Riders of Lohan
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On my phone, sorry if the formatting sucks
Is this just dirty coolant? or more?
- Thread starter Riders of Lohan
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On my phone, sorry if the formatting sucks
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shootmymime
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it looks way too oily to look like coolant. not a good sign my brother. check your tranny dip stick as well. are you full on tranny fluid?
02_SE_Runner
New member
Agreed. It looks way to thick to be just coolant.
BlackCat914
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n/m!!!
Riders of Lohan
New member
02_SE_Runner said:
Tranny fluid was not low, but it is pinkish.
If it was strawberry milkshaking, would the coolant in the radiator be pinkish as well?
The toyota tech said it coolant looked "clean" (wtf? looks disgusting)
When checking the tranny, they said it was mixing.
Radiator is aftermarket/new. No idea how old. Is it possible it milkshaked and they didn't flush the tranny?
The tranny shifts very smoothly.
Riders of Lohan
New member
I read your sticky like 5 times before buying!!!
I'm confused on if the milkshake will appear in the reservoir and radiator as well as the tranny.
It was hard to see the consistency of the tranny fluid - it was not very viscous though
Does that mean you would think it's NOT a milkshake?
Would it make sense for the tranny to be pinkish from a milkshake earlier? hence the replacement radiator?
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Riders of Lohan
New member
Just saying, this is what a strawberry milkshake looks like. You dont have one..
send me your paypal and I'll send you a beers worth of money for your sticky.
Outside of that, clearly I'm a noob and your answers are somewhat cryptic to a plebeian such as myself. Any idea why the tranny fluid would be light pink if the coolant isnt?
Thanks for your help.
Riders of Lohan
New member
kball
New member
Hard to tell and I was hoping you would picture the dipstick but it looks clear to me. ATF is red like wine so from what I can see on that paper towel it looks good. When it's not clear but milky, that's when you have issues and since your trans shifts smoothly I don't think you have a problem.
Now, what the toyota tech meant by mixing?? I have no idea. If they thought you had trans fluid and coolant mixing they never should have let you leave without major flushing of the trans and coolant system.
Now, what the toyota tech meant by mixing?? I have no idea. If they thought you had trans fluid and coolant mixing they never should have let you leave without major flushing of the trans and coolant system.
BlackCat914
New member
You don't need to worry about the pink milkshake here, that's not whats going on. We can remove the overflow bottle and clean it out when you bring it over. I have plenty of Asian coolant we can use. Then you can keep an eye on it for piece of mind. Also, if you had the milkshake, your trans would not be shifting well.
BlackCat914
New member
it looks far more pink than this, but this is about as good as my phone will do.
That looks like fairly clean trans fluid. No worries there.
9lb taco
New member
I'll second this. Looks like old coolant, or at least coolant that's running through some old corroded/clogged plumbing.
If the radiator is "new", probably worth checking how new. As well as the water pump (and timing belt, while you're at it) and other plumbing.
At the very least I'd do a radiator flush and some new Toyota red coolant, see what it looks like 1,000mi after that. Relatively cheap. Maybe the old stuff was badly corroded and there wasn't a good flush done and this is what's left over.
Riders of Lohan
New member
I don't get that vibe:noidea:
Dealer will flush the tranny for $120, probably do coolant for $100.
Honestly I didn't know if this film was normal - i've never had a car with red coolant so when I looked at it and saw brown, I kind of freaked out.
I also didn't know that the milkshake would happen in the radiator as well.
not so worried
JEL
New member
You seem to have a newer runner, IIRC 96 and some 97's were prone to headgasket issues, but they are very remote after those two years.
IMO it looks exactly like Toyota red that someone has mixed with standard green, it really forms an oily, sludgy, goopy mess that will require a good amount of flushing to clear up. Someone did the exact same thing to my old 98 4runner, took a few bottles of flush and tons of water to get it completely OCD clean that most of us here would want for our rigs.
IMO it looks exactly like Toyota red that someone has mixed with standard green, it really forms an oily, sludgy, goopy mess that will require a good amount of flushing to clear up. Someone did the exact same thing to my old 98 4runner, took a few bottles of flush and tons of water to get it completely OCD clean that most of us here would want for our rigs.
mrtucker80
New member
Agree with JEL. This looks like someone didn't pay attention and got that "mixes with any color" jug and just poured it in. I drained mine about 2 days after I bought it and found the exact same thing. I think you just need to do a good coolant flush and top it off with your color of choice. Red gets alot of votes, but honestly I think as long as it is ethylene glycol you will be fine. If you pick up the green, check the label and make sure it is E-G. Also, buy the non premixed and pick up a jug of distilled water for $.75, way cheaper than buying that rip-off 50/50 stuff.
Also, the milkshake will happen in both places. It happens when the tranny cooler that is made into the lower part of the radiator begins to leak. The ATF mixes with the coolant and you end up with "milkshake" in the tranny and the radiator. That is why lots of folks install aftermarket trans coolers, to separate the two.
Also, the milkshake will happen in both places. It happens when the tranny cooler that is made into the lower part of the radiator begins to leak. The ATF mixes with the coolant and you end up with "milkshake" in the tranny and the radiator. That is why lots of folks install aftermarket trans coolers, to separate the two.
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