I like the sound of that, add lucas trans slip during a drain and fill....as preventive maintenance?
confused about tranny and radiator flush
- Thread starter Trip_84
- Start date
I like the sound of that, add lucas trans slip during a drain and fill....as preventive maintenance?
you should continue to use the dexron III its good for ""you ""!
dexron III was a GM spec fluid not now ... LOL ..
it is the best fluid if you low on $$$ ,some stores no longer sell it .. NO spec # on bottle ,
if its not allowed on GM vehicles then it is best for Toyota ...you are correct sir.
mtbtim
Elite Member
I doubt you could even find Dextron III on any auto parts store shelves since it hasn't been manufactured in such a long time, so it's a non-issue. You just need to buy a fluid that's compatible for Dextron III applications like a Dex/Merc or Mercon V. If you had some Dextron III sitting on a shelf in your garage, you could still use it for your transmission or power steering or recycle it.
You guys are getting into a pissing match over nothing.
Don't believe I read whether or not your radiator is original. But, if it has more than a hundred thousand or so on it it's cheap insurance to replace it before it fails at the juncture between the coolant and the transmission oil cooler tank. There's lot of opinions on when to replace transmission fluid and whether or not a machine flush is good or bad. But, there's no dissent at all about the wisdom of replacing an old radiator before it ruins the transmission.
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shahsmerdis
New member
NO! Only put that stuff in its already damaged and your next step is to swap transmissions.... Adding it to a tranny that doesn't need it probably the worst thing you can do.
Trip_84
New member
I would recommend this stuff. It's what I used when I did my flush and it also has a good reputation while not being expensive. You can find it everywhere too.
got this today from walmart for $12. drained the pan completly and filled 2.5 qts back in and was well below the cold line so i added the entire bottle and let the truck warm up and drove around a little. is hard to tell exactly where the fluid is on the stick but it seemed after warming it up and checking it while truck was running that the fluid was right at the first warm mark.
thanks for the suggestion!
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Trip_84
New member
thank you for the knowledge. i will def. take your imput and look into a new radiator. the first thing i would like to do is have new lower ball joints put on. for piece of mind. i do not know the history of the vehicle and no service history
. just hit 200k yesterday so maintenance is my new priority
mtbtim
Elite Member
thank you for the knowledge. i will def. take your imput and look into a new radiator. the first thing i would like to do is have new lower ball joints put on. for piece of mind. i do not know the history of the vehicle and no service history
Well, I've got a video for that as well. Here ya go:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bfLvtEnX9qk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
TejasRunner01
New member
For what it is worth, I didn't know the history on my rig. I have 167k miles, just bought it 1,000 miles ago. I had the same question as you. My 97 before the drain and fill it shifted great, just wanted to get some good fluid in there. The old ATF was very dark, almost black whenever I drained it. However I put new ATF fluid in there. It has been 1,000 miles now and it shifts just as good as always. However, from what I understand it is rather risky to do so. Good luck with your decision!
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Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk
DK327
Member
Transmission fluid = drain and refill, coolant flush = A-OK!
When I got my 2000 LTD a year ago this month with 230K miles, one of the 1st things I did was:
Replaced original radiator with Koyorad 1998A
Replaced radiator cap (OEM)
Replaced upper and lower radiator hoses (OEM)
Replaced Thermostat (OEM) and gasket (Fel-Pro)
Coolant flush (OEM 50/50 coolant)
As for the transmission fluid, drain when it's hot to get the full 4 quarts out. If it's not warm enough, you'll get less than 3 quarts. I've already done this twice now, once at 230K miles, a second time at 235K miles and I'll do it a 3rd time at 240K miles. After that probably once a year.
When I got my 2000 LTD a year ago this month with 230K miles, one of the 1st things I did was:
Replaced original radiator with Koyorad 1998A
Replaced radiator cap (OEM)
Replaced upper and lower radiator hoses (OEM)
Replaced Thermostat (OEM) and gasket (Fel-Pro)
Coolant flush (OEM 50/50 coolant)
As for the transmission fluid, drain when it's hot to get the full 4 quarts out. If it's not warm enough, you'll get less than 3 quarts. I've already done this twice now, once at 230K miles, a second time at 235K miles and I'll do it a 3rd time at 240K miles. After that probably once a year.
Confused on this statement, please help me understand: What's wrong with mixing... and oh, crap... did I just mix?
I'm new at 4Runners, and a radiator flush on my new-to-me 98 is my second job on it. (First I cleaned the MAF sensor which was caked and filthy and got back to shiny silver. 1 job down.)
Late yesterday I drained my radiator and got less out than I expected - only about 1.25 gallons of green coolant from a system that supposedly has 9qt (2.25 gal) capacity. Huh. It was also darker than coolant usually is, so I figured it got mixed with leftover red previously and flushing was a good plan. I let it sit draining (front end lifted) for 30min - it was still dripping a tiny, never-ending green drip when I re-plugged it and poured distilled water in. Got a little less than 1.25 gallons to go in.
I ran it for 20 minutes with the heat blasting, front and rear. Added water as air bubbles warranted. Engine temp got up to mid-range, but the radiator only got a little warm (it was 40 deg. in my garage, and maybe under that outside temp and only 20 mins that's normal? I expected hotter).
I drained it again and got much paler green water out. I lowered it to see if having it raised limited the draining. Let it drain for 30 mins again. Got a bit over 1 gallon out again. Re-filled with water and ran as before.
Paler green came out this time - about another 1.1 gallons. It was getting late, so instead of doing another water run, I drained it and put in Zerex Asian (pink).
So now I've come back to search for how much I should've expected to drain - because videos showed more than 1 gallon being added back and I'm a little concerned - and I see this remark about not mixing.
Am I paranoid, or is there a problem here? Thanks.
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thegipper
New member
OP
Unless you know for certain that your radiator is less than 5 years old, you really should replace it. If your radiator fails, you're screwed. You can get a good Denso radiator for like 100 bucks, it is not worth the risk. If you do know in fact what a pink milk shake is, then you will understand why replacing a cheap 100 radiator is worth every penny.
They would have not replaced your radiator when they did your timing belt/wp unless you specifically asked them to replace it.
When you replace the radiator, put the correct Toyota coolant back in and you're done.
As far as your tranny, you can do a series of simple drain and fills with the brands of fluid already mentioned or you can do the quart by quart flush like in the video Tim made. If you do a drain/fill, I would do at least three. You will have mostly new fluid left.
Good luck
Unless you know for certain that your radiator is less than 5 years old, you really should replace it. If your radiator fails, you're screwed. You can get a good Denso radiator for like 100 bucks, it is not worth the risk. If you do know in fact what a pink milk shake is, then you will understand why replacing a cheap 100 radiator is worth every penny.
They would have not replaced your radiator when they did your timing belt/wp unless you specifically asked them to replace it.
When you replace the radiator, put the correct Toyota coolant back in and you're done.
As far as your tranny, you can do a series of simple drain and fills with the brands of fluid already mentioned or you can do the quart by quart flush like in the video Tim made. If you do a drain/fill, I would do at least three. You will have mostly new fluid left.
Good luck
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DJF1953
Junior Member
Have a respectable independent radiator shop inspect and pressure test the radiator first. Then move forward based on findings. Have a good transmission shop advise you on the transmission. They will inspect the fluid for color and any metal shavings. My '99 had 160k on it and the full tranny flush was $160 and the car runs perfectly afterwards.
thegipper
New member
Pressure testing the radiator will not tell you how long the radiator will last before it fails internally and potentially causing a pink milkshake. It could test perfectly fine and a week later fail and destroy your transmission.
That is why the overwhelming consensus of unknown aged radiators is to just replace them. It's a 100 bucks and you shouldn't have to worry about it for many many years.
I'm not a fan of power flushes. Either do the quart by quart flush like in the video Tim did, or do a series of drain and fills.
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StreetCreeper
New member
Why have a radiator shop inspect a radiator that can easily be replaced for a $100? That's like taking your pet gerbil in for an MRI at the hospital!
Radiators need to be replaced — not "fixed". In my unprofessional opinion.
Trip_84
New member
ya im in favor now of probably just getting a new one on. Any recommendations? or just OEM? are there any to stay away from?
gamefreakgc
Elite Member
There are two drain plugs, one on the radiator and one on the engine block. By reading your post you probably didn't drain the engine. However, it seems that you diluted the green pretty well, so that it was almost all water so I doubt you will have any issues with putting the pink in there.
However, if your fluid was already a pre-mixed 50/50 and you already had a fair amount of water in there, your coolant is fairly diluted. If you live in an area that sees sub-zero conditions regularly, or very hot summers of 90+ plus, you might want to try and balance it out a bit by adding pink concentrate (100% coolant rather than 50/50).
It's easier to just drain and refill the same color coolant than two switch, as you find out. If you ever want to replace the pink (in however many XX,XXX miles) just drain out the old, and refill pink 50/50 back in and you don't have to worry about water to coolant ratios.
