2002 4runner strawberry milkshake question

[Ray H]

Hi all,

I have been reading threads for over 3 hours now regarding the strawberry milkshake, radiator/tranny issue. It has happened to my wife last night. I read mixed results, and can't find the exact answers to my thoughts/questions. I work on my own cars so I'm not a mechanical/electrical newbie. Just new to 4 runners, we have had the truck for 5 months, 170k miles now.
The story:
I check all fluids every week, ATF was perfect, radiator was perfect last week. I drove the car Monday, no tranny slippage or delay. My wife left work last night and on the way home the tranny just stopped working. No pre-signs of any issues, just stopped and wouldn't engage into any gear. I had her turn it off immediately and towed it home. This morning I went out and there was strawberry milkshake on the ground and engine compartment. Radiator was empty as well as the ATF, bone dry. The radiator has appeared to either busted a hose or blew out the bottom. I have not dug in yet until I get more info.
Questions:
I know this happens to what appears to be 10% of Gen3s. But is it normal to show no signs then just blow out the radiator, then hence the tranny? I'm trying to compile my odds of replacing the radiator and flushing per the instructions on this, or taking it to a shop for a complete overhaul, vs just dumping the vehicle. I realize the clutch may now be shot. I don't want to put any time into this vehicle till I know my odds. It appears some flush and refill with new radiator and get 15k to 100k more out of the tranny. If it was just strawberry milkshake and no slippage, I would replace and flush, but with the slippage, I'm nervous to waste my time. It's a beautiful vehicle and wanted more time out of it. Based on what happened, what are the odds the ATF just blew out with little radiator fluid getting in the trans? I don't want to even drop the tranny pan till I know my odds. I'm puzzled by the 'everything was fine', then complete failure immediately. I would expect signs of trouble. The car was running beautifully. What are all of your experiences or knowledge? Also, can I trust the car with just a replace radiator and flush and fill? Will I at least gets signs of problems so we don't get stranded? I do know my options. I'm looking for knowledge/experiences. I can replace the trans, torque converter, and radiator and do a complete coolant flush or roll the dice with radiator and flush/fill.

I know this was a long post. I know their is a ton of info on this. I just see mixed results.

Thanks in advance for your knowledge....

And yes, on high mileage vehicles in the future, the first maintenance I will do is replace the radiator.... 100 bucks and a few hours, I would not be posting....

 

[jgue467]

Tough to say...

I mean if the radiator just suddenly bursts and the driver continues its going to last as long as the fluids take to spill out. Sometimes you get warnings sometimes you don't. Probably only a close inspection would have revealed that was potentially coming.

You have no choice but to take the pan off and inspect. Or if you feel luckly replace radiator, fill and try it out. Most I've read about on here are dead after that happens, rebuilt, remanufactured or used tranny. Very few got lucky with a flush or two and even then some didn't last long after that. Sorry that happened.

 

[Padre]

Sorry man. Good luck!

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

You wont know the extent of the damage until you get it going again. Replace the radiator. Drain the tranny pan. Get yourself a lot (at least 3 gal) of Tranny fluid. Normal fill is about 3 gal bone dry. Disconnect the output transmission hose going to the radiator. I forget which one it is but it should be the one that flows really well when the motor is started. Put that hose into a 5 gal bucket and secure it somehow as it will want to move when flow starts. Put 4 or five qts tranny fluid in the fill tube. Don't worry too much about level at this time as your not going to drive it. Start the truck and pump out about 3 or 4 qts. Wont take long (about 20 seconds) then turn off the truck and keep replenishing the fluid and restarting until it clears up in your bucket. Once you've ran at least 12 qts through, button it up and make sure the radiator is filled up. Let the truck completely warm up before driving. Make sure all levels are OK. Take it for a SAFE slow drive. See if the tranny shifts normally. If it just slips like crazy or wont shift at all then at that point it probably wont be worth doing the 2nd and 3rd tranny flushes you would want to do and you be looking for a good used tranny. If it seems ok do the other 2 flushes, driving a little bit more in between the flushes. Make sure when you drive it you get it up to temp. If all seems well then all you have to do is flush you coolant system next as that tranny fluid like to keep reappearing in the overflow bottle. I used a procedure using dishwashing detergent (no suds) that worked great.
I had the pink milkshake. Caught it in time. I did this procedure and was able to salvage my tranny. It did have a "shudder" going into OD however. But I got 15K out of it before it got totaled. Took it on a long FL trip too. Was a little nervous but when the trip was over I felt pretty damn good about that truck.
I'll be honest, the fluid levels and conditions your describing aren't giving me too much confidence being able to salvage it but it's definitely worth a try. Also, going forward, I would be looking into a tranny down the road as you can guarantee to took some life out of it.

 

[FireTiger]

It happened to me a year and a half ago. No warning, just fluid all over my driveway and all over the engine compartment. Nothing about it was fun, so I will no sugarcoat the experience. I agree with one of the replies, you will not have any choice but to drop the pan. At the end of the day, I had to replace the radiator, hoses, and two flushes. It has been fine to degree, but I still have some delays in the transmission shifting efficiently. I love my Runner, and it's my second 02 Sport, but I am fed up. Toyota really dropped the ball on this during our generation of vehicle. I, too, am in the cross hairs of keeping it or trying to save for a 2010 to 2013 Trail Edition. I hate to tell you to replace everything, but either way you choose, is a chance. So far, my chance has gotten me another year, but it has never driven quite the same. Good Luck

 

[jeremyc74]

If there's no fluid in the radiator or the transmission, I'd say there's a good chance you've gotten lucky. If it pumped both fluids out on the road rather than mixing the two, that's the better outcome. Obviously running the transmission that low on fluid isn't good for it, but depending on how fast it dumped it you may be ok.

Personally I'd pull the drain plug on the pan and see what comes out. And search for that before you do it, because the plug is prone to stripping and you want to be careful.

You're going to have to have a new radiator either way, (about $100) so I'd go ahead and buy that, refill everything and see what happens. Worst case you're out 18 quarts of transmission fluid.

 

[Mgyver1]

While I did not have the milkshake, the transmission in my '02 Tacoma pooped where it slept. I ended up finding one through a wrecking yard and swapped it in and it drove just like new. If I remember correctly I paid around $1000 for it. Another option is buying one from Toyota. Camelback lists one for a '00 4wd Limited for $1684 plus a $1k core.

 

[Ray H]

Thanks all! My wife loves this truck so much that with 185k, I'm going to fork the $2500 over and have the trans rebuilt. It will come back with a 3yr/36k warranty on parts and labor.

 

[JeepKiller]

I sank my runner over the summer and the transmission got water in it. I flushed it twice and it's been fine ever since. I've put probably 8k on it since then, but I expect to have to replace it eventually.

 

[krenaud33]

Thanks all! My wife loves this truck so much that with 185k, I'm going to fork the $2500 over and have the trans rebuilt. It will come back with a 3yr/36k warranty on parts and labor.

Did you get coolant in the tranny? You mentioned in your first post you were not sure what all happened. Did the tranny or coolant compartment in the radiator crack? I had pink milkshake a few years back. I drove it 15 miles with the pink milkshake before it wouldn't move anymore in drive. I had it towed home and attempted to flush the tranny myself, which didn't work too well. I replaced the radiator and then had the tranny flushed at a shop and the cooling system flushed as well. I am still driving the 4Runner with probably 100K miles on it since that occured. I wouldn't have the tranny rebuilt just yet.