Re: Transmission fluid in the oil?
If you last long enough, you will find all sorts of tricks that can be used as needed. Adding a quart of ATF to a 5-quart system was a commonly used attempt to free gummed or stuck lifters. At the time, detergent oil and hydraulic lifters were still being introduced and some would avoid detergent oil as they did not trust it(wait until they heard about 10W-30! multi-weight/grade, Oh the horror!)
Any way, ATF is very detergent by reputation, and might loosen up or dissolve lifters that needed just a little extra cleaning to allow them to function. If you ever take one apart, the fit is exceedingly tight between the internal piston and the cylinder. Just a little varnish could make it stick. Most did not 'flow' oil like the Chevy V8, but trapped a small bit of oil used to 'take up the slack' in the valve train, and then that oil just stayed until more wear allowed motion. That style got stuck and tappy regularly. ATF sometimes did help.
Today, I would try it in the crankcase and not worry too much about it, though the likelihood of success is small. Almost all oil is detergent(keeps the sludge in suspension) and it takes a lot of abuse(no changes for loooonnnnngggg intervals) to develop enough varnish or sludge to stuff up a lifter. ATF not likely to succeed. But, on an engine that has not had a good maintenance history, what could it hurt?
tom
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