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Hot Rods ATF vs Gear oil

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Boneyard51, Oct 8, 2018.

  1. spanners
    Joined: Feb 24, 2009
    Posts: 2,074

    spanners
    Member

    I use a blend of 80/90 and ATF. Local gearbox rebuilder put me onto it 35 years ago. Use it in daily driver and HA/GR manual 'box. Haven't broken one yet.
     
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  2. southcross2631
    Joined: Jan 20, 2013
    Posts: 4,413

    southcross2631
    Member

    2 drops of atf in your morning coffee will make you slick as shit.
     
  3. B.A.KING
    Joined: Apr 6, 2005
    Posts: 4,039

    B.A.KING
    Member

    most of the cars i bought all ended up having sawdust for lubricant? not sure where that falls in the equation???????..........
     
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  4. Arominus
    Joined: Feb 2, 2011
    Posts: 394

    Arominus
    Member

    I stick to the recommended fluid, but i buy a high quality oil for it. I run swepco 80-90w in my OT transaxle porsche, and my OT saab just wants conventional 10-30w, it got an oil with 1000ppm of zinc that i don't remember right now. The 518 for my desoto will get ATF+4 as required, i don't know that i need to go super high end as its already a synthetic with a tightly controlled spec to get the designation.

    Never use power steering fluid in a power steering setup designed for ATF. It will leak. Period. You can sub the newer spec Dexron 5/6 in most.
     
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  5. junkyardjeff
    Joined: Jul 23, 2005
    Posts: 8,588

    junkyardjeff
    Member

    It just seems to me that ATF would not have the lubrication qualities for a manual trans but who am I to argue with the designers,30# oil sounds better to me. The trans axle in a couple of my lawn tractors uses 30# oil but they only have 10 HP engines.
     
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  6. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,264

    gimpyshotrods
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    If it could not lubricate a properly designed manual transmission, it would not properly lubricate an automatic one, either.
     
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  7. PoTaToTrUcK
    Joined: Oct 5, 2013
    Posts: 418

    PoTaToTrUcK

    When I buy Campbell's soup, I also put more tomatoes in. Those guys in the kitchen can't possibly know what they are doing.
     
  8. Fireball Five
    Joined: Oct 5, 2018
    Posts: 58

    Fireball Five
    Member

    Some oily thoughts and a couple questions. We once left Bakersfield with a 57 Ford Y block and a ton and a half of trailer behind headed for Iowa. It picked that time to start piston knocking, smoking, and dropping oil pressure to 15#. Bought a case of oil and a case of STP. Used the SWAG method to stop and add oil. Alternated a can of oil and STP. Long story shorter, It made it home with O.P. up to 20+ and last 300 miles quit alternating smoking/hammering/running fair Ihad2 qt. oil left in case!
    I sold it to my cousin who rebuilt/bored it. Two cylinders just cleaned up on the last pass of the boring bar at .030 over.
    So I was a believer in STPand used it in the BBBuick Inline for 10 years. Maybe that was overkill
    as we ran Kendall GT 50 wt. and had a full flow filter and cooler But-- We once damaged the center main inserts and holed 2 pistons from detonation, [bad gas], but it didn't hurt the crank Another time. a rod pulled off the wrist pin at 7 G's [weren't geared right] and dumped the block full of water in the pan. Found water in everything and every bearing but no crank damage.

    I have to finish this another time. I don't know if STP is still available but please tell me your thoughts pro or con on that sticky stuff and also on Synthetic Racing Oil.

    Fireball 5
     
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  9. Boneyard51
    Joined: Dec 10, 2017
    Posts: 6,442

    Boneyard51
    Member

    I use STP only when assembling an engine, especially if I know it’s going to be a while before firing it of. I mix it with oil for the assembly. Never use racing oil in a street machine. Some “ racing “ oils don’t have enough or no detergents. Some may have detergents now.




    Bones
     
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  10. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,144

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    Dammit B.A.
    I was about to say "I'm surprised sawdust hasn't come up yet".
    Does it actually precede the traditional coeficient of the HAMB?
     
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  11. B.A.KING
    Joined: Apr 6, 2005
    Posts: 4,039

    B.A.KING
    Member

    I wonder how many are scratching their head and saying"whats sawdust got to do with it"?
     
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  12. jetnow1
    Joined: Jan 30, 2008
    Posts: 2,152

    jetnow1
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from CT
    1. A-D Truckers

    I bet any of us over 50 know....
     
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  13. indyjps
    Joined: Feb 21, 2007
    Posts: 5,377

    indyjps
    Member

    Ah. Fluid is Fluid. I put beer in my cheerios and mix milk with my vodka, its all the same shit. If it pours it will work.

    :eek:
     
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  14. BamaMav
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 6,711

    BamaMav
    Member
    from Berry, AL

    I've done the same thing before. Have used hydraulic oil when I was out of trans fluid, too. One drag racer around here never used anything but hydraulic oil in his automatics, he never lost a transmission.
     
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  15. Fireball Five
    Joined: Oct 5, 2018
    Posts: 58

    Fireball Five
    Member

    Re: Sawdust.
    I am and I know. Recomended to use Walnut sawdust. !
    Fireball 5
     
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  16. B.A.KING
    Joined: Apr 6, 2005
    Posts: 4,039

    B.A.KING
    Member

    LOL now we get to which sawdust is best lol..............GREAT
     
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  17. Truck64
    Joined: Oct 18, 2015
    Posts: 5,325

    Truck64
    Member
    from Ioway

    IMG_0733.PNG
    Yep. Barney got hosed on a $300 used car. "Oldest car hustlers trick in the book. Makes gears run smooth as silk."
     
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  18. s55mercury66
    Joined: Jul 6, 2009
    Posts: 4,335

    s55mercury66
    Member
    from SW Wyoming

    I agree with the hardwood sawdust in gear applications, soft pine for noisy valvetrains though. If we keep up the sawdust discussion, someone may try it in an automatic trans. Please report back if you do.
     
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  19. I put redline MTL (manual transmission lubricant) in my t5, seems to be ok. Was red and thicker than ATF.

    Sent from my SM-J327V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
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  20. Bg synchroshift has quieted some t5 trans I've seen that grind a lil.
     
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  21. PoTaToTrUcK
    Joined: Oct 5, 2013
    Posts: 418

    PoTaToTrUcK

    Back to the original post, it has to do with more than just lubrication. There are other qualities needed like cooling, moving dirt away from loads etc. When I was with a small oil company called Quaker State, we would tell customers that A.T.F. was the most technical product we made. Some oils have tackifiers that make them grip more, Type F fluid was like this and drag racers would use Type F in their non-Ford transmissions to make them shift harder. If you want warranty, use the product the manufacture requires, if you don't give a shit, put the cheapest bathtub brewed pond scum you can find in it. Tribology 101 - the study of friction, wear, lubrication, and the design of bearings; the science of interacting surfaces in relative motion.
    DSCN0605.JPG
     
  22. Fireball Five
    Joined: Oct 5, 2018
    Posts: 58

    Fireball Five
    Member

    And Maple syrup in the gearbox
    And Buttermilk in the crankcase
    Believe or not, my Dad, circa. 1909 saw that done. Some travelers stopped in driving a big 'ol Reo touring car and needed oil. All Grandpa had was harness oil, too valuable. But he had buttermilk, so they filled her up. Don't know the outcome but it went up a big hill and out of sight!
    Oh BTW, Walnut sawdust has a herbicide affect on most vegitation.
    Sawdust for noisy gears and Penzoil for oil leaky engines.
    Fireball 5
     
  23. nrgwizard
    Joined: Aug 18, 2006
    Posts: 2,516

    nrgwizard
    Member
    from Minn. uSA

    At collage many years ago, couple of guys were given a chrysler something or another, w/an auto trans. That leaked worse than a sieve. Car wasn't worth the atf, much less a tow cost, to get it ~ 15 mi to school shop, so a bit of brainstormin' 'twixt the various Industrial Tech guys, & soon enough, later that day, said car was in the shop. W/a steaming trans. They had used water to get car moving. Had to refill it every 5mi or so, but it worked. Fortunately the trans wasn't wanted. We all got a good laugh out of the "experiment", & iirc, someone had to buy a round of Cokes, due to a friendly bet.
    Phfft... , who says water isn't a hydraulic fluid? :D .
    Marcus...
     
  24. banjeaux bob
    Joined: Aug 31, 2008
    Posts: 6,616

    banjeaux bob
    Member
    from alaska

    People seem to want to reinvent the wheel. Many times to the detriment of their wallets.The best bet is to use the lube recommended by the manufacturer of the unit...whether it is a differential or transmission.The manufacturers don't suggest these things for little or no reason. They have spent just a little time and money finding out what gives their product the best performance for longevity.Certainly in an all out high performance application some high speed slickem concoction will work for a little while.However, if you want you unit to have long service life, use what the guys who built it recommend. Sure we all know a guy who succeeded with something he knew very little about....the molecular structure of the fluids he was blending.
     
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