General Chat
Q:
Hi folks,
I just read a post where someone recommended adding a quart of diesel fluid to the oil to clean up the engine. The author of that post has a good reputation and I'm certain that it is probably true and worthy of consideration. However, there have been a few of these "remedies" that I have crossed, (my memory fails me at the moment), that I just shook my head and thought to myself, "You're screwed if you do that!"
So, I was wondering, given the vast wealth of knowledge and experience we have at our disposal, does anybody have any old tales to share about car remedies that are just a hair off of mainstream?
The one that comes to my mind involves placing mothballs in your gas tank to increase your octane rating. I don't know if this works and god help the guy I catch putting mothballs in my gas tank. Any others floating around out there?
And, there was one where you could add a teaspoon of "something" to your dead battery and it would bring it back to life. Anybody remember that one?
John
77280Z (Spooky), 83ZXT (Garage Queen), 86ZXT (Bulldog).
Proud owner of 10/03 Z car of the month.
A:
i've heard about the teaspoon deal but cant remember what it was.maybe baking soda?
Z's are like woman maintenance,maintenance,maintenance!
1971 240Z gunmetal metalic 5sp 4:11 gears in the rear
illuminas and purchased from the original owner w/136k original miles
A:
Use ATF to clean up the engine. Drain the oil, fill with ATF (recommended number of oil quarts for engine). Run engine for 5-15 minutes. Drain ATF, change filter and refill with favorite brand of oil (I recommend Mobile 1 Synthetic).
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77 280Z - TEC3 Engine Management, Coil Packs, 3.1 Stroker, 550CC injectors, tripple throttle body FI intake, MSA Stage II Cam, etc...etc...
79 Fairlady - Rusty
81 280ZX - DD
A:
This reminds me of an old tale I once heard about shady car salesmen putting sawdust in automatic trannies that were on the verge of failure.
My grandad is fond of telling the story about using pieces of leather belts for bearings in Model As..
1976 280z 2+2 - Risen from the dead - garaged since 1988. Pallnet Fuel Rail and guage - ES rack and front bushings - 260Z 4Speed - Arizona Z Car Clutch - H4 Lights - Lots more to come...
A:
Kcathometer wrote, "My grandad is fond of telling the story about using pieces of leather belts for bearings in Model As.."
Wow!
Seems like every generation has its stories.
Hey Z lion, Wouldn't baking soda neutralize battery acid? I think that's one for the "You're Screwed" catagory.
John
77280Z (Spooky), 83ZXT (Garage Queen), 86ZXT (Bulldog).
Proud owner of 10/03 Z car of the month.
A:
Send it to Mythbusters
A:
The" Sawdust" story actually is from a "grapes of Wrath" by Steinbeck,there is a paragraph about used car lots.
1971 "Series One" 240z,L28 n42/n42 flattops.primered,work in progress,Tokico Iluminas,Eibach Pro-Kit,1" front swaybar more to come..
A:
using power steering fluid to give you engine bay a "clean" look..after i tried it, it actually looked good, had a real nice shine..
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1981 n/a 280zx
1952 m38a1 jeep willy's
1971 fairlady 240z
95 300zx N/A
72 240z
A:
Why not just buy the can of motor flush for like $1.99? you add it to oil and let it idle for 5 minutes, then drain oil as usual. It fixed a stuck lifter on my friend's v6 hyundai.
1980 280zx w/L28ET MSnS-Extra, framerails are toast...
1982 280zx...newest acquisition...
1983 Maxima - just sits in the driveway these days...
A:
I've found a use for old gas. I have tanks of old gas. I have a bunch of approx. 5 year old gas from parts cars.
This is the easiest way I know of to get rid of the sludge buildup that always collects in the engine. I pour about 1 gallon of the old gas into the oil filler cap as the last quart or two is draining out. The old gas will flush out most of the sludge. The only warning I can give you is that old gas if you let it sit in there will dry and make a really nasty hard buildup if you let it sit in the engine long enough to cook off.
I've had good luck with it.
Ray
"I reject your reality and substitute my own"
Please check out Thanks!
"You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant, excepting Alice"
A:
they didnt use sawdust to make trans last longer- it was used in manual trans that had bearing or gear noise. the sawdust masked the sound of the gears howling or grinding. a very rotten thing to do and required hunting down the used car salesman to get revenge!!!
baking soda would definitly be death to any battery if you put it inside the battery. i think it was coke pop that was supposed to help but im not sure - my mind is slipping in my advanced age of 49 11/12ths.
leather belting was actually an acceptable repair on many early cars trucks and tractors. ( one for YORGO !!)
i dont know about the mothballs for extra octane but years ago it was thought that if you put enough mothballs in a gas tank that it would blow the engine. i wanted to test the theory but all the moths i caught were either female or had such little balls that i couldnt locate them!!!!!
the diesel theory was actually an accepted engine internal cleaning practice used by many garages before all the newer cleaning products were on the market.
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1980 280ZX coupe
2001 maxima
1994 F150 4x4 van works custom truck
170000 and never needed mech repairs
1996 ford explorer -they cant all be good
A:
"Baking soda is pure death for car batteries or ANY wet-cell battery." Norm K
Norman Krell
A:
The saw dust trick worked for manual transmissions. Helps smooth out shifts in worn synchros in addition to what has already been said. ....and yes it is a dirty used car sales trick.
Ken
'82ZX n/a 2+2
'02 Sportster XL1200C
A:
Denny Crane.
A:
Well for auotmatic transmissons one can add some brake fluid to the to the mix of ATF fluid. What this does is swell the seals in the transmisson causing it to work for a little while longer. Say for instance if your reverse goes out, and you want to get rid of the car, pour in some brake fluid and bam you have reverse again for about 100-150 miles. But the seals break down really fast, and after that 150ish miles you won't be going forward or reverse.
1977 280z, Tokico Blues,Illumina Springs, Hyper-flex bushing kit, SS brake lines, 4 piston calipers, 15/16 MC, 2+2 ZX booster, Headers, Real ANSA Muffler, 2.5 inch pipes, H4 Lights, Headlight covers, Front Strut Bar, CAI.
A:
My friend who worked at a 50's type speed shop has also told me about ATF for engine clean up.
Black pepper in the cooling system for short term leak fix. My bro tired it in his 67 Pontiac Lemans. Not sure if it helped or hurt but the car smelled spicy :).
EDIT: Some also say you can crank an egg or two into the cooling system for a"get it home" fix. Never tried that one. But we did try the pepper thing.
Another oldie is molasses & feathers to fit a flat in model T days. Then there is the one about the guy who made a push rod for his airplane out of wood or bamboo.<--might have some truth to it. Heard that one from my dad who spent time around pilots from the WWI & II era. Could have come from Paul Mantz or Merian cooper
-Pete
1978 Z ATK F54-P79
Drink Sobe No Fear Gold
Tokico Illuminas, Poly bushings,Techno Tuning TC rods. Bad Dog frame rails. Toyota 4 piston calipers & power slot rotors. MSA 2.5” turbo exhaust & K&N cold air intake. H4’s
Post Edited (Oct 9, 6:02pm)
A:
I would be curious to see the outcome of some of these myths, if anyone tries these first hand tell me how goes it!
Too bad Tony D isn't around to set some of these straight...
youth is wasted on the young
A:
Mothballs are made from napthalene, and they're somewhat flammable- ask my high school science teacher ...
(who knew flames could lick the ceiling tiles like that?)
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1982 280zx
A:
The baking soda is for cleaning the outside battery terminals - never inside the battery.
The baking soda is mixed in water and cleans & dissolves the blue & white corrossion crystals on the termanals. Then use wire brush to clean.
Coke Cola or any cola type soda will do that too.
Myth Busters did several of those car myths - the egg in the radiator is a true short term fix for pin hole leaks.
Moth balls don't work - remember - gasoline is more volitile or should I say flammable than most any other additives.
Most additives are a waste of money according to much more experienced mechanics on this site.
Except for Marvel Mystery oil seems to help cleaning during normal use of oil in engine - this is a very old school product - I still use it in my old cars.
And many older mechanics swear by it.
However - I'm of the opinion that most new oils espescially for longer use of high performance engines have all the "stuff" you need in them.
For oil - change when you should or sooner. Clean oil is better than adding anything to dirty oil.
I'd like to see and I think we have had some lists of simple things to use on the road for temporary fixes - like duct tape.
Ed and Jeanne's
ZXelda 1981 280 ZXT: ZXena 1990 300 ZX
1941 Buick Special Sedanette (Betty)
1956 Dodge Royal (Dorothy)
1971 Buick Riviera (Rita)
1975 Ford F-150 Stepside (Fiona)
1992 Firebird (Frieda)
A:
I think somebody here on the forum once said that they rigged a makeshift belt out of shoelaces?
I think....
1976 280Z
Draw-Through Turbo, 10 PSI, 4 Bbl Holley, E88, L28 (Flat), 10:1 CR, 5 Spd
1974 Corvette Stingray:
350, 400 Automatic, T-Tops, 8.5:1 CR, 78,000 Miles
1994 Acura Integra:
1.8L, 5 Spd, 189,000 and Counting!
A:
Another: A friend of mine once fixed his leaking battery by melting an old Cylum light stick with his Zippo lighter. You know the “vhip” “vhip”sound of the dripping hot plastic. Yes it could have been dangerous. It actually held up pretty well.
-Pete
1978 Z ATK F54-P79
Drink Sobe No Fear Gold
Tokico Illuminas, Poly bushings,Techno Tuning TC rods. Bad Dog frame rails. Toyota 4 piston calipers & power slot rotors. MSA 2.5” turbo exhaust & K&N cold air intake. H4’s
A:
I've heard of using a high detergent diesel oil, to clean out the inside of your engine over some time. Supposedly breaks up all the carbon, and crap like that in the ring lands, and everywhere else..
A guy in our Z club got this 73 240 with a locked up engine out of a field, put marvel mystery oil in it to get it unstuck, and ran high detergent diesel oil for like 20-30k miles of normal driving (under 4000 rpm, he says diesel oil wasn't made to "turn" as fast as normal oil). He said when he started driving the car it would burn about 2 to 3 quarts of oil per 1000 miles, and now he says he burns about 1 quart every oil change! He's a really smart guy, and super nice. I have no reason to doubt him, I've just never tried it myself.
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(SOLD)
A:
I've heard of using Diesel in engines and the leather belt bearing.
One of the characters in "The Grapes of Wrath" also uses some copper wire in place of a piston ring on the Model T they were driving. I've always wanted to try that.
Supposedly you can use old pantyhose has a belt. But who keeps old pantyhose handy.
1973 240Z 4 screw SU's, Tokico HP's, Toyota Calipers
1946 Willys-Overland CJ-2A (restoration in progress)
2006 Ural Gear-Up
A:
i saw the mythbusters episode about putting stuff in the gas tank to kill the motor . it was intresting.
so any one here know why tonyd got banned or when?
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1980 280ZX coupe
2001 maxima
1994 F150 4x4 van works custom truck
170000 and never needed mech repairs
1996 ford explorer -they cant all be good
A:
"A guy in our Z club ...ran high detergent diesel oil for like 20-30k miles of normal driving ...He's a really smart guy"
LOL, he's not so smart.
There is a reason for different oils. Gas, diesel, turbine, 2-stroke, etc use different oils for different reasons. Each is blended to be the best for that application. Running a different oil for 30K miles is a testament to the engine strength, not the brilliance of using the wrong spec oils...
Seriously, the engine did not need massive cleanup (since the engine did run) and any good grade motor oil would have equal (or better) results. "Stuck" engines are usually due to a little cylinder rust, not sludge.
A:
Tony D got banned? I just assumed he was on another of his trips.
1972 240z w/L28, tokico shocks and springs, and a 5 speed waiting. Also running high performance ultra mega blinker fluid, that's at least an extra 50hp to the wheels.
1987 Toyota Supra Turbo 5-speed. Belongs to me until my friend get's back from Iraq.
A:
>so any one here know why tonyd got banned or when?
For being Tony D...
85' 300ZX NA
86' 300ZX Turbo
88' 300ZX Turbo
89' 300ZX Turbo
300ZX Turbo Project
A:
I'll wrap up this post with one from the 70's. I was told to mix premium unleaded with regular leaded gas (when they still had it) to get this higher octane performance gas. I don't know if it worked or not as I was driving an MGB at the time. I could probably have run nitromethane through it and not noticed a difference. Okay, maybe some dofference.
John
77280Z (Spooky), 83ZXT (Garage Queen), 86ZXT (Bulldog).
Proud owner of 10/03 Z car of the month.
A:
you would have noticed a difference running nitromethane--it tends to melt down the end of the sparkplugs! in my racing days id get 3 to 4 trips down the drag strip on a set of plugs running approx 50% nitro mix.
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1980 280ZX coupe
2001 maxima
1994 F150 4x4 van works custom truck
170000 and never needed mech repairs
1996 ford explorer -they cant all be good
A:
LOL........the pure bull **** snake oil fixes people believe in. Its as bad as that shitty car show "2 guys garage" peddling any crap that comes their way just as long as the sponors pay the air time. Petroleum based fuels tend to be solvents so they will disolve most petroleum products. As for running them for any length of time where a petroleum based lubricant is called for, I say you've been sucking on your tail pipe.
This whole world smells bad, I'd buy another if I had
back what I paid for another mother@#$%@# in a motorcade