2nd Generation Specific (1986-1992) 1986-1992 Discussion including performance modifications and technical support sections.

HELP!!! ATF problem!!.....

Old Dec 6, 2001 | 01:05 PM
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HELP!!! ATF problem!!.....

I need some help guys! I just did the ATF trick and let it sit overnight. Today I went out to run it and burn the ATF out. Well, I knew it was going to smoke alot and everyone said that it will for about 5-10 mins.

Well, after about 15 minutes it was still smoking a ton at higher RPMs but not at idle. My oil light then came on along with a buzzing alarm. So then I shut it off and let it cool for a minute and then checked my oil. IT WAS 2 QUARTS LOW!!

So I filled it up with oil and drove it up and down a backroad with some SERIOUS smoke coming out mainly in 2nd gear at high RPMs. Then I decided I would take it and get the oil changed real quick (I figured it was still smoking cause there might be some ATF left in it and that would drain it all out) Well, I get to Oil Express (it is raining and i didnt want to do it myself). They check the oil, and again IT WAS 2 QUARTS LOW!! What is up with that?!?!?! They thought it was leaking and I should get the leak fixed before I change the oil. I asked them to put a quart in it and let me go underneath and see if I can find where it was leaking. I stayed under there for about 10 minutes with it running and didn't see a drop of oil leak out. Did i maybe put in too much ATF and mess something up? Someone please help! If you have AOL IM, my name on there is the same. Feel free to IM me. Thanx guys!!

Last edited by CincySpeedFreak; Dec 6, 2001 at 01:07 PM.
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 02:16 PM
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Did it drive alright? Check your coolant to see if there is oil in it. I believe that there is something in the engine that blocks the oil off from the coolant or something, and if it was damaged, the oil could get into your radiator. Hope some carbon deposits didn't get lodged in the engine and cause some damage. I'm sure someone could clarify what I was attempting to explain as a potential problem. GOOD LUCK!

P.S. I don't think you can put in "too much" ATF. If there is a problem, I would assume it was caused by something else.


-Derek
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 02:49 PM
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What color was the smoke, blue or white? ATF should burn off with a white cloud, but oil burning will produce a bluish cloud. I can't see how your car could burn 2 quarts of oil in 15 minutes. ATF doesn't harm the coolant seals or oil seals, supposedly.
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 02:56 PM
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it is all white, so i figured it was the ATF but i dont know where all that oil could be going. There was none on the ground and not very much on the engine. Do you think I should go ahead and change the oil to get the rest of the ATF out of there? Even then, I still dont know what to do about the oil disappearing. You guys ever heard of anything like this before? Let me know if you have any more thoughts on it. Thanx again!!
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 03:05 PM
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This happened in my Dad's Honda Accord. He took off for work one morning and about two miles down the road the oil light came on. He pulled over and checked the oil.... no oil on the dipstick. He puts a quart in and checks it again... up to the full line. He gets to work and checks the oil again.... very low on the dipstick. It's not burning oil, so where's it going? He put another quart in, and went to work. He came out to go home and checked the oil and it was about halfway up the dipstick!!!!! I guess there is some type of valve or something that he had to change, PCV maybe. I don't remember, but it was funny listening to him tell me about it.

Did you check the rad to see what the coolant looked like?
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 03:10 PM
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I took off the radiator cap and it is still a pretty green. As far as I could see, there was no oil in it. and the oil cooler lines look dry.
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 03:16 PM
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Have you checked the oil when the motor is completely cool?
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 03:25 PM
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i just checked it and it doesnt look like it has lost any since i drove back from the oil place (about 15 miles) So i am going to put a quart in it and drive it around a little more and see if it does it again. You think I should go ahead and get my oil changed today?
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 03:34 PM
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If the level is not low on the dipstick, don't bother putting another quart in. It's bad to have too much oil in the car, too. Grab a quart, and go for a drive. Check it after the car about 10 min of driving, if it's low, at least you have a quart with you. If you're not burning any, or leaking any, then the oil must be in there somewhere.
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 03:46 PM
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I did the atf last week and my car smoked for 15 min in my driveway and started to smoke when i drove it hard.

all white smoke.

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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 03:50 PM
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did you change your oil after that? How long did it take to stop smoking?
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 05:22 PM
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Im about to do the ATF thing this weekend since my gas milage has dropped radically(from 330-340 to 25-260 a tank). Is there something to this ATF trick that isnt all its cracked up to be?
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 05:47 PM
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Cincy

Whats up speedfreak... I think Zach has already told ya about the cincy rx7 club which I am also a part of. If you aren't busy tomorrow (friday) Im not doing anything after my exam (8) so if u wanna bring your 7 by then go ahead. Im at 347 Probasco St.... its right off clifton.

Aaron
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 05:59 PM
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How much miles on the engine?
It could be that the oil control o-rings are gone, and the heavy dosage of ATF killed whatever was left of it.



-Ted
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 06:22 PM
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Ted how much ATF should be used in this treatment?????
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 08:45 PM
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well with the ATF trick theres one drawback.... if youv had buildup in your engine for a long time, or if its just really really bad, then your seals are gonna get stuck. if this is the case then the only thing holding compression in your engine is those deposits the ATF is supposed to get rid of.

once those deposits are gone look out. thats why some people get a loss of power after the ATF. low compression... time for a rebuild...... sounds like whatever seal is screwed is letting oil into the rotars, and burning it off. thats why the smoke out the back. this is also why youd get no oil leak under the car..... cause your burning it all off through the exhaust.

probably time for a rebuild..... and get it ported while your at it since the engine will be apart.

this is my take on the situation anyway.
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 09:06 PM
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I am planning on doing this, However, I was below my damn car today and there is oil all over the damn pan and some about a foot away from it. However, I am not quite sure what this means. When I run my car it smokes white for a bit and than will completely go away. If I do the ATF trick do I risk ruining the rest of the damn engine because I don't have the money for a rebuild? Well thanks for the help. Oh yea I am running a 89 GTUs N/a and it does hold oil.
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 11:10 PM
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LOL, this is why I'm never going to try it. if it runs leave it.
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Old Dec 6, 2001 | 11:47 PM
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better to know than not to know if you need a rebuild. im glad i did the atf trick. apparantly the car had low compression before i did it. and now it kicks ***. big improvement. id use bad compression as an excuse to get a fresh rebuild and port my engine, and not have to worry about it for the next X thousand miles.
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Old Dec 7, 2001 | 12:38 AM
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oil burning

If I read correctly the last time you drove it the oil consumption was much lower? When you decarbon a motor, it is possible for a chunk of carbon to get stuck under and oil control ring. On an older engine the o rings and springs for the oil control rings are weaker making this easier to happen. It will usually wear or break up and the seal will return to work as before. You also see this with chrome from the rotor housing surfaces on occation, although mostly on 1st gen engines. Rob
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Old Dec 7, 2001 | 12:47 AM
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decarbon

Another option is to use water. Unlike atf, you add the water while the motor is running. The basics are you want the motor at normal operating temp. Find a big vacuum hose or similar that leads into the dynamic chamber. If you are handy remove the BAC and use this hole. Remove this and set up a small funnel. Plug off the hole temperarily with a plug. Start the engine and hold the throttle open to about 3000rpm. Remove your plug and slowly start pouring water into the funnel(it get sucked into the motor). I use a 1 liter coke bottle, a hose with a easily adjustable spary is also good. Keep increasing the volume of water until you have the throttle opened up about 1/3 to 1/2 but the engine is only reving around 3-4000K. The water "dampens" the combustion. The load and steam break up the carbon and it goes out the exhaust. Every 15 sec or so let up on the water while at the same time leting up on the throttle(so the motor doesn't over rev) and let the engine clear out. If you are seeing steam out the exh. you are doing it right! Try not to stall the engine while doing this, it may be hard to start. You will notice the power gains as soon as you are done. Rob
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Old Dec 7, 2001 | 07:25 AM
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Cincy's Missing Oil

I haven't seen any mention of your oil pressure readings. Are you getting normal readings? When you did the ATF trick, you might have knocked the oil sending unit's connector off—it's a single connector/wire that slips onto a "nub" near your plugs. I did that and thought I REALLY screwed something up.

B
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Old Dec 7, 2001 | 09:34 AM
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Re: decarbon

Originally posted by pineapple racing
Another option is to use water. Unlike atf, you add the water while the motor is running. The basics are you want the motor at normal operating temp. Find a big vacuum hose or similar that leads into the dynamic chamber. If you are handy remove the BAC and use this hole. Remove this and set up a small funnel. Plug off the hole temperarily with a plug. Start the engine and hold the throttle open to about 3000rpm. Remove your plug and slowly start pouring water into the funnel(it get sucked into the motor). I use a 1 liter coke bottle, a hose with a easily adjustable spary is also good. Keep increasing the volume of water until you have the throttle opened up about 1/3 to 1/2 but the engine is only reving around 3-4000K. The water "dampens" the combustion. The load and steam break up the carbon and it goes out the exhaust. Every 15 sec or so let up on the water while at the same time leting up on the throttle(so the motor doesn't over rev) and let the engine clear out. If you are seeing steam out the exh. you are doing it right! Try not to stall the engine while doing this, it may be hard to start. You will notice the power gains as soon as you are done. Rob
That's exactly how i did my atf.
i made a how to
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Old Dec 7, 2001 | 03:48 PM
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Hey guys, I just wanna say thanx for all the info you all have provided. Fortunately, I found out what the problem is. First off, the oil isn't disappearing. I guess it was just really low from when the previous owner had it or something, but it is staying full now. We found out that it is my injector(s) running WAY too rich that is causing it to smoke. It only smokes past 4000 rpms, so it must be one of the secondary injectors that is just wide open or something.

I think I am going to buy some new secondary injectors, so could someone give me some info on what the flow rate of factory injectors are and what kind of flow rate i should go with to get some better performance.

Thanx again for all the help!!!!
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Old Dec 8, 2001 | 12:27 AM
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Gas burns black—not whitish-blue as you described.
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