DIYEFI.org Forum

I have a buddy that runs ATF(automatic tranmission fluid) as fuel in his deisel. His main problem is that it smokes really bad at idle. I though I would ask if anyone knew of some sort or addative that would help reduce the smoke (gasoline maybe ?).

Interesting fuel choice :-)

Has he considered thinning it down with some diesel? Are(were?) his injectors in good shape? Is the smoke because there is too much fuel or because it's not burning properly and you have to put too much in for it to idle properly?

Interesting and free . He said any more than a 50/50 atf/diesel mix will smoke under low load. I figured there must be a better thinner/catalyst addative out there. Last night we added 1 gallon of gasoline to 30 gallons of atf and it did make a noticeable improvement.

That's hard case :-)

Hmmm, that's an interesting one. I might advertise a problem thought. I've seen 3 VW heads that have had injectors that were eaten up. The owner had gone through these heads after he tried to use his home heating diesel as fuel. Seems the on-road fuel has significantly less sulfur. That sulfur apparently eat's aluminum under pressure and heat.

It was interesting because it looked like spidery veins that came into the area next to the injectors, eventually causing compression issues. My dad did the engine work for this guy, on the first motor, he thought it was some kind of fluke. He replaced the head and checked the injectors before installing. The motor came back after a while, with the same problem. He did it again free of charge because it should have lasted longer then that. The third time it made him start questioning. After some investigation the guy agreed to stop using his home fuel. It's been several years now I think he's exceeded the vehicle's frame limits and hasn't had that issue again. Both my dad and I feel the sulfur was the problem. It's been several years, but I seem to recall we found an article somewhere that mentioned the sulfur issue.

This doesn't seem to be a problem with bio-diesel, as vegetable don't have much sulfur.

Yeah, sulfur really is a big issue. The strong smell of gear oil is sulfur and phosphor compounds, but I don't think ATF has as much/any of that in it.

For a couple of years Peugeot couldn't import or sell any new line diesel cars as NZ diesel sulfur levels were too high for them to run on!

Fred.

Interesting comments about sulfur content and its associated problems. Probably helps that this is an all iron truck motor. We added a couple more gallons of gas and its not too bad anymore. I'm wondering if that gas is helping by being a catalyst or a "thinner". At least it doesn't look like a crop duster going down the road anymore.

It has to be the thinner factor doesn't it? Helps it atomise better...

As for "cast iron truck" I think you'll find that the injectors are made from steel or similar on big and little engines alike.

Fred.

I know of vehicles that use vegetable oil for fuel. Simply use the radiator heater to heat it up, such that the viscosity goes down. Keep the viscosity about the same as diesel, and your all set.

Perhaps you need a heat exchanger instead of gas additive?

http://www.greasecar.com/

Smart thinking! That would help a great deal.