A while back, my dad (PSD owner) told me he saw a guy at a fuel station dumping a quart of ATF into his fuel tank. When my dad questioned it, he said he was a diesel (semi) mechanic and had always done this. Anyone ever heard of such a thing?


Mainly just curious with all the talk here about fuel additives.

That's old school style additives that you hear about from time to time with the semi mechanics.


ATF has NO place in a HPCR injection system and will definitely damage it.


FPPF, Primrose, and Rotella DFA are all good choices.

My brother had over 250,000 miles on his 93, 6.5 diesel, 2-cycle oil was the only fuel additive he ever used. He never had any problems with injectors or fuel pump. But the injection system on the 6.5 is not the same as what the Dmax uses, I only use Stanadyne.

I used ATF in my old Ford 6.9 and never had a problem. It seemed to keep the injectors cleaned and lubed. I don't think I would try it in th Duramax though.


I am considering using Marvel Mystery oil though.

My understanding is that Marvel Mystery contains solvents... not good for the duramax high pressure injection system (IMHO).

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Geek.gif Edited by: jbplock

If you are looking for a low dollar fluid then go with 2 Cycle oil. It reigns supreme in the suedoadditive categorie.

Adding ATF was a common practice when I drove a concrete truck. I starting driving in 76, and drove until 1993. We used the ATF in the pumps that make the barrel spin. We would fill the gallon container and pour it in to the ATF tank, and whatever was left over went in with the diesel fuel. The mechanic's stated it would help the fuel burn better in the winter, and clean the injectors. Wheather this is true or not, I don't really know, but every where I work they did this.

Just curious, do the big rigs use high pressure injection systems like the Duramax?


Are they having injector problems to?

I would think that ATF is no good for any diesel engine, no matter what type of fuel system it has. ATF has friction modifiers in it to help the clutches and such work better in automatic transmissions. Makes sense in a tranny but not in an injector pump.Edited by: DOLIVER

atf works. have used it many times. on higher milage trucks i add it to the filter. truck will smoke for a while. i do not use it on the d/max.