I am a long time reader and a first time poster. I have great gratitude towards all of you who take the time to post your issues and solutions in this group. It has helped me out tons and this is my way of paying you all back with a story of my own.
I bought my 1999 4Runner SR5 with 234k miles on it last year. It had a bunch of problems and the seller was a little shady about some issues. Me, being my own mechanic, I was prepared to take on each issue. I just wanted the seller to come clean. After using my Jedi powers I was able to get him to spill out the issues I was most interested in.
I got him to slip up and tell me that he hit a deer with it and had to replace the entire front end and radiator. This was good news to me because I now felt like I didn't need to install a tranny cooler. (For those extremely rare cases of pink milkshake)
The fluid was a nice light red and it smelled as sweet as new. He had the paperwork for the... Eh... Kinda regular maintenance and the 4runner looked pretty good all around. (Except for the rusty bumper, wheel wells and other various problems I was prepared to fix.) The various problems included things like MAF sensor, Cat Converter, muffler, dead bulbs, and gas filter. (The car was sitting for a while.)
Anyway... The 4Runner was awesome. I towed all of my belongings down to SC from Northern VA without hesitation or problems at all. She ran like a dream and took even more abuse when I got down here and helped others haul stuff.
So last week I had just repaired a hairline fracture in my manifold. (Where it meets the Cat Converter.) I used some steel mesh and JB weld. (I can't find a mechanic who will repair it without charging buttloads of money.) my repair worked pretty well. I checked the fluids at the same time I made the repair and saw that all was good.
I came back the next day and went to work. (I work night shift) I got onto the highway and gave it some gas to listen for any muffler leak. It sounded great! I felt good and all was right in the world. Until I noticed a needle in an area where it shouldn't be.
My engine temperature was rising and I immediately thought it was due to something I did the day before. Perhaps I poked a hole in my radiator... Or maybe I disconnected a cable that regulates something within the cooling system. I turned on the heat and put the fans on high.
Nothing.
I started freaking out and pulled over. I called my girlfriend and asked if there was fluid in the spot I parked. She said no and proceeded to meet me at a pickup spot.
I grabbed my wool beanie and popped the hood. I turned the radiator cap to its halfway position and let the pressure release. After the pressure was gone I removed the cap and heard a couple of burps. I stepped back because I was unsure of the next events. ( I am glad I did) the most beautiful fountain of pink milkshake came spewing out of the radiator and raining back down all over the engine. My heart sank.
I put all of the water from my nalgene into the radiator and drove it to the gas station just a quarter mile up the road. (It didn't hiccup at all)
My overheat light never came on. I caught it before anything got too hot. My girlfriend drove me to work and I called 4 mechanics in the morning.
Each mechanic told me the same thing. They told me they couldn't do anything and each of them recommended the same tranny mechanic. I called him and he was very helpful. I told him my story and how I thought I could save the tranny with a good flush if we acted quickly. He agreed and even quoted me $300 for a flush and a tranny cooler installed. But he said I was only delaying the inevitable. He then offered me a deal I couldn't refuse.
$1950 for a tow, a COMPLETE tranny rebuild, 2 year warranty, a tranny cooler and cleaned and repaired radiator.
I got a call a day later and he told me that the radiator that was in the 4Runner was complete trash. Not only structurally trashed but quality wise too. He told me he would need to replace the entire radiator and that would be another $250. I gave him the go ahead. He also informed me about the rusted springs and terrible friction discs. He told me about the rubber cylinders had swollen to twice their size and even offered to send me the evidence. I believed him and was thankful I got the tranny rebuilt.
He told me in his 21 years of being a tranny mechanic he had never seen a pink milkshake in a 4Runner. He blamed it on the crappy radiator and told me I was very unlucky. Before all of this happened I swear I read every story on here about the pink milkshake and thought I was totally in the clear. I thought the odds were too small to glance at. Winning the lottery seemed more likely.
My moral of this story...
Get the tranny cooler.
Just do it.
I bought my 1999 4Runner SR5 with 234k miles on it last year. It had a bunch of problems and the seller was a little shady about some issues. Me, being my own mechanic, I was prepared to take on each issue. I just wanted the seller to come clean. After using my Jedi powers I was able to get him to spill out the issues I was most interested in.
I got him to slip up and tell me that he hit a deer with it and had to replace the entire front end and radiator. This was good news to me because I now felt like I didn't need to install a tranny cooler. (For those extremely rare cases of pink milkshake)
The fluid was a nice light red and it smelled as sweet as new. He had the paperwork for the... Eh... Kinda regular maintenance and the 4runner looked pretty good all around. (Except for the rusty bumper, wheel wells and other various problems I was prepared to fix.) The various problems included things like MAF sensor, Cat Converter, muffler, dead bulbs, and gas filter. (The car was sitting for a while.)
Anyway... The 4Runner was awesome. I towed all of my belongings down to SC from Northern VA without hesitation or problems at all. She ran like a dream and took even more abuse when I got down here and helped others haul stuff.
So last week I had just repaired a hairline fracture in my manifold. (Where it meets the Cat Converter.) I used some steel mesh and JB weld. (I can't find a mechanic who will repair it without charging buttloads of money.) my repair worked pretty well. I checked the fluids at the same time I made the repair and saw that all was good.
I came back the next day and went to work. (I work night shift) I got onto the highway and gave it some gas to listen for any muffler leak. It sounded great! I felt good and all was right in the world. Until I noticed a needle in an area where it shouldn't be.
My engine temperature was rising and I immediately thought it was due to something I did the day before. Perhaps I poked a hole in my radiator... Or maybe I disconnected a cable that regulates something within the cooling system. I turned on the heat and put the fans on high.
Nothing.
I started freaking out and pulled over. I called my girlfriend and asked if there was fluid in the spot I parked. She said no and proceeded to meet me at a pickup spot.
I grabbed my wool beanie and popped the hood. I turned the radiator cap to its halfway position and let the pressure release. After the pressure was gone I removed the cap and heard a couple of burps. I stepped back because I was unsure of the next events. ( I am glad I did) the most beautiful fountain of pink milkshake came spewing out of the radiator and raining back down all over the engine. My heart sank.
I put all of the water from my nalgene into the radiator and drove it to the gas station just a quarter mile up the road. (It didn't hiccup at all)
My overheat light never came on. I caught it before anything got too hot. My girlfriend drove me to work and I called 4 mechanics in the morning.
Each mechanic told me the same thing. They told me they couldn't do anything and each of them recommended the same tranny mechanic. I called him and he was very helpful. I told him my story and how I thought I could save the tranny with a good flush if we acted quickly. He agreed and even quoted me $300 for a flush and a tranny cooler installed. But he said I was only delaying the inevitable. He then offered me a deal I couldn't refuse.
$1950 for a tow, a COMPLETE tranny rebuild, 2 year warranty, a tranny cooler and cleaned and repaired radiator.
I got a call a day later and he told me that the radiator that was in the 4Runner was complete trash. Not only structurally trashed but quality wise too. He told me he would need to replace the entire radiator and that would be another $250. I gave him the go ahead. He also informed me about the rusted springs and terrible friction discs. He told me about the rubber cylinders had swollen to twice their size and even offered to send me the evidence. I believed him and was thankful I got the tranny rebuilt.
He told me in his 21 years of being a tranny mechanic he had never seen a pink milkshake in a 4Runner. He blamed it on the crappy radiator and told me I was very unlucky. Before all of this happened I swear I read every story on here about the pink milkshake and thought I was totally in the clear. I thought the odds were too small to glance at. Winning the lottery seemed more likely.
My moral of this story...
Get the tranny cooler.
Just do it.
