Radiator splilling out trans fluid

[Drcoffee]

First off DrCoffee, I can pass judgment on you without even knowing you. You seem like a absolute douche bag.

L.M.A.O.

Well, we all have our own experiences. Let me clue you in on a very well known fact. Car dealerships are rated as one of the least respected group of souless people amongst all legal busineses. Otherwise I would have to include PIMPS just above you.

Maybe your stealership is the exception (seriously doubt it) and you will be on the short list when you meet St. Peter. I say kudos to you. You are in a league of your own.

But lets look at how old this thread is. Second, do a little searching. What you will find is of most all strawberry milkshakes that occur and are fully flushed, the tranny will fail in about 10,000 miles. The simple fact is the coolant soaks into the clutches and sooner than later the tranny will fail. Now why you are all hung up on the $4,000 price beats me. Thats what I was quoted by the local toyota shop. You can always find someone less qualified to do the work for less.

But lets just revisit the stealership issue. Charging $140/hr to stroke a wrench is obscene. I have had this discussion on the Lexus forum as well. The supporting side says, well you get a beatiful facility, free coffee, and you get hang out with people of your own status. Really? Like I want to over pay for any of that. I am disgusted that a dealership will expect me to make them obscenely rich off my repair alone. Here is a visit I made to toyota in June for a recall. While there, I ask to have them check the AC on our sienna. The service writer said "Well, we will have to evacuate and recharge the freon and then run diagnostics, $350." I said whoa cowboy! Lets just check her out first. Check pressures, circuits, the easy shit. How much for that? "$99" really not $90 or $100? $99, LOL. Okay go for it. Well the AC was working in spec after all and I almost got screwed out of $256 by a F***face service writer. Had I not been informed on what should be done, he would have hosed me. I know he would have hose your mother and mine too. These souless bastages get performace bonuses. So my jackal friend. I may well be a "douche bag" as you claim. But I am still miles and I mean miles ABOVE you.

PS i have helped many guys here with dealer screwing issues time and time again. So ignore my advice at your own very ignorant peril. And at 50 yo I have 3x the life experiences of you. (Yes 3x. 32 years of adulthood compared to your 9 years of adulthood)

Cheers

 

[badattitude]

It can still work out OK. I had the same thing happen to me. I did just like you, pulled over, had it towed to the dealer. They flushed 65 quarts of ATF through it. They did not drop the pan or filter. I'm still driving on that trans 52,000 miles later. I also did a drain and fill every 2,500 miles for the first 10,000 miles after it happened. I suggest additional frequent drain and fills, if the trans does fail, get a new Toyota transmission installed and drive on. That is what I'll do if mine ever fails. Also, if you do subsequent drain and fills, consider sending a few samples into Blackstone Labs in Indiana. I did and it gave me piece of mind everything was ok. They said there was not any water or coolant in the sample. They did say I had too much iron? Maybe rust? But the amounts were very small and decreased after additional drain and fills.

 

[badattitude]

I think the key to surviving a milkshake issue is not driving on it at all after contamination. Good luck. Flush the crap out of it and hope for the best. Best new trans price I've seen is about $1600 from Toyota of Dallas plus shipping and install of course. Also look at Certified Transmission I know nothing about them but they are on my radar if my tans fails. Also a low mileage used is an option.

 

[Skibber]

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.

This happened to me on the way into work today! Trans seemed it wasn't engaging at the beginning of a start from a complete stop during the last couple miles of my commute. Hopefully got lucky because it seems the ATF just went to the radiator and came out the reservoir. Trans dipstick was well below the low level marking with no milkshake. No smoke, smell, or strange noises.

There's a great mechanic right behind work that was able to do a coolant flush/fill, trans flush/fill, and OEM radiator replacement with thermostat, gasket, and cap for $750...all by the end of my work day too!

Had plans to do the radiator as preventative maintenance after the stories on the forum, but just didn't get around to it in time. May have cost more than doing it myself, but hey...it's done now. I plan to do some more frequent ATF drain & fills just to be on the safe side. I'll still probably do the trans cooler mod as well, just not as soon as I previously planned. Right now I'm a few hundred miles under 150k on a 2001.

Sorry to bring this one back from the dead, but it's the one that helped me out most

 

[thegipper]

I would flush it some more OP and use the cheapest fluid you can find.

Keep an eye on the fluid for the next weeks/months, if there are any signs that there is still coolant in it, flush it again.

Many of us have survived the pink milk shake without our trannies shitting the bed. It's all about making sure you get all the coolant out and keeping an eye on it. It still may die, but I wouldn't say its trashed yet. Give it a chance...

 

[Moonbandit]

I JUST installed a trans cooler because I have read so many threads about it - on a new to me 4runner. Thanks to all for sharing your stories. My brother purchased a 4runner a few months ago that previously had the shake... OUCH.

Though most people are "decent" Dr Coffee speaks words of wisdom about a certain percentage of humanity :gun5:
" Take off the rose colored glasses. "Its a dog eat dog world and you are wearing milkbone underwear." -Dr Coffee

 

[hgreen]

help! milky coolant

Hoping for some advise. i'm new, so please forgive me if i'm doing this wrong (posting in wrong area/thread etc.) I bought a 97 with 190k from a used car dealer two weeks ago.
Drove it on a 500 mile trip and when i returned, i checked my fluid levels. The coolant reservoir was empty so I opened up the radiator and saw a creamy goo in with the green coolant. It was not overheating or even running hot. The engine oil is clean and full. The transmission fluid is clean and full.

If the truck had red coolant in it and the used dealership topped it off with green coolant could the mix cause thick whites goo? Or is this a milkshake (trans fluid in coolant) or head gasket issue? I'm attaching a pic.

What should I test/do? Any advise would be so much appreciated. thank you!