Some questions about radiator/transmission

[laureena23]

I posted on here a few weeks ago about my radiator going out and leaving me stranded. The Runner is up and running again but when the radiator went, I guess the fluid got into the transmission.

A family friend who works on transmissions said its just a matter of days or weeks for my transmission to go out now because with the fluid in there, it is rusting away everything in the trans. It shifts a little rough from 1st to 2nd but all the other gears are OK. He also said this is a huge problem with the 4Runners and they see it all the time at the shop.

Has anyone else heard this being a problem or experienced it? I know the strawberry milkshake is a common problem but I haven't heard of it causing damage to the transmission.

 

[topdown4runner]

The strawberry milkshake IS the problem.
Tranny fluid gets mixed in with the radiator fluid, and that can damage the engine.
Have the engine flushed completely, several times. Replace the radiator with an aftermarket one.

The second half of the strawberry milkshake is the radiator fluid gets in the tranny fluid. Radiator fluid is basicly water.
Water KILLS automatic transmissions. Yes, you can flush, flush, and flush again. It is only a matter of time before that water will catch up to you and you just bought a tranny.

Sorry to hear about your strawberry shake. The one at Micky D's is much tastier, but is just as bad for the tranny.

 

[jreask]

I posted on here a few weeks ago about my radiator going out and leaving me stranded. The Runner is up and running again but when the radiator went, I guess the fluid got into the transmission.

A family friend who works on transmissions said its just a matter of days or weeks for my transmission to go out now because with the fluid in there, it is rusting away everything in the trans. It shifts a little rough from 1st to 2nd but all the other gears are OK. He also said this is a huge problem with the 4Runners and they see it all the time at the shop.

Has anyone else heard this being a problem or experienced it? I know the strawberry milkshake is a common problem but I haven't heard of it causing damage to the transmission.

I talked to the local dealer about this and they said they have NEVER had it happen in 21 years in business. I wonder if this could be true, since your shop sees it all the time. I just would like to know the percentages of how many 4Runners it happens to and at what mileage ? Mine has over 200K and I am thinking of a cooler or a radiator change just for insurance against the dreaded "milkshake".

 

[Pikeman]

Well there are 10's of thousands of 4 Runners out there and only a couple dozen stories on the web about it. Not so sure the percentage is that high. That being said, wouldnt a 130-180 radiator and a 50 cooler in preventative maintenance be a lot better then a couple thousand for a new tranny? I plan on doing mine soon also since I have 218k on mine.

OP-yes you will need to flush your tranny several times and hope for the best. some other board members have not had serious effects after the Milkshake but most do end up with issues.

 

[topdown4runner]

I've noticed it happening around 110K miles. Not scientificaly or anything like that. Just my observations...

That does not mean at 200K your out of the woods either.

My Wifes '97 has 160K and I just put an external cooler on and bypassed the radiator cooler. Whew, dodged that bullet!

My '99, that I just bought a few months ago, had the tranny & radiator replaced because of the milkshake. It happened at 112K miles, but before I bought it.
I am still flushing the radiator fluid periodically because there is still residue of tranny fluid in the coolant. I even paid to have it professionally flushed. Twice. I am on my 3rd radiator cap becuse the tranny fluid causes rubber seals to expand. The rubber on my cap keeps expanding so much it does not seal anymore.

 

[laureena23]

Thanks for the replies. I'm a girl who knows about trucks but for some reason this just went over my head..haha.

So far it has been flushed 3 times, I've only been driving it for a week and plan on flushing it again this coming weekend. I'm just nervous about driving it now and it blowing up on me. The worst part is I plan on having it paid off at the end of this month so I'm just praying it makes it a few more weeks!

 

[kball]

So far it has been flushed 3 times

What has been flushed 3 times? The engine, the trans or both?