ATF Loco Lube

That's an understatement!

I'm sold on the idea!  Thanks for posting this...now I know why that gummy stuff happens!

I Use 100% Synthetic Oil in my truck and both Cars

It never even occurred to me to use it on my trains heck I even use it in my Sears Lawn mower Tractor. Well I'm dumping all my other RR oils in the recycle drum and after I wash them out I use the Dexron II in the Garage I have a case or most of one.

Dan

Absolutely - clean all the old lubricant first

Absolutely, clean out all the old lubricant first.

I disassemble the loco and gear towers, check for burs and slop around the worm and clean all the parts in 99% Isopropyl alcohol. I then reassemble the mechanism and lube it with the ATF.

If the worm has back and forth slop, it's good to add some thrust washers from Northwest Shortline so the loco won't buck going downhill.

Then it's always good to break it in - run it 30 minutes each direction up on blocks.

Warning

This is a great idea; it really maintains/improves mechanical performance, but:

Read the label.  As Joe pointed out, it needs to be 100% synthetic.  Not all the "synthetic" ATF's at your neighborhood auto supply place are 100% synthetic.  If they're not, your plastic components could be toast (or more like "jam").

Good advice

Perhaps it would be best to ask a counter person for a jug of 100% synthetic tranny fluid to avoid any possible confusion between types?

The problem with asking a counter person is,

most are totally clueless.  The typical counter people at the local auto parts stores here were probably flipping burgers last week before they got the job at the local auto parts chain store this week. They know how to look up your car on their computer IF you haven't done an engine swap to an engine that was not originally available in your vehicle.  Your best bet is to read the label carefully on the container before you buy the atf.

Likely true in many cases...

However that's not the case at the Napa Auto Parts I frequent.  Two guys have been there nearly longer than Napa has been around and they know their stuff.

I can usually spot the burger flipper a mile away anyway.  As you say though in many cases the counter staff know diddly squat.  But I wouldn't ask a 16 year old ex-burger flipper, in the first place.

I should have mentioned that NAPA is different.

Unfortunately, I have the typical chain stores around me, while the nearest NAPA is a trip to the freeway and then five miles down the freeway to get off to get to the NAPA store.  It isn't real inconvenient unless I'm in a hurry.

Mobil has it on the label

I bought some last week  just for this purpose and got Mobil brand.  It says fully synthetic on the label in big letters

Steve

That explains it!

I always planned sell my house in the city,

and move out into the country when I retired.  My daughters got married and all live within a few blocks of my wife and I and my oldest now has 2 sons and the youngest is expecting her first son in January, so we aren't moving!  I would like to live in the country with enough land to build a railroad room and workshop out back, but grand kids are just too much fun to move away from. 

Country Life

I cut ties with the city in 1992 when I was still a single guy and I have not looked back since.  Now that I am "married with children" my wife and I hold all the cards as we have the grandchildren and the grandparents have to come to us!

We would not consider moving into the city even though the missus commutes to work there.  She works with a woman whom lives in the city and spends the same amount of time on her in-city commute, inching along in bumper to bumper rush hour traffic while my wife cruises at 60 mph with hardly any traffic to stress her out.  The drive home is her unwinding time.

Dexron IV?

I read thru this thread with great interest, then discovered that Dexron II was replace with Dexron III in 1993. Currently, the Dexron ATF is Dexron IV. Is this plastic safe?

Chris

Parts counter person...

Dexron VI is fully synthetic, II and !!! were synthetic blends.  Considering the number of plastic components in most transmissions, it should be safe. One caution is that ATF is designed to be highly viscous so over application could lead to some areas being lubed that may not need it. Use sparingly.  As an aside, I sold auto parts for over 30 years, and the modern attitude that all parts sellers are idiots is quite insulting.  I do flip hamburgers also, at home on my grille!  Try Napa if you can't find the expertise, but remember not all people behind counters are not low IQ, uneducated or stupid.  Sometimes we take jobs that we are interested in or enjoy! As far as quality goes I recommend Amsoil, by far the best on the market and everything they make is full synthetic.  Also, as an additional thought I use Mobil 1 or il synthetic grease on my old die cast locomotives with bearing cast in or brass inserts. The grease stays put and has a temp range from -40f to 500f, so no issues with hardening.  It also does not dry out or harden.  Just food for thought, gotta go my burgers are burning!!!

Peace, Bill

So far I have not had any

So far I have not had any issue with the lubricants I use, Never Stall, Conducta Lube, Labelle grease with pft. When doing a periodic re-cleaning and inspection no gum or gunk found. I have had some parts tarnish (metal) and there have been bits of debris picked up from the track to remove. No issues with the products in more than 5 years since they were done.

Now I know that these items are designed for the purpose of lubricating model railroad equipment.

As to the ATF it maybe compatible with some plastics but not all plastic parts are the same. I am not saying it will damage anything but I do not know for sure that it will not damage the internal workings such as plastic gears.

I suspect the 35.00 dollars I already spent on all lubricants could be reduced to 15 if I skip the never stall, so a 13.00 savings does not seem to be worth it to me to change from products I use and trust. I will also add that after using the products I mentioned I achieved a more than 20% improvement in the pulling performance of what Model Railroader stated was measured for one of the locomotives in question.

MR results for an Atlas Trainmaster in HO scale on Straight and level track 60 free rolling freight cars.

Rob's test after tune up and lubrication more than 80 cars up a curving grade that was more than 2% peak and has many 30 inch radius curves. Also the cars in question were more than 1 to 2 ounces over the NMRA standard for weight.

It may be possible to achieve the same or better results with the ATF but I am not ready to test the product on my equipment. I will how ever watch and see what other folks achieve in results. I will also conduct an experiment using gears that get replaced from different locomotives. I will put the gears that have been replaced in a cup and a jar of ATF so we can see if their appears to be any long term degradation of the parts.

I have reread this post and it might sound like I'm bashing someone with a new idea. That is not my intention. I am just very skeptical of all the cheap fixes I have read and heard about over the years. For example: One of the most common claims I have heard about is better fuel economy with gasoline that contains alcohol. I have found the exact opposite to be true but that has not stopped many folks from still claiming it to be true.

If you have chosen to use this material in your locomotives I would be interested in reading about how long you have had it in place and what was the performance of your locomotive before and after.

Gear Lube,(grease)...

I have a lot of white lithium grease, is it a safe lubricant? Or should I stick with the synthetic ATF?

Taz...

Really old thread

This is a really old thread.

My lubricant of choice now is Nano-Oil. It's a specially formulated lubricant that includes microscopic ball-bearing like hydro-carbon balls suspended in a lubricating fluid to greatly reduce friction.

Nano-oil noticeably reduces current draw on locos when it's used.

https://www.nano-oil.com/Model%20RailRoad.html

STP

I know a modeler who use to use STP in all his locomotive.  

Only problem he had is if he left them in the car during the winter,  

You won't have an issue with any lube gumming up if you put your locomotives on a maintenance schedule.  Spend an evening a couple times a month and clean a unit, before you know it your done and the unit runs at top performance.

Andy

Lube...

Thanks Joe, much appreciated!!!

Taz...