My uncle told me to use ATF to free a seized turbo actuator, and it worked.

I was working on a 2012 Duramax with a stuck VGT actuator, the kind that just won't budge. My uncle, who ran a fleet shop for twenty years, told me to forget the expensive penetrants and just drip a little automatic transmission fluid down the actuator rod. I was sure it would gum things up worse, but I tried it. I let it sit overnight, and the next morning, with some gentle heat from a heat gun, it broke free with almost no force. It saved me from pulling the whole turbo assembly. I've used it twice since on similar jobs. Has anyone else found a simple fluid that works better than the store-bought stuff for this kind of thing?

2 comments

2 Comments

willow7321mo ago

Whoa, hold up. I gotta push back on this one. ATF might free things up but it's not actually a penetrant. It's a lubricant. Once the heat cycles hit that ATF it'll cook into varnish and carbon. You got lucky that time. I've seen guys use it on brake calipers and the pins seize up worse a month later. Heat gun did the real work here, not the transmission fluid. Something like Kroil or a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF is way more reliable.

julia8431mo ago

My torch just melted the rust in 30 seconds flat.