Using 2 QTS of Auto Tran Fluid to Get Rid of Knock

[Brian Sanderlin]

I was wondering if you could use 2 qts of auto trans fluid along with 4 qts of 5w-30 on my next oil change. I saw a video on youtube with a guy that did this to get rid of a lifter knock/tick/tap in a 5.3L Vortec. It was a slight tick it had at first, but in the end it worked. Now my truck is an 03′ Avalanche with the same engine but the tap is about 15x more louder. It’s been like that for 8 years now and doesn’t seem to be a problem but it’s rather annoying. I was wondering if this would work, hurt the engine, or any other ideas of fixing this. I’m not a mechanic by all means but I do work on small engines and I don’t have any serious big power/air tool just a battery and corded drill. I do know my way around engines though, I just don’t work on them. Any help? Ideas? Insight?

Topic

[Lorrin Barth]

Edit: Oh, great, it would help if I put up the correct video

Notice Brian first checked for damaged parts. Also, if he could have, without pulling the head, he would have pulled the lifter and tried cleaning it. Sometimes cleaning works, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes motor flush works, sometimes it doesn’t. Also notice he says to follow the instructions.

[Brian Sanderlin]

now, would using the Auto Trans oil work too? Thanks for the vid too. Also, would pouring the seafoam in the gas clean the valves and lifters? I’d rather not spend the money and change the oil twice in 500 miles.

[Andrew Phillips]

Auto trans fluid (ATF) is basically a high quality oil with a lot of additives and detergent. In most cars it is safe to use in the crankcase along with the regular oil as a cleaner. As a DIY mechanic for the better part of 30 years, I have done this very thing in many different makes and models, with generally satisfactory results cleaning out the oil passages and ‘sticky’ parts such as lifters. If you add ATF to the crankcase, make sure that it is at no more than 25% of the crankcase capacity (eg. 1 qt ATF to 3 or 4 qts oil). I don’t have a scientific reason for that ratio, but experience tells me that. ATF doesn’t have the same properties as engine oil, so you do not want to risk engine damage that may occur in a higher proportion of ATF to engine oil. Lastly, change the oil after the ATF has done its job, especially if you put in a lot of ATF. A little ATF in the oil (I’d say no more than a half quart) can stay in there, but again, due to the differences in properties of oil and ATF, if a lot of ATF goes in, change it soon. The engine wasn’t designed to operate on ATF. Don’t put anything in the crankcase with the oil if you aren’t prepared to do an oil change soon after. Spending a half hour and a few dollars on an oil change a week or two later is a lot cheaper than overhauling an engine.

[Brian Sanderlin]

Thanks for the response. I think i’ll go ahead and use the 1.5-2 qts of ATF and the 5.5 or 4 qts left will be 5w-30. Does that sound like a good ratio for an engine that takes 6 quarts?

[Andrew Phillips]

That sounds reasonable, but remember, 2 qts ATF to 6 qts capacity is a 33% ratio, which is quite high. You should change it out with 6 qts of fresh motor oil fairly soon (no more than a couple hundred miles).

[Brian Sanderlin]

I drive 90 miles a day to and from work. Monday-Friday. Would just one week do damage? I’m not able to change oil after work or before because i’m a milkman and I don’t get home til 6-7pm. As you can see in my pic that’s one of the truck’s we have. Mine’s an old 95′ 4900.

[Daniel]

I used to add a quart of tranny fluid to my older car a couple hundred miles before oil change. I never had any problems.
Newer engines have much tighter tolerances though. By adding trans fluid you will be changing the viscosity and characteristics of the oil. It might not hurt it, but it could cause irreparable damage. I would just forget about it if I were you.

[Ingvar]

OP, don’t complicate it. Also, I had Silverado with 5.3Vortech, so I sorta know those noises. You blessed to not have piston slap.
Anyhow. Pour SEAFOAM in. Drive on it for a week.
Go to Walmart and buy cheapest oil in your weight, then 10W30 oil as needed (my Vortech was 6 qrts), can of Lucas HD OIl Stabilizer, and of course good filter.
Drain used oil, pour cheap oil in, get off ramps and go drive for about 15 minutes. Get back on ramps, drain that oil – yes, it’ll come out pitch black – then replace filter and refill with fresh oil. Substitute 1 qrt of oil with 1 qrt of Lucas.
Be happy. For abused engines, you may repeat this treatment about 1 000 miles apart. I drove on Seafom for 2500 miles once, but then crap gets back into where you don’t want it.

[Andrew Phillips]

Brian, that might be okay to drive that much on it, but I definitely would not go more than one week like that. The post from ukrkoz would work out well too, although the cheap oil wouldn’t have as much detergent as the ATF. Either way would work, You might even do them both, but one after the other, not at the same time, lol.

[zero]

My vote goes for adding the ATF for the last hundred or so miles before an oil change. To elaborate on u/ukrkoz’s statement there would be no harm in running cheap oil and shortening your interval a few times and including your additive of choice. As Eric pointed out in a video at some point, the cheap stuff is probably the same as the name brand stuff because it doesn’t make sense that they would recalibrate for a small product run. I personally only recommend using oil additives inside of the individual manufacturers recommendations.

[Brian Sanderlin]

I used to use Lucas Oil in my truck to stop the truck from burning oil. It would work but I took the truck in to get repaired for a 5 misfires and a lot of other things like new injectors, spark plugs, and wires. The mechanic tore into my engine and found clumps of just gunk from the Lucas oil. He told me not to use it because it really just sits there and hardens up then clogs everything. So that’s why I don’t use Lucas oil. Could I pour the seafoam in the gas tank? Would that clean off the valves? And what you’re saying is add seafoam to my oil, drive for about a week, change oil with super cheap stuff. Drive for few minutes, then change oil again with good oil?

I’m understanding all these ideas but I trying to find the cheapest most effective way to stop the tapping.

[Andrew Phillips]

Putting an additive in the gas will only clean the parts of the valve exposed to the combustion. The parts that stick and make tapping noise are the parts of the valve exposed to the engine oil. Adding anything to the gas tank will have zero effect on your noises. The purpose of adding seafoam to the gas is to decarbonize. Eric made a video about decarbonizing where he just used ordinary tap water. I have not ever done that procedure with water myself, as I usually use Berryman B-12 for that purpose, as well as to clean injectors. To stop your noise you need to clean the oily side of things, not the fuel side of things.

[Ingvar]

[quote=”brian98redskins” post=130590]I used to use Lucas Oil in my truck to stop the truck from burning oil. It would work but I took the truck in to get repaired for a 5 misfires and a lot of other things like new injectors, spark plugs, and wires. The mechanic tore into my engine and found clumps of just gunk from the Lucas oil. He told me not to use it because it really just sits there and hardens up then clogs everything. So that’s why I don’t use Lucas oil. Could I pour the seafoam in the gas tank? Would that clean off the valves? And what you’re saying is add seafoam to my oil, drive for about a week, change oil with super cheap stuff. Drive for few minutes, then change oil again with good oil?

I’m understanding all these ideas but I trying to find the cheapest most effective way to stop the tapping.[/quote]

That’s cheapest and WORKING way. I have some rather expensive cars in active use, and I do Seafom them before every oil change and twice or so a year via gas tank. To clean fuel system, anywhere petrol goes.
I started using Lucas something like 5 years ago – can’t complain. What I described to you is what worked for my GM 5.3L engine. Then I learned that when noise comes back – was anywhere between 10 and 12 000 miles, as I ran her on Amsoil – I need to do same fancy oil change.
So yes, to recap:
1. Pour Seafom into oil
2. Put oil cap back on (seriously)
3. drive for about a week.
4. drain that oil, and refill engine with cheapest oil in proper weight
5. drive around for about 15 minutes
6. drain that oil – yes, it’ll come out BLACK. You just flushed the engine
7. Change filter and refill with one up heavier weight oil. You run on 5W30 – do 10W30. What it does, it provides better hydraulic pressure due to thicker oil.
8. I’ll leave Lucas to you. Do NOT do anything you feel not comfortable with.
That’s it.
The only REAL way to fix lasher tap is to remove valve train and remove lifters. Then toss them into kerosine overnight and squeeze. Or, better off, to replace them. Also, should you have pushrod engine, rods do get bent over time from use. THAT will cause tap too.

[Brian Sanderlin]

Alright, i’ll do what you’ve recommended. But my truck does like to burn oil too, will that come up as an issue too with the seafoam? I understand it’s just for a week so it shouldn’t really burn off. I know it’s not the connecting rod because that tapping/knock would be more towards the bottom of the engine. I’ve located the tapping to be coming from the top/head and it’s in a few particular spots, 1,3,5 seem to be the loudest sets of lifters.

[Ingvar]

If you want my opinion, as oil lubricates piston rings a bit, Seafom also cleans them too, so it reduces blow by burn out. But I trust Lucas to reduce burn out. So that’s not working suggestion for you. Folks – and I – do this. Remove spark plugs and pour Seafoam onto cylinders. Leave it overnight. It soaks rings much better then. Starting engine next morning is quite an adventure, as for about 10 minutes you have military grade smoke curtain coming out of tail pipe. Fun. Sorta.
No, I am not talking about connecting rods. I am talking about about pushrods. On some GM engines, there is no overhead cam. Cam is inside the engine block and has long rods coming up to lifters and lashers. They bend with time, causing gap at lashers and tapping noise. My 5.3 Vortech was pushrod engine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhead_valve

Also, switching to thicker oil reduces consumption. Been proven beyond any doubt on any of my cars. I pretty much switch to heavier weight oil around 120 000 or so. I like Quaker State, good conventional oil. And I KNOW oils like back of my hand, I used to do oil changes every 3rd week for almost a year. I learned a lot about oils that last and some that don’t.

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