damonoresky

I went to top off my oil and accidently grabbed the ATF fluid and poured about a handful in. Should I drain the oil here or can I drive to an oil change place? I am such a goof!

Lizard928

Fire up the engine and let it idle for 15-20 min, then drain it and fill it with normal oil.

The ATF has a lot of shampoos which can help remove crud from the inside of the engine.

blown 87

How much is a handful in pints or quarts?
Was it just regular mercon III?

PorKen

IIRC, ATF is semisynthetic 30W oil with detergents, anti-foam stuff, etc.

damonoresky

Literally like a handful of shampoo you'd use in the shower, maybe slightly more. Dexron ATF fluid that I used to top off the power steering recently.

BC

If its just a quart or so, that could be a good thing just before an oil change.

Jerry Feather

When I was young, or at least younger, I bought a 1957 Chevorlet 210 with a 265 ci v8. It was used, of course. When I pulled one of the valve covers for some reason I found that is was really gunked up--I mean really. You could hardly see the rockers. I asked my uncle, who was a car guy and race car builder and all and he told me to put a quart of ATF in the oil ad drive it for a while then drain it and put in fresh oil. He said that the ATF was "very detergent." I did like he said and then drove the car for a couple hundred miles on a weekend trip. Then I changed the oil. I don't recall just when I pulled the rocker cover again, but when I did it was really pretty clean.

Personally, I would not hesitate to drive your car to the oil change place with that little bit of atf in the oil; and in fact I would probably just ignor it. I don't mean this as advise, but if it is taken that way, do so at your own risk.

Jerry Feather, FBA Certified
S4's (6)
KGJT

Mrmerlin

if it was less than half a quart I would not worry about it.
As it will be diluted into 9 quarts or over 2 gallons of oil.
I would drive it like you stole it

j.kenzie@sbcglobal.net

1 quart of ATF per oil change is one of the best thing a Rolls Royce engine can have. Ask Mr. Albers when you see him in heaven. I would bet, you will be OK.

damonoresky

Thanks guys, this is truly an awesome forum!

IcemanG17

wow...I didn't know ATF had such good cleaning properties.....good to know

SharkSkin

Yes, lots of detergents, but IIRC it's not 30W it's more like 10W. 1 quart in 9 is not likely to be a problem, but on the more common 5-quart sumps on most engines I don't beat hard on them with 1 qt of ATF in there. YMMV.

blown 87

That small amount I would not worry about, most ATF is mainly 100 neutral, which is just a very light oil.
Not going to hurt a thing.

Imo000

An old mechanics trick to clean the engine is to replace the oil with ATF and ONLY run it on idle for 20 min. After this drain and replace it with regular oil. ATF is an excellent cleaning agent.

Since you only put a hand full in it, you will be fine. If it was mostly ATF, I wouldn’t do much besides idling. ATF can’t handle the extreme pressure of the con rod pounding and that’s why you only let it idle and nothing more.

McLovin

Cool!! I learned something new here.