How to check if you have strawberry milkshake / O2 sensor replacement

[Radley]

2000 3.4 v6 4wd sr5 222K

I flushed and refilled my coolant this summer. NOticed last week that my coolant had done down significantly. I am pretty sure I opened the heater core and followed the youtube vid correctly, with distilled water and etc. well my coolant was below LOW last week and I filled it up.. it'd down a bit now, about 75% to FULL.

I am wondering if my radiator is shot and I got strawberry milkshake going on. I have the external cooler but just didnt get to the job this year...yet.

I am wondering how to find out if I got strawberry milkshake goign on before I destroy my tranny... how do I check that out? if I open the radiator cap, will it be full of that mixed crap? i just did and it looks like the green coolant that I filled it with... topped it off with at least... not sure if the mixed tranny fluid/green coolant would rise to top for visual evidence.. or ....?

maybe drain a bit of the tranny fluid? where is that drain from? Last warm day before things get cold for several months...dangit.


also look in pic.. i am needing to replace bank 1 sensor 1 oxygen sensor. I have sprayed with penetrating blaster few times now... but it's so corroded..not sure how to get that removed..thoughts? I suppose i'll need an angled socket extension pivoting one to try to get at those corroded nuts on there.. ideas?

thanks

 

[octanejunkie]

2000 3.4 v6 4wd sr5 222K

I flushed and refilled my coolant this summer. NOticed last week that my coolant had done down significantly. I am pretty sure I opened the heater core and followed the youtube vid correctly, with distilled water and etc. well my coolant was below LOW last week and I filled it up.. it'd down a bit now, about 75% to FULL.

I am wondering if my radiator is shot and I got strawberry milkshake going on. I have the external cooler but just didnt get to the job this year...yet.

I am wondering how to find out if I got strawberry milkshake goign on before I destroy my tranny... how do I check that out? if I open the radiator cap, will it be full of that mixed crap? i just did and it looks like the green coolant that I filled it with... topped it off with at least... not sure if the mixed tranny fluid/green coolant would rise to top for visual evidence.. or ....?

maybe drain a bit of the tranny fluid? where is that drain from? Last warm day before things get cold for several months...dangit.


also look in pic.. i am needing to replace bank 1 sensor 1 oxygen sensor. I have sprayed with penetrating blaster few times now... but it's so corroded..not sure how to get that removed..thoughts? I suppose i'll need an angled socket extension pivoting one to try to get at those corroded nuts on there.. ideas?

thanks

Looks like a head gasket leak into the exhaust

Check for a pink milkshake via dipstick or do a drain and fill of the trans pan

 

[Radley]

Looks like a head gasket leak into the exhaust

Check for a pink milkshake via dipstick or do a drain and fill of the trans pan

the fluid you see there is my penetrating spray.... on the O2 sensor....it was dry before i sprayed..but the nuts are sooo corroded...wondering how to deal with them....?

i just pulled the trans pan plug and it was clean... I have just over 2 quarts of MAX Life ATF leftover from another trans fluid job so that should get me at a decent level of refill.. which is 2.1q? as per youtube vid. so thats good.. no strawberry milkshake for me...yet.. i'll let it drain for a bit here and refill to cold..then warm operating temp full. should take everything i have left.. and then some..maybe..?

 

[Radley]

the fluid you see there is my penetrating spray.... on the O2 sensor....it was dry before i sprayed..but the nuts are sooo corroded...wondering how to deal with them....?

i just pulled the trans pan plug and it was clean... I have just over 2 quarts of MAX Life ATF leftover from another trans fluid job so that should get me at a decent level of refill.. which is 2.1q? as per youtube vid. so thats good.. no strawberry milkshake for me...yet.. i'll let it drain for a bit here and refill to cold..then warm operating temp full. should take everything i have left.. and then some..maybe..?

ok after watching the rest of the vid...sounds like i need all 4 quarts of ATF.

 

[octanejunkie]

the fluid you see there is my penetrating spray.... on the O2 sensor....it was dry before i sprayed..but the nuts are sooo corroded...wondering how to deal with them....?

i just pulled the trans pan plug and it was clean... I have just over 2 quarts of MAX Life ATF leftover from another trans fluid job so that should get me at a decent level of refill.. which is 2.1q? as per youtube vid. so thats good.. no strawberry milkshake for me...yet.. i'll let it drain for a bit here and refill to cold..then warm operating temp full. should take everything i have left.. and then some..maybe..?

Sorry for misunderstanding, but the diagnosis is still the same unless you have a coolant leak. Do a compression/leakdown test on all cylinders.

As far as trans, if you are 2WD auto, a drain and fill is usually 2.5 quarts; at least it is for me.

Exhaust bolts can be a bear to remove. you might end up destroying the stud - it may be just as rust-damaged as the nut(s) a good muffler shop should be able to tackle that for you if it proves unmanageable.

Let us know

 

[aontkos]

Just a heads up: The level in the overflow reservoir changes with temperature quite a bit. It will read lower when the engine is cold than it will after being at operating temp for a prolonged period of time.

You can tell if you have a milkshake situation just by checking the tranny dipstick. I'm not sure why you drained the fluid, but hey, new fluid is always good. Additionally, if you had coolant being dumped into the transmission, then you'd probably see transmission fluid in your coolant.

..not sure how to get that removed..thoughts?

PB Blaster will be your friend. If that doesn't do the job, then apply some heat with a torch. I got lucky and my A/F sensor came right off. I had to drill out one of my O2 sensor studs and replace it with a bolt though; it snapped with barely any pressure.

 

[HiLife]

Just wondering...will using a cooling system pressure tester work in finding out if the tranny cooler is leaking coolant into the tranny fluid? Would it work or, is it recommended in this situation?

 

[aontkos]

Just wondering...will using a cooling system pressure tester work in finding out if the tranny cooler is leaking coolant into the tranny fluid? Would it work or, is it recommended in this situation?

I don't see why it wouldn't...but why don't you just put on your external cooler and bypass the radiator and call it a day?

You've already put in enough time and effort. You could have had the external cooler on your truck at this point!

 

[bigtooona]

also look in pic.. i am needing to replace bank 1 sensor 1 oxygen sensor. I have sprayed with penetrating blaster few times now... but it's so corroded..not sure how to get that removed..thoughts? I suppose i'll need an angled socket extension pivoting one to try to get at those corroded nuts on there.. ideas?

I had to take a dremel with the flexible extension and cut off both nuts as they were so rusted. Took a good couple of hours, and not the most comfortable position. Good luck.

 

[tS_kStin]

As far as the strawberry milkshake is concerned. My moms 2000 SR5 just had it happen and there is no question that is happened as there was a massive plume of steam/smoke (per her words). I was not there to see it happen however I was there a couple hours later to check on it with my dad. From what I heard on the phone from her it almost sounded like a head gasket went from the amount of steam/smoke. When we got there there was a pink puddle on the ground and a lot of fluid sprayed all over the engine bay, down the suspension, and pooled in the skids. There was pink fluid everywhere. I am not sure if that is the normal thing to happen but if it is, then there will be no mistaking it or missing it.

Luckily when it happened she was on a back road just after a corner so she was able to get it stopped and shut off within seconds of it happening. We flushed the coolant and tranny, replaced the radiator and put an external trans cooler on and it is still running fine 3 months later.

Needless to say the next weekend I installed a tranny cooler on mine to ensure this doesn't happen to me.

 

[Radley]

I had to take a dremel with the flexible extension and cut off both nuts as they were so rusted. Took a good couple of hours, and not the most comfortable position. Good luck.

so you just cut off the nuts and preserved the bolt on there?

Would I be best off by just unplugging the sensor, and dropping the exhaust completely to work on this thing? I'm not sure what that entails but...the angle and laying on my back... if I have to replace the bolts as well, how the hell does that work, aren't they part of the exhaust pipe welded on or something.. they are just so rusted .. well i'll try to put a socket on there and crank em off first..

 

[phattyduck]

If the O2 sensor nuts are that bad, you'll have a worse time with the rest of the exhaust. Look into using a nut splitter. That might work better for you.

As for the pink milkshake... you'd know it... and your truck probably wouldn't be driving anymore.

Make sure the radiator is full (when the truck is off and cold!), then refill the reservoir to the full line. If you are loosing coolant, it is probably from a leak.

-Charlie

 

[Radley]

so....

took a peek at the nut splitter at menards... thought maybe wouldn't be able to slide the smaller one (comes in package of 2, one larger one smaller) between the nut and the sensor.... so.. guy up there told me to try grining with dremel and also pick up a sharp pointed smaller punch...so I did.

the nut that was completely corroded away..well.. i punched it with the sharp point and half of it peeled away from the bolt.... i was amazed.... basically did the same to the other half of it and boom...one done.

i then took the grinding wheel to the other more in tact nut... after punching it a few times... making a hole but not really doing to much.. decided to try to grind it and make a good cut up and down.. well it was hard to stay in one place so i ended up grinding a bunch off.. it was eating away at the nut pretty well... didnt take long at all.. so then I punched it a few times with the sharp pointed punch.. and BAM... got that nut to split and peel off as well....

I ended up eating away at the bolt a bit with the grinder... dremel type tool... hope i can get a hardened nut (12mm? - i wonder what the pitch is..) and just twist it onthere in place... i'll have to pick up 2 nuts and finish the job tomorrow..BUT.... it actually went very well for once... spent 20 minutes actually working on the nuts.... again hope i can just force the threads to work out on that left side, with a hardened nut... guess we'll see... but that was a hell of a lot easier than I expected....wow.

 

[octanejunkie]

Good on you

It's either 1.25 or 1.5

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Radley]

Good on you

It's either 1.25 or 1.5

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

alright thanks. grabbed a tap & die, but they're 12mm are only 1.5 or 1.75.. so... i'll grab 2 hardened nuts to put on there..not sure how/if possible to tap/die whatever one it is and not sure if worth it.. or just twist the nut on there and call it goodl...hoping not to have to take it off again..

 

[Radley]

more specifics on external cooler

so i got the 70264 .
everyone does this different and i'm hoping to find a few answers here. i can't find a completely thorough reference, even though there are several write ups.

how much hose/line do I need? how do i route it, which side? what's the orientation of the cooler supposed to be? I will simply connect the existing cooler to itself and bypass it completely, and mount the external on front side of radiator like everyone else.

if I follow the lines back from existing cooler, which one is which? send/receive?

which is which on the cooler?

hose clamps work good enough for this?

1. remove skid plate
2. jack up truck front end.
3. ??
4. ??
5... etc etc..

 

[phattyduck]

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...oler-transmission-cooler-install-3rd-gen.html

 

[octanejunkie]

so i got the 70264 .
everyone does this different and i'm hoping to find a few answers here. i can't find a completely thorough reference, even though there are several write ups.

how much hose/line do I need? how do i route it, which side? what's the orientation of the cooler supposed to be? I will simply connect the existing cooler to itself and bypass it completely, and mount the external on front side of radiator like everyone else.

if I follow the lines back from existing cooler, which one is which? send/receive?

which is which on the cooler?

hose clamps work good enough for this?

1. remove skid plate
2. jack up truck front end.
3. ??
4. ??
5... etc etc..

Charlie posted a really good ref thread by BFAD. Start there.

I routed my lines differently and was able to get er done using only the hose that came with my cooler.

I'm about to post my Trans Cooler Install thread, but
1. remove skid plate (bottom engine cover)
2. no need to jack up vehicle
3. I pulled my radiator
4. I routed hoses my way
5. Have extra trans fluid on hand
6. The line closest to the harmonic balancer (inboard) is the return from the cooler (to trans)
7. DON'T BYPASS THE RADIATOR COOLER

 

[phatz]

so....
i punched it with the sharp point and half of it peeled away from the bolt.... i was amazed.... basically did the same to the other half of it and boom...one done ...a hell of a lot easier than I expected....wow.

Brilliant job !

 

[Radley]

got the O2 sensor on.

for anybody wanting to know what size nuts to get for that sensor bolts, its an M8, 1.25 thread pitch.

i picked up hardness 10, and that was a 1/2" size drive. Used open ended wrench for most part, turning 60 degrees at a time, plowed right thru the damaged threads from the grinder dremel..