Pink Milkshake survivor stories

[thegipper]

Oh, and inspect the fluid for any black particles or small pieces of clutch material. Easiest way to do that is to put it in a clean drain pan and slowly pour out the fluid into a container. When it's just about drained, wipe the bottom with a white shop towel and inspect for any clutch material that may be present. Blacks chunks/particles is not a good sign. This is the clutch packs breaking down.

Mine had small pieces for the first couple changes. Now, they are completely gone and it still shifts fine.

Good luck

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[lawn_gnome]

I had the pink milkshake about 12,000km (7500miles) ago. I don't drive a lot so that was about 14 months ago. I don't think I caught it quick, by the time I figured it out the transmission was slipping and the radiator overflow had overflown with that nice milky pink liquid. I had it towed to a shop who specializes in 4runners, they hooked it up to machine to properly flush the transmission and replace the rad. Ended up having the rad replaced again two weeks later as it had a leak. Flushed the transmission again at the same time. Since then it has been running good. Made a 2500km (return) road trip in February with no issues, and still manage the occasional 4x4 logging road with zero problems... knock on wood.

I think there is a lot of luck involved. I did a ton of research when it happened to me, and couldn't find any sort of definitive signs or treatment.

Hope it works out okay for you. Best of luck.

 

[Seefral]

So far so good

1200 miles since last flush. T-fluid still clear. No odd transmission behavior. Fingers crossed.

 

[White Stripe]

I had flushed my tranny right when I got my 99 4runner with 190k. At about 200k the Trans started slipping. I checked the fluid, my heart sank-strawberry. I replaced the radiator. For the Trans I did my flush differently than most. I pulled a cooler hose, put one hose in a oil drain bucket, and started the truck. I let it run until no more fluid came out and it was spitting a little fluid only. Next I didn't shut the truck off i quickly added 3 more quarts, then let it run dry again and added another 3. I kept doing this until it came out looking good which was after about 22 quarts. I then hooked the lines back up and topped it off. It's got 210k now and it's mostly city miles. I also have a supercharger and beat on it hard. Why did I do it this way? Think of a glass filled with contaminated water. To get rid of the contamination, you could dump 25% of the fluid and then add 25% pure water and repeat. This would take forever if ever to get clean water. Or u could just dump the whole glass of contaminated water and refill fresh and repeat in which case u are likely to end up with fresh clean water with less work. Same with my Trans. Let it suck all the fluid out of the pan then refill. Then the pickup is only pulling into the Trans 100% pure fluid rather than a mixture of pure and contaminated. Sure it's hard on the tranny pump for a few minutes, but so is contaminated fluid. Plus your not running it dry for very long. I did this as fast as I could with new fluid ready to immediately dump in.

 

[Seefral]

I think I'm screwed

After a few thousand miles transmission started making ominous whining noises. Sounds like I'll be needing a rebuilt transmission

 

[Mark_BC]

Now I'm afraid to drive mine, 299,000 km, or 186K for you Americans. As far as I know, no radiator change. Want to drive it 250 km the sweekend.

 

[frodiesel]

Its such a cheap fix, and its nit the weekend yet. Priority shipping!

 

[Mark_BC]

Its such a cheap fix, and its nit the weekend yet. Priority shipping!

I've never done anything with a cooling system, I'd have to do lots of research. It has green coolant in it, I hear it should be red. Would need to flush the whole thing out really well.

 

[frodiesel]

Nope, just put a mix of 50/50 concentrate green back in for the time being. I didnt flush anything when i drained the green out and went to red during timing belt install.
It is easy enough there may be a few youtube videos to get you up to speed on the general knowledge you seek. Even a ton of diy videos on this site specific to your rig

The only one stopping you from fixing this yourself is you. Dont self limit. You made it this far, lets keep going a get that radiator changed. Or, find a local mechanic and get it scheduled asap!

 

[Mark_BC]

Nope, just put a mix of 50/50 concentrate green back in for the time being. I didnt flush anything when i drained the green out and went to red during timing belt install.
It is easy enough there may be a few youtube videos to get you up to speed on the general knowledge you seek. Even a ton of diy videos on this site specific to your rig

The only one stopping you from fixing this yourself is you. Dont self limit. You made it this far, lets keep going a get that radiator changed. Or, find a local mechanic and get it scheduled asap!

Ya I searched it, looks pretty easy. I will order the Denso one through Amazon. Then on to my LBJ's!

 

[thegipper]

Ya I searched it, looks pretty easy. I will order the Denso one through Amazon. Then on to my LBJ's!

Get that radiator and LBJ's (OEM ONLY) replaced ASAP.

My 4R now has about 9k miles since pink milkshake and still works perfectly. I just checked the fluid a couple weeks ago and it still looks brand new (no more signs of coolant after probably 3 flushes and 10 changes).

Biggest mistake people make is they have it flushed a bunch of times after the PMS (did I just coin an awesome acronym?) and never check it again. I don't care if you flush it a 100 times right after the PMS, you better be checking it every couple weeks for the next year. My bro ran like 8 gallons of fluid through mine and the fluid was coming out brand new. 6 months later after he gave it to me I checked the fluid and it looked terrible and clearly still had coolant in it.

I changed the fluid literally 10 more times over the period of a few weeks until now finally, there is ZERO signs of any coolant or black clutch plate particles.

If you follow these recommendations, you stand a much better chance of surviving the PMS!

 

[badattitude]

I caught it early, first sign was white steam coming up from hood. I stopped immediately. Had it taken on a flatbed to dealer.

Please include in your post:

Flush method used: (power flush, manual flush, pan drain only)
Power flush at dealer with new radiator and engine flush too.

Approx how may quarts or gallons you used in the initial repair:
64 quarts of Castrol synthetic blend

If you re-flushed after initial flush, at what mileage interval(s) did you re-flush:
drain and fill with Mobil 1 at 3000, 6000, 12000 miles

If your trains is still working please state the approx miles accumulated since flushing: Still working fine after 81,000 miles


On the 12,000 mile drain and fill I sent my fluid to Blackstone labs for analysis. They said it had 400x the average iron but no mention of water or coolant. Other than the dealer using Castrol I always used Mobile 1 even before the milkshake.

 

[thegipper]

I wonder why the iron was so high?

I'm also considering sending in a sample of some ATF to blackstone labs for shits and giggles. Maybe early next year I'll do so.

 

[Seefral]

Purchased a used transmission and had it installed.

After a few thousand miles transmission started making ominous whining noises. Sounds like I'll be needing a rebuilt transmission

I'm now back in business. Needless to say I had a separate trans cooler installed.

In the end I only got a few thousand miles out of mine after the milkshake.

 

[BeckyM]

Hopefully this will be the start of my strawberry milkshake success story....(Let me know if this is the wrong place to post this.)

So this happened to me last week. The truck stopped going into 4th, and really didn't want to go into 3rd. I drove it another mile into town where I found an ATF leak, but the fluid looked normal and not milkshake-like. There wasn't any coolant left in the reservoir, but the temp gauge never went up.

Had it towed to the shop, they confirmed what I suspected but that luckily it was mainly trans fluid in the radiator and not much coolant in the transmission. The shop wanted $1600 so we decided to do it ourselves. The plan is to do pretty much what everyone else here has done in this situation- replace radiator and thermostat, flush the radiator system a few times, flush the transmission many times. I feel like we have a pretty good idea of how to handle this... just have a few questions I haven't found answers to yet:

The shop was going to use bilge cleaner, a boating product, to remove any residual ATF out of the radiator system. It looks like some of you have relied on the heat of the system to loosen up the grease, and others have used Dawn dishsoap.... Does anyone have experience running bilge cleaner or another degreaser through the radiator system, and if so, how did you do it (how much, did you dilute it, how many times, etc.)? If you didn't use a degreaser, has it worked out OK?

Also, we're looking at doing sort of a quasi-power flush of the transmission like 004runnerLtd did halfway down this page: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/112123-transmission-flush.html

Question is, the new radiator has to go in first, and the car has to run for us to clean/fill up the new system. But the car shouldn't run with the bad trans fluid in it, and it also has to run to flush the car like 004runnerltd did and obviously can't run with bad radiator. So what order do we do this in? Or in this situation, is it best to only do a drain/fill on the transmission until the new radiator is in, then do a more thorough trans flush later? Thanks in advance for any advice with this!

 

[bwg95]

Thanks T4R Forum -- You saved my ride

I am an original owner of a 2002 Sport Edition, my sole ride and absolutely love it. My 4Runner at 172k miles had the uneventful milkshake last summer but at the time I had no idea what has happening. I limped home 2 miles stopping frequently as it was overheating.

After much research and lots of advice on the forum (Started with Ripcord's Essential Buyer's Guide and overview with 3rd Gens), I decided not to give up and tackle a recovery. I remember seeing one thread indicating "don´t panic" and gave the prescribed remedy of flushing, etc. That guy saved my bacon and inspired me to get after it...unfortunately I can't find his specific thread to thank him personally. My basic recovery method similar to others was:

1) Drained and Pulled the bad radiator. Pulled thermostat (Be careful when removing thermostat housing bolts in old units, lots of rust and frozen bolts...I sheared one bolt off). Ran water through the inlet and outlet areas.
2) I drained all the ATF out the transmission plug. I pulled the transmission pan, cleaned the magnets, replaced the filter and put a new gasket on and re-installed. Getting the pan clean of old gasket material is a real chore. I found brake cleaner and non-metal scrapers to be the best and lots of time and patience. Re-installed pan.
3) At the same time, Installed new radiator (left thermostat out).
4) Then I began to do flushes of the cooling system and the ATF system.
5) I started with the cooling system to get it reasonable. Using water and special coolant detergents at various frequencies. All told, I probably flushed the coolant system 15 to 20 times before I finally put in real coolant.
6) I also was flushing the transmission fluid once I could run the engine reliably. With the hoses disconnected from the ATF cooler, I would put a 5 gallon bucket under the discharge line. Start the motor. Run through the gears with the brake on. And hope out periodically to replace ATF fluid through the fill port. I usually would flush 1-2 gallons each sequence. All told, I probably went through ~15 gallons in total. The first sets of flushes I was not concerned about what brand. Towards the end, I bought Valvoline synthetic MaxLife from WalMart at a good price based on a suggestion I had read.
7) Then I would run it and drive it for a couple of days and monitor and flush a couple more times. I am still monitoring today. The ATF does not appear perfect but I will continue to flush every 3-6 months probably as things continue to work thru the system. But I have had zero issues with my transmission since.
8) Eventually put in a new thermostat and radiator cap.

Equally importantly, the site inspired to start my own build. Particular thanks to Ripcord. Seeing his builds inspired my son (8 years old) and myself to start our own. Put on a nice new grill with classic Toyota lettering. And am in the middle of a Toytec Boss lift as I needed new suspension anyway. I have spent more money on tools than I would like to admit and have spent too much time wrestling with rust. The rear suspension is in and have a solid 3" lift. Tonight I became discouraged with dealing with absolutely frozen castle bolts and cotter pins on the front end, only to find out many others who had similar issues. Next is Tundra brake upgrade, 17" rims and tires, and new front bumper.

So thank you. This is my first post and I wanted to be one of appreciation to all the folks who contribute and monitor the site. Hopefully some of you will see it, Deeply indebted. Who knows where it will end. My goal is not a mileage goal but to keep it fun and running as long as I am.

 

[PlutosT4r]

Been several years, if anyone is still kicking around, mind giving us a long term update?

I'm addressing the milkshake now via flushes.

 

[3bears]

Been several years, if anyone is still kicking around, mind giving us a long term update?

I'm addressing the milkshake now via flushes.

1) I no longer have the rig, totaled it
2) well I did not have the pink milkshake, but I believe my rig did right b4 it was traded in at the dealer. ( It had been dealer serviced its entire life and traded for a newer 4runner) Anyway, after I got the rig I then pulled its service records and found about 8k b4 trade in it had gone into dealer with a drivability problem ( at 130k) The dealer replaced radiator and flushed transmission. So to me that sounds like pink milkshake.
When I found that out, I pulled pan and filter, cleaned all and flushed with amsoil synthetic. Also installed a magnafine and a cooler at the time. I never had an issue with it. When I bought it I was living in the mountains of Oregon. It made the trip with me to alaska, pulling heavy loads etc. I totaled it wiht near 250k on it ( so 120k since it had been into dealer for flush and rad) and never had an issue. I did change tranny fluid every 2 years.
I think if you catch a milkshake right away you might luck out, I have read other stories of people with lots of miles on a milk shake tranny....I have also read people with hardly any b4 it died. I think it has to do with how soon it is caught.
up here I have not installed a trans cooler on what I drive now...as it just not get hot enough even with hills ( have a torque app and watch). The first thing I did to my current one is swap the radiator and flush the trans, even though it showed no signs of issues, just an old radiator

 

[PlutosT4r]

Ty 3bears. I wonder if the dealer did any additional service to it once they accepted the trade in, before selling it to you? PO definitely had the milkshake (would bet money), but it's possible more was done to yours at the dealer. Do they disclose work they do when a vehicle is back in their possession?

I'm pretty sure I only drove a half dozen miles on the milkshake, but impossible to know for sure. Hoping to updated this thread with good news, or at least any news when the dust settles.

 

[3bears]

Ty 3bears. I wonder if the dealer did any additional service to it once they accepted the trade in, before selling it to you? PO definitely had the milkshake (would bet money), but it's possible more was done to yours at the dealer. Do they disclose work they do when a vehicle is back in their possession?

I'm pretty sure I only drove a half dozen miles on the milkshake, but impossible to know for sure. Hoping to updated this thread with good news, or at least any news when the dust settles.

they did not do more work on it after and taking it in. Matter of fact they were not ready to sell it when I went into dealer to look at a different car....when I wasnt interested in that one....the sales guy said.....well we just got this in but havent really put it through our inspections yet. I drove it, looked it over , and bought right then, as is. They had serviced it since new but records he showed were not complete or detailed ( car fax) and did not show "milkshake". just showed drivability issue...but did not list repair that was done. That and a few other things did not pop up ( in detail) until after I bought and did a service record history using the vin.It is/was a major dealer for yota in hillsboro oregon, royal moore. Or maybe the carfax did list the repair required...but i missed it. Maybe there are two versions of car fax....one brief dealer one and one real detailed one.

lesson learned.....car fax cant be always trusted.