Warning about doing the "ATF Trick" on our cars...
 

My vacuum has been a little low these past few weeks and since I'm running a complete straight through exhaust with no emissions stuff and I was about to change the plugs anyway I thought it would be a good time to run a little ATF through the engine to clean out the carbon and restore some power. Well I poured it in, let it marinate overnight and fired her up the next day. After waiting out the resulant smoke screen and assuring the neighbors that my car wasn't on fire I went for a ride. Everything seemed fine the car wasn't noticeably more powerful, but it did seem smoother. About 10 minutes into my trip I was starting to get on the boost a bit and I heard a noise, sounded like a baseball card hitting up against the wheel of a bike. Before I could think about what was happening the car started to emit a cloud of blue smoke that would make Jamed Bond envious. I limped it home, the engine was running fine, idled great, no overheating or anything else so I knew it had to be the turbos. I just started pulling things apart, guess what I found? A nut fell out of the inlet duct to the primary turbo. THE nut that holds the turbine to the shaft. That nut banged up against the blades of the turbine and the rest is history. Now it could be a coincidence, or it could be that the ATF freed up some sludge that was holding that bolt on causing it to loosen and fall off. Who knows, but just a word of caution to those of you thinking about doing this. On the old NA's I think it's a great way to clean up the engine and keep it running strong, but on our complex FD's it's probably not the best idea.

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Hmm, I ATF'd my FD about 3 times with no problems at all. One time it did seem that the BOV was clogged (the small actuator hose), but it opened up shortly after I started wondering about it.

I pumped the ATF down the port on the UIM where the BOV plugged in, & where the boost gauge plugs in.

I got dibs on the iron snail if you don't rebuild it
I need a cool bookend :cool:

Just a few questions for you. Isn't that the compressor, not the turbine? And how would the ATF get to the compressor side of the turbo? The only way you could get ATF on the compresssor is if you either poured it into the TID or if you took one of the hoses going to the primary turbo inlet duct and stuck them in the transmission fluid bottle. I think it is just a freaky coincidence, but that's just my opinion.

Yes you are correct, that is the compressor wheel not the turbine wheel, it is on the intake side. I poured the ATF right into the spark plug holes. The ATF obviously shouldn't have gotten back to the intake side, but it does pass through the turbos on the way out the exhaust, there was some smoke coming out of the engine bay while it was all burning off. Or it could just be a freaky conincidence like you said. I just wanted to post up my observations as something to take into consideration when thinking about doing this.

Here is what I see. Coincidence is right, but there is more to the story. It looks as though you sucked something through the intake, and seized the impeller while the turbine spun the nut off. Or, you could have just had bad luck.

Hey Carlton,

I really don't think the ATF had anything to do with that nut loosening up. Pouring the ATF in the spark plug holes really rules out the ATF making it all the way back to the intake side of the turbo. I really doubt that any ATF would be able to make it "unburnt" to the exhaust side turbine either.

Bummer about the turbo, hopefully the IC caught the chucks of compressor blades and your motor is OK.

Jeff

I'm not exactly sure what its supposed to look like, but is the end of the turbine shaft sheared off? Like, is the threaded rod where the nut goes gone? It kinda looks like that to me.

It looks like is spun off. threads still there. The nut is clean, and ther is a pit mark in the end like original.

wow that is so weird. that just happened to a freind of mine this sunday! we had never heard of the nut coming loose but his did the same thing. we didnt do any ATF on it though.

You guys are all making good points. I guess I just have a hard time believing this is all coincidence. The shaft is intact, though it does seem to be a bit recessed. When I get the turbos off the car and look at the exhaust side of things, maybe it will yield some more evidence. Maybe a piece of sludge/carbon dislodged by the ATF process seized the exhaust side which caused the nut to spin off?

if you need spare turbos. al900rr has a set

that blows JR :(..... sorry to see it :(

It's absolutely a coincidence, bud. If it's not a coincidence then you had much larger turbo problems to begin with that you would've noticed already.

:werd:

your kidding me dude right? u can honestly even think something in a completley diff state and area of a sealed turbine affected the other. your tripping...can i get some of what your smokin?

Damm, sorry to hear that. I have two sets. One definately needs a rebuild and the other one runs fine. Got it from someone on the forum.

Dude that sucks!

I think it was matter of timing,Btw u guys do know that after putting ATF in the engine u need to replace the engine oil?

Like everyone else said... it was not the ATF. ATF still 0wnz j00 as a way to clean up carbon deposits

any special kind of ATF.which is exactly what.i am do for a oil change and i might try some atf...so i would just pour some in the spark plug holes.
thanks

doesnt matter what brand...its just going to burn off. Put 2 tablespoons in both leading (if i remember correctly) plug holes, screw in plug lightly, hand crank several times, refill, crank again, let sit for 1-2 days. Start it up, look out for cops n firetrucks, neighbours, and once the smoke is cleared - put in some fresh plugs and new oil.

it smokes that bad huhh...kool

I did the ATF trick on my 84 honda accord this weekend just for fun.

I've never used atf to clean the carbon before but i've used it to start the car before. the atf and the nut comming off is totally unrelated. The best way to clean the carbon out of your car is to get a professional fuel injection cleaning, the one we use at work is made by snap-on and we pump a mixture of gas and chemical that doesnt burn so it cleans it pretty well. You can litterally see the black stuff come out of the tail pipe. And on most cars you can see a better vac reading at idle. Theres a gauge on the machine. The chemical works really good, we tested it and put some on my junk rotor and the carbon comes right off.

So what the hell is the chemical?