seems to be great now. Any feedback on this particular use of ATF would be appreciated.

A note: I *did* try to floor the accelerator (I have an S5) and crank a lot, but that did nothing except totally exhaust my battery. However, that trick has worked before, when it was only lightly flooded.

 

Amen

 

I also don't believe that ATF is bad for any of the internal seals it might come in contact with, my engine had ATF in it for a good 2months while I was doing my turbo conversion. Havn't experienced any problems so far, and I can't see any developing in the future because of it. The ammount of black sludge that came out of the motor when I did this was unreal though.

I also have another engine that I'm about to rebuild that has had ATF in it for about the same length of time aswell, so I will be very interested to look at the condition of the seals when I take it appart...

I'm just interested who actually has had a problem they can directly contribute to ATF (not carbon breaking free like someone else suggested)

 

Yep, and there was alot of smoke!
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=129551

 

Ok guys, question:

I just finished rebuilding/reinstalling the engine in my '88 gxl. I went to start it up and it cranked over a couple times, caught, then died. It did this twice, but after that it wouldn't catch like the first two times. I'm guessing that I flooded the engine, b/c no matter how long I cranked it over for, it wouldn't catch. This may sound stupid, but will the car "un-flood" itself if I lete it sit for a couple days? If not, what do you guys think would be better to get it to start, getting it rolling then popping the clutch -or- trying the atf trick.

Thanks for any help,
kyle

 

so wheres the poll selection that I used it then a coupla weeks later my engine started smoking above 5-6K rpms really bad, this actually happend to my N/A it still pulled hard as hell just with a smoke screen from the oil going past the oil seals

kkekeisen most of the time on rebuilt engines you must have the car pull started to gain compress and break the seals loose, I had to get pull started at 40 mph, but I prolly could have done it lower, when the rpms are up to about 3k rpms then push in the gas and clutch at the same time to get it going!

 

Everyone says this is a "trick"--no majic involved.
I used ATF for a sevear flooding issue and it worked.
Car has run great since.
Also, just the other day I ran into an older man, his grand son had an '86 almost like mine.
No compression, ATF in injectors and it runs great now.
I couldnt screw-em but they would have taken my $250
no questions asked.
Not the ethical way-NOT MY WAY.
All I know is I made some kids day and saved dad and granddad some cash.
Joe

 

I got a free TII, it was carbon locked, I put ATF in the engine for about a week, then the car started. ATF is my friend.

 

Wow talk about bringing back a thread from the dead!

Anyway Re: what i said earlier...
"I also have another engine that I'm about to rebuild that has had ATF in it for about the same length of time aswell, so I will be very interested to look at the condition of the seals when I take it appart... "


I let that engine soak in ATF for near on one year (mainly due to me not having funds for a rebuild).

I tore the engine appart, every soft seal in it was fine and in reuseable condition (except the water o-rings of course..).

The housings still had alot of carbon on them and the rotors still had carbon on them.

This engine was turned over very regularly... Many times..

This leads me to believe that ATF does SFA to anything in a rotary motor.

Some more interesting info for those who care.. This motor ran a stock MOP, my other engine i recently tore down ran on premix, both driven very similar. The premixed engine had no carbon buildup, the stock MOP one had ALOT (the one i soaked in ATF). Both running Castrol GTx2.

 

Don't look at me! Someone else voted and that brought it back up to the top.

 

Haha, didn't even notice it was a poll..
Whoops.. my bad.. Still was dead for a while though.

 

Recent hissy fit on the subject:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...hreadid=251048