Old timer at the shop showed me how to seat rings with a squirt bottle

I was struggling with a rebuild on a 5.9 Cummins back in March. Oil consumption was through the roof after 500 miles. Guy named Frank who's been wrenching since the 70s comes over, grabs a spray bottle full of ATF, and gives each cylinder a quick shot before the final fire up. Said he's been doing it since the 80s and never had a ring seat issue. Has anyone else heard of this trick or is it just old school voodoo?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_mila1mo ago

Frank's one of those guys who probably has a dozen tricks nobody writes in manuals anymore. Makes you wonder what else got lost when the old timers retired. ATF in the cylinders sounds crazy till you see it actually work.

bennett.nora1mo ago

Oh man, that ATF trick is pure gold! I tried it on my old 7.3 after Frank's cousin showed me, and I swear it saved me from pulling the heads a second time. Still felt like a total hack spraying transmission fluid into an engine though, lmao.