automobile repair or question

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has any one ever heard of using automatic transmission fluid to clean the injectors on a gasoline driven car. my husband was told about it and he asked if I would post the question here before he tried it in his 94 Ford F 150 straight six. Also my Ford tempo is having injector problems and we dont want to take it in and have it serviced I have ran injector cleaner through two tanks of gas but it's not helping I let it go to long before using it. Any comments from you mechanics???? ronda

-- ronda (thejohnsons@localaccess.com), January 13, 2001

Answers

This is news to me too! I'd be interested in finding out though...

-- Eric in TN (eric_m_stone@yahoo.com), January 13, 2001.

Never heard of that use. Tranny oil is just a light weight oil. It may have solvent properties I am unaware of, but kinda doubt that it does. I would guess that if it does not work, you will have a big time problem (gummed up more).

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), January 13, 2001.

Tranny fluid is a cleaning agent .Take it and rub it on dirty hands , what happens ? I have never done it but it may work .How about marvel mystery oil , does that clean injectors ?

-- Patty (fodfarms@hotmail.com), January 13, 2001.

Try this site, their experts have helped me a lot on my repair problems. www.allexperts.com Its a free site with a cadre of "experts" in lots of areas, but in particular for me was their extensive auto repair area. It's fairly self explanitory, you can search for a topic and/or go to a listed area of expertise. Good Luck...

-- Wily Allen (willyallen2@yahoo.com), January 13, 2001.

Ronda, My hubby Joe, who is a Ford parts person and knows cars backwards and forwards, says that if the gasoline additive hasn't worked that you have to have a injector service done. You could end up hurting the injectors more if you don't. Just don't want it to cost you more money in the long run.

Little Bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@calinet.com), January 13, 2001.



Don't see many problems with dirty injectors especially Fords, what kind of prolems are you having? ......................JAY

-- JAY (jay@townsqr.com), January 13, 2001.

NO,, use carb cleaner and an air hose,, all you need,, if that doesnt work,, the injector may be worn out

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), January 13, 2001.

In times past auto tran fluid was used to clean the engine,especially the valves,of carbon deposits.It worked well for that.You just slowly poured the stuff through the carb with the engine running at fast idle.This created huge clouds of white smoke as the fluid burned but it did leave you with a cleaner engine. Doubt that this would do injectors any good.It would be burning after passing through the injector.Might make them worse.

-- JT (gone2seed@hotmail.com), January 13, 2001.

Tanny fluid does help clean injectors, we use it in diesel engines all the time. I'd use a gm type though because foeds has more grit.

If you want something even better, and if you can find it, use Sea Foam (Product name) great stuff for injectors. Try your older autoparts stores.

-- hillbilly (internethillbilly@hotmail.com), January 13, 2001.


Hi, in answer to your question "Is Transmission fluid good for your injectors?" I personally wouldn't use the stuff in my engine. Trans. fluid is very much a solvent and will eat up asphalt off of the road like nothing you have ever seen. I attended a fuel injector school at a local collage (that happened to be on Ford systems) and the instructor showed us that the only injector cleaner that was advised by the manufacturer for injectors was Chevron Injector Cleaner. For some reason it doesn't cause scaring of the injectors as they move open and closed. The way that was sugjested to really clean the system was to run the cleaner thru your fuel system for 3-4 tanks in a row. Why?, As the cleaner works it starts cleaning in the fuel tank which causes the varnish deposits to start moving through the system towards the injectors. also it is advisable to change the fuel filter after you clean the system in case that any large particles have broken loose in the lines.

I have used this principle on my own truck, and it is still running strong after 146,000 miles. Also, if you run cleaner through every fourth tank of gas you will find that you notice a strong difference in the power of your engine. I hope that my sugjestions help you out. I know that the fuel cleaner is a lot cheaper than the cost of having a shop pull the injectors and cleaning them on the bench, and then you still have a dirty tank to contend with, that will keep passing the varnish to the injectors, especialy if your car is an older model that has had a lot of gas run through it. Good luck......Rory and Sandra

-- Rory (S.E. Texas) (rory@readynet.net), January 13, 2001.



I used trans fluid in my carbuerated engines to clean out extremly dirty carbs until I could rebuild them. Smoked like a wildfire while it was burning through. Injectors need the solvent put in the fuel. Use a injector cleaner(stp, gumout, etc) additive or a pint of marvel mystry oil to a full tank of gas. If that doesnt correct the problem. remove the injectors and clean them properly or replace them. Something that helps extend the life of injectors is maintaining the fuel level at 1/4 of a tank and above. This reduces the occurance of trash getting through the fuel system filters as the added volume helps settle impurities. Periodic use of cleaners is also benificial.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 14, 2001.

ronda, I agree that tranny fluid would not be a good idea in the injectors. Carb. cleaner would be better, or injector cleaner. About your Ford problem, we also had a Merc. that had "throttle-body" injection. If you don't use premium unleaded fuel it fouls up about every 10 to 15 thousand miles. The throttle-body is fairly easy to clean but requires some skill to locate and disassemble. A service manual should show you how to do this. Mine ran like new afterwards. Good luck.

-- Dave Comer (drcomer@rr1.net), January 14, 2001.

Ronda: I like to listen to the radio show "Car Talk' on saturday mornings. These guys real good. I've heard them say many times that Cheveron Injector Cleaner is the best additive to use on the market today. You can check them out on www.cars .com.I think they have an email site for your auto questions.

-- larry spearman (lspearma@exotrope.net), January 20, 2001.

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