Possible ATF I'm coolent resoviour

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Polishbeast

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I noticed the other today that the coolent resoviour keeps overflowing with A milkshake colored fluid. image.jpg there is no foam in the oil resoviour tank and the engine has not overheated. I changed the timing belt 3 weeks ago and used green coolant instead of red due to the availably on the island. The car is a V6 3.4 1996 4Runner. Do you think its oil in the resoviour or transmission fluid? What would be the next steps to repair this issue I have 150,000k on the vehicle.
 

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Yes it's a automatic. I don't think the radiator has Been changed. It has been patched In the past. I live on a island and they tend to patch things. What is the pink milkshake dread?
 
Polishbeast said:
The transmission dipstick looks full and no discoloration I did a flush last week
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Until you ascertain the source of this, I would not drive it...at all. If it is in fact the pink milkshake, you are about to (if you haven't already) damage a very expensive transmission.
 
StreetCreeper said:
Until you ascertain the source of this, I would not drive it...at all. If it is in fact the pink milkshake, you are about to (if you haven't already) damage a very expensive transmission.
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I'm pretty sure it's pink milkshake so your pretty much saying I need a new radiator?
 
Hang on hang on hang on, don't borrow trouble. Green and red makes brown, could be you just used an incompatible coolant.

You've been seeing the brown sludge overflow for three weeks now, you say? If the transmission fluid on the dipstick is clean and fresh and you haven't noticed any overheating or weird shifting, I think you're good, and if not the damage is already done. I'd flush the radiator really well and fill it with fresh coolant and run it, see what happens. If it comes back, then worry :). In future try to not mix different types of coolant.
 
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KidVermicious said:
Hang on hang on hang on, don't borrow trouble. Green and red makes brown, could be you just used an incompatible coolant.

You've been seeing the brown sludge overflow for three weeks now, you say? If the transmission fluid on the dipstick is clean and fresh and you haven't noticed any overheating or weird shifting, I think you're good, and if not the damage is already done. I'd flush the radiator really well and fill it with fresh coolant and run it, see what happens. If it comes back, then worry :). In future try to not mix different types of coolant.
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This is what I was thinking too.
 
Polishbeast said:
I'm pretty sure it's pink milkshake so your pretty much saying I need a new radiator?
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All I'm saying is that it until you confirm one way or another what the source of this "stuff" is, it would be wise not to drive the truck. If it is the pink milkshake, you will likely damage/destroy the transmission pretty quickly from driving it.

From what I've read, if you catch a pink milkshake early enough you can simply replace the radiator and have the transmission thoroughly flushed with new ATF and your good to go.

I'm not diagagnosing or even guessing at what the source of the problem is here. Other members with much more experience than me, like Kidvermicious could give you more insight on that. I'm just offering a word of caution.
 
personally, i would drain the transmission fluid pan and see what that looks like rather than rely on what little is on the tranny dipstick. if it's good, just replace what came out and then flush the coolant. then bypass the radiator with an external tranny cooler
 
this is what my coolant looked like when I bought my truck. It is caused by mixing coolant types/colors, and it's a PITA to clean up. I ended up replacing all coolant hoses, heater hoses, radiator, water pump and accessories after flushing my block and has been great ever since, but was not cheap or easy. I flushed my system 3 times before finally filling with proper coolant mix because I really wanted to get all that muck out. Whatever you decide to fill with (green or red, my vote on red) make sure that's all you use after flushing.
Pink milkshake is usually... pink. Also mixing of oil and water will look more milky. I wouldn't immediately rule out pink milkshake, I just know what mine looked like and that's exactly what I see here.
 
Can't believe nobody has seized this opportunity yet:

Hi, Coolent Resoviour, I'm radiator ... nice to meet you!
 
update

So it ended up being the pink milkshake :( I am currently replacing the radiator . how many quarts of transmission fluid should I used to flush the system?
 
Polishbeast said:
So it ended up being the pink milkshake :( I am currently replacing the radiator . how many quarts of transmission fluid should I used to flush the system?
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Use at least 12 qts at first then do it again a few days later. Either go to a shop and have it flushed (will cost over $100) or search on here for some of the DIY methods (this is what I did) Basically, you just unhook one of the tranny lines to the radiator (not sure which one) and put it into a bucket, start the truck, then empty about 3 qts at a time (approx. what the pan holds) shut truck off and fill with 3qts. No need to reattach line. Repeat until 12 qts are in or until you see nice clean fluid coming out. Might take a little more than 12 qts, so have extra fluid on hand.
 
I have not posted for a while, just thought it was worth logging the the replacement of the radiator due to a failed transmission fluid cooler. My 4Runner is a 2001 SR5, 4x4 with 167,500 miles. It took about 10 gallons of transmission fluid to get an oil sample that was clear and bright. Each time I added oil, I drained via the transmission oil cooler inlet hose until the pump started to lose suction then drained the remainder from the pan. I also dropped the pan and cleaned and inspected the oil filter. On the coolant side I flushed the engine until all transmission fluid was removed. All back together. OEM radiator $290 plus all of the transmission fluid and Toyota antifreeze. About $500 all together.
 
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