"Pink Milkshake" still a danger with the 2014?

[4Runnahlovah]

I've had 2002 and 2001 4Runners in the past. The 2001 was the last one I owned up until 2012 when I traded it in after a nasty issue.

All the trouble started when the seal went bad between the antifreeze and the transmission coolant in the radiator. Fluids mixed together (pink milkshake in the trans fluid) and the transmission was starting to slip. I replaced the radiator right away and flushed the trans 5 times to no avail.

I've been driving a highlander ever since, and now I have my eyes on a 2014 T4R limited..

Does anyone know if the problems between the two coolant systems has been rectified? I'll probably just replace the radiator after 100k anyway just to be safe, but still it would be nice if anyone with experience has any insight.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Hmm.. I'd have to say that almost all modern Toyota radiators have the transcooler integrated with the radiator itself for a while now. There are some "tow packages" that do a separate cooler on a couple models, but for the most part that's how they go.

We don't see a lot of "Pink Milkshake" issues in the more modern Toyotas to be honest with you. Usually the radiators just leak coolant externally more than they leak into the transmission fluid; can't say I recall the last one that did fail in a Pink Milkshake of Death, it's been a while.

 

[gm350reratliff]

I would guess that there's still a chance of it happening but based on what I read here and some other sites, it's been pretty much eliminated starting with the 4th gens. Nissan still had/has some issues with that though. My sister-in-law's pathfinder has done that twice now.

 

[philsey]

I don't read the other Gen forums, but I read this one almost daily, and I don't recall ever seeing the term.

 

[(none)]

5th gens aren't quite old enough yet. Always a possibility with the water to oil coolers though. I wouldn't worry about it for a long time. If nothing else, its pretty cheap just to replace the radiator every 100k miles for piece of mind.

 

[honda250xtitan]

I would guess that there's still a chance of it happening but based on what I read here and some other sites, it's been pretty much eliminated starting with the 4th gens. Nissan still had/has some issues with that though. My sister-in-law's pathfinder has done that twice now.

it is ridiculously easy to bypass the OEM tube warmer (i just did it on my titan and added a aux cooler) or if you live in a cold climate an aluminum radiator will solve the issue.

 

[progress4m]

Agree with other: I do not believe I have seen a single report from 5 gen owners with “Milkshake" issue, and even 5th gen is aren't quite old enough, but there are many 5th gen with well over 100K and obviously some trucks are almost 8 years old. Just fyi: I do not believe I have seeing 4th gen reporting that issue either.

Also, I owned 3rd gen 4Runner (1996) and sold it to a friend of mine and he still has it. Last time I saw that truck it had 230K on it with the original radiator -that truck is now 21 years old. And even I have seeing reports of milkshake on 3rd gen a lot of them had that issue because of not using Toyota antifreeze (Red) -ad that was the cause of trany line corrosion inside of the radiator and consequently “Milkshake" issue.

 

[Thirty4]

Pink Milkshake of Death

LMAO, I am in the tech world and that little bit of humor hit home! Awesome!!

 

[MeefZah]

It's "SMOD" (Strawberry Milkshake of Death) over on the Nissan forums...

 

[BlackWorksInc]

It's "SMOD" (Strawberry Milkshake of Death) over on the Nissan forums...

That's what it was! I forgot about that. But yeah, very familiar with the Pathfinder/XTerras on that when I was a used-car tech.