Radiator splilling out trans fluid

K

keithyota

New member
99 4runner was overflowing out of the radior overflow red transmission fluid. I had it towed to the shop...and the radiator was broken inside. There was still some transmission fluid in the tranny. They fixed all that up and did a transmission flush.

My questions are: should they have dropped the trany pan and drained that fluid and cleaned/replaced the trany filter/screen at the same time? They said they don't do that (typically) but it makes me nervous there could be contaminants in there. Anyone have this problem...I don't want to blow my tranny of course... It is a reputable shop in town...bob sumerel, at least I think they are:)

Secondly, this was a surprise to me that this would happen and I was informed that 4runners of this vintage and older do break inside the radiator. Had I known that, I would have just replaced it after so many miles to avoid the headaches. So makes me think there may be other things that should be replaced overtime. Does anyone have a list of those things that should be done as preventive maintenance on 4runners (99 vintage)?

Thank you!
 
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Hate to hear it. I recently replaced a perfectly good radiator in my 2000 because I found this site early on and read about the milkshake posibility. Too bad you found out the hard way. But, YES, it is a known issue with the older 3rd gens, basically because so many have lasted for so long.

First off, you did the right thing to shut it down and have it towed. However, you may want to go back and do some more thorough flushing of the tranny. Based on what I've read in other threads, you want to plan on flusing a lot, I mean a LOT, like dozens of quarts of tranny fluid through the system to make sure you get out any all coolant that you can that might have made it in there. Start by dropping the pan, let it drain for as long as you can to get as much out as possible, install a new filter, and then start flushing through new fluid.

There was a thread on here not long ago from a guy that was going through all of this, but I can't remember his user name and I did a search and couldn't find the thread I was looking for.

Some may recommend installing an external tranny cooler to bypass the one in the radiator, and you can go that route if it helps you sleep at night. Many here have done that. I just replaced the radiator with a good quality Koyo replacement and left it at that. I figured the first radiator got a good 12 years on it and was still working fine, so a new one should provide for more years of milkshake free driving.

Out of curiousity, what coolant did they put in your new one? Is it a reddish/pink color, or is yellow/green? Not all, but many of us here believe you should use the reddish/pink coolant which is what Toyota recommends. This could be the red toyota coolant dilluted 50/50 with water, or pre-dilluted Toyota pink, or Zerex sells a pinkish coolant called Asian formula that is approved for Toyotas. That's what I used in mine.

Good luck
 
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Another maintenance item you may want to check are your ball joints which are/can be worse than your tranny taking a dump. If they fail you will loose your ability to steer and you can imagine what the consequences of that would be at high speeds.
 
Geez, I get the shakes every time I read one of these threads. I have 183,000 on the original radiator. I've had a brand new Koyo sitting in my floor for 2 weeks that I haven't been able to put in yet, but that sucker is going in this weekend so I can sleep at night.
 
i love reading threads like this.... idk how many times each week the new rad/external trans cooler topic is brought up... and yet we still see these disaster threads pop up.... :shrug::rockthrow: to the op i hope you can find a good used trans for cheep, cause im gonna guess your gonna need one:sadwave:
 
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the kid said:
i love reading threads like this.... idk how many times each week the new rad/external trans cooler topic is brought up... and yet we still see these disaster threads pop up.... :shrug::rockthrow: to the op i hope you can find a good used trans for cheep, cause im gonna guess your gonna need one:sadwave:
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You'll notice from the OP's post count that he most likely didn't join the forum until AFTER this happened to his rig. That's why you hear lots of disaster stories, from radiators to broken rods to sheared ball joints. Folks don't even know of the forum or use car forums until their vehicle breaks. Then they start looking for info and find us. :)



OP, good luck with the fix. Like already said, flush lots of ATF through the transmission, change the filter. If the ATF that was still red and not milky, then it sounds like most of what happened was ATF got into the radiator....instead of coolant getting into the transmission. In my opinion, this is the primary difference that determines if your transmission lives on after a failure. Sometimes hardly any coolant actually gets into the transmission...instead the ATF just comes out the radiator. These seem to do ok. It's when the ATF looks like a strawberry milkshake, and there is a LOT of coolant running through the transmission that you don't have a very good chance of saving the transmission for the long haul.
 
Trade it in as soon as possible. The transmission will cost you $4,000 for a replacement. Go buy another one and replace its radiator before you do anything else. Then lower ball joints.
 
WTF? Pass the problem to some unsuspecting buyer? Dlck move. I had my trans replaced after someone made that dlck move to me (prev owner), and it was around $1200 total.
 
That's the risk you take when you buy used. A dealer would take it in on trade without knowing and sell it in the auction. It'll get get dealt with before it gets to a new owner. Notice, I didn't say to sell it to a private party.
 
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OP, flushing the trans and replacing the radiator with a Koyo or something similar is about all you can do. Trans might have a limited life, so you may want to start figuring out where to get a used one.

Radiators are a ~100k part.

Drcoffee said:
That's the risk you take when you buy used. A dealer would take it in on trade without knowing and sell it in the auction. It'll get get dealt with before it gets to a new owner. Notice, I didn't say to sell it to a private party.
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Right, most reputable dealers are in the 5-7k market.

Not sure why is it acceptable to stick it to a dealer vs. a private party either. When you screw over companies, all you do is pass the loss to their other customers.
 
Hey KeithYota, tough break man. For excellent maintenance advice contained in 1 thread, check out the 3rd Gen Buyer's Guide written by 4-Ripcord. Pretty much tells you everything you need to know.

And you know what, I usually try to avoid any negative words, especially on this forum that I've come to rely upon for great information, but I can see from your posts that you're new here. First off, I'm no expert mechanic, but I work on my truck when I can and have friends who make a living in the automotive industry and I'll gladly send you their info for further questions.

Anyway, I've seen Dr. Coffee give some decent advice, but it mostly seems that he likes to stir up trouble and piss people off. Fine, I guess every forum needs THAT GUY. Be wary of his advice. And certainly don't pass tranny trouble on to another owner or dealer. You do that, then you don't deserve a Runner in my opinion.

And 4,000$ for a tranny? I'd avoid taking your truck to Dr. Coffee's shop...
 
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Brilliant said:
Not sure why is it acceptable to stick it to a dealer vs. a private party either. When you screw over companies, all you do is pass the loss to their other customers.
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LOL. The SOBs at the dealership I bought this truck from were cleaning off the brake from the gear lube when I got there. They were "cleaning it" up for me but I got there before they were done and saw on the lift. At the time i had no idea about the rear axle seal issues and believed them. They were in the process of sticking to me. But i knew I could fix most of its ussues. So i bought it anyway. The sick part is they knew I was buying for my teen daughters. Who would do that? Dealers are lying, money grabbers and have no problem screwing over customers. And if your first thought is, must have been a no name dealer. Guess again, it was the Honda flagship dealer ACURA in an affluent burb of Chicago.

More to the point, the dealer will offer you very little on trade. Under the circumstances, would now be a fair tradein value.

This aint my first rodeo with sleezy dealerships. You idealistic 20-somethings have a lot to learn about life before passing judgement on people. Take off the rose colored glasses. "Its a dog eat dog world and you are wearing milkbone underwear."
 
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99 4runner SR5 coolant and trans fluid pouring out

I was at a stoplight waiting to turn left, and when I pushed the gas, the car wouldn't go. Sounded like it was in neutral so i checked to see if it got bumped out of drive, but it was still in drive. Pushed the gas again, and it revved for a second and then started to go slowly. It barely made it up the next hill. Lots of revving, but very little power. I was afraid I was going to have to stop it on the side of the road and walk the rest of the way with 4 dogs! Luckily I was close to my mom's house so I went there. As I pulled into the driveway I completely lost power to drive forward. When I got out, dark fluid (pinkish in some spots) was leaking fast onto the driveway. It was all over everything in the drivers side wheel well. There may have been some mornings where it took longer than normal to shift from first to second gear, but that could be my imagination too. Seems like this happened very suddenly...one minute it was driving fine, and the next, it just wouldn't go. I'm hoping all I need is a transmission flush and a new radiator, but I'm very worried. Left the car in her driveway (with a huge messy dark spot), and hoping to get it towed tomorrow. I read this thread and the strawberry milkshake seems similar to my problem, but any additional advice is appreciated. I'm completely out of my comfort zone here as far as repairs so I'm taking it to my toyota guy.
 
All you can do is flush it and cross your fingers. Trying to coax it along a few more miles like that can do a lot of damage to the clutches inside the trans. I'd start budgeting for a new trans.
 
Drcoffee said:
LOL. The SOBs at the dealership I bought this truck from were cleaning off the brake from the gear lube when I got there. They were "cleaning it" up for me but I got there before they were done and saw on the lift. At the time i had no idea about the rear axle seal issues and believed them. They were in the process of sticking to me. But i knew I could fix most of its ussues. So i bought it anyway. The sick part is they knew I was buying for my teen daughters. Who would do that? Dealers are lying, money grabbers and have no problem screwing over customers. And if your first thought is, must have been a no name dealer. Guess again, it was the Honda flagship dealer ACURA in an affluent burb of Chicago.

More to the point, the dealer will offer you very little on trade. Under the circumstances, would now be a fair tradein value.

This aint my first rodeo with sleezy dealerships. You idealistic 20-somethings have a lot to learn about life before passing judgement on people. Take off the rose colored glasses. "Its a dog eat dog world and you are wearing milkbone underwear."
Click to expand...

First off DrCoffee, I can pass judgment on you without even knowing you. You seem like a absolute douche bag. The fact that you would scare the OP with a $4K estimate is outrageous. A NEW REMAN from Toyota is around $2k depending on which dealership you go to. (Ask me how I know) Install at any reputable shop is highball $1K. Your extra $1K must be for ATF fluid made of gold I'm guessing...?
Secondly DrCoffee, you qualify screwing someone else over because you were screwed over? That makes perfect sense. I mean the saying goes "eye for a eye...", right? Maybe you weren't told about the ending to that, where everyone is blind. Passing off your problems to some unsuspecting party, albeit dealer or private is an utterly disrespectful thing to do. I work at a dealership and we NEVER do such things to our customers. If we ran business like that we wouldn't still be in business. One happy customer tells 1-3 people, one pissed off and unhappy customer tells EVERYONE they can. You should keep your ill intentioned comments and backhanded remarks to yourself because I don't think anyone on this site has benefited from a single thing that you have ever posted, if they have its the benefit of ignoring your advice or doing the opposite of what it is you suggest they do.
Furthermore, just because you were screwed over by a dealer, doesn't mean all dealers are...how did you put it? "lying, money grabbers and have no problem screwing over customers." Yes there are some shady dealerships out there, but I don't believe your blanket statement is warranted, nor is it applicable. You're just as bad as any of those (shady)dealerships by trying to pull the wool over someone else's eyes. Shame on you.
I'm sure you will have some winded, wordy response to this message to which I would like to reply to right now and just tell you to kiss the darkest part of my....transmission pan.

OP, as everyone has stated, flush the sh*t out of your trans, new ATF filter and oil change and oil filter as well. Hope you caught it in time. Best of luck man
 
Had this happen to my 2000 last year christmas eve of all times....

Flushed thoroughly and not a speck left in the tranny, new filter and dropped and cleaned the pan.

Installed new rad, capped off lower run (tranny cooling section) and installed the largest B&M super cooler right off the bat. Along with 2 temp sensors in and out.
To monitor temps both ends.

Highly reccommend external cooler as its far more efficient than the stock 1"x lower section of the radiator. A Cooler trans equals longer trans life. And quite frankly i personally think its the least you could do to extend the life of your traumatized tranny.

Mine was caught and dealt with in time that shes 9 months past and running strong. These 3.4L set ups are a legend.
 
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