Strawberry milk, please help

C

crr119

New member
Newbie here..just purchased a '99 T4R SR5, everything seems well taken care of, but after looking at some postings on the forum I have some concerns...when I purchased my T4R the dealer told me that he just had the radiator replaced and all the fluids flushed, including the transmission. I read about the strawberry milkshake problem in the forum so I looked at my '99 SR5 and low and behold... the coolant overflow looks like strawberry milk, the coolant in the new radiator is strawberry color and the transmission fluid on the dip stick looks brand new bright red.
Should I be concerned? What should I do?
Please help and advise.
Thank you.
 
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Toyota coolant is red. Are you sure you don't have red coolant? The viscosity of your coolant should be much less than if you have strawberry milkshake. Don't freak out, yet.
 
crr119 said:
Newbie here..just purchased a '99 T4R SR5, everything seems well taken care of, but after looking at some postings on the forum I have some concerns...when I purchased my T4R the dealer told me that he just had the radiator replaced and all the fluids flushed, including the transmission. I read about the strawberry milkshake problem in the forum so I looked at my '99 SR5 and low and behold... the coolant overflow looks like strawberry milk, the coolant in the new radiator is strawberry color and the transmission fluid on the dip stick looks brand new bright red.
Should I be concerned? What should I do?
Please help and advise.
Thank you.
Click to expand...

Toyota radiator fluid is pink so unless its really thick that's what the fluid should look like. Transmission fluid is also supposed to be reddish in color so it sounds to me like you're fine. If you had the milkshake thick pink liquid would be oozing out of the top of your radiator overflow.
 
Noynumal said:
Toyota radiator fluid is pink so unless its really thick that's what the fluid should look like. Transmission fluid is also supposed to be reddish in color so it sounds to me like you're fine. If you had the milkshake thick pink liquid would be oozing out of the top of your radiator overflow.
Click to expand...

Also if the radiator is new you shouldn't have to worry about it for a long time but if you want some cheap insurance get a separate transmission cooler installed.
 
I don't want to say the sky is falling, but it is suspicious to me that the dealer replaced all the fluids and the radiator. Why would they do that work if it weren't very needed?

What state are you in? Have you gotten complete work records on it? If you are still within the lemon law window, you might want to look into this quickly before you lose your opportunity to back out and return it.

Was it a Toyota dealer you bought it from? If so, you can enter your VIN into Toyota.com and it should pull up all service history at dealers.
 
follow up

Thank you all. I am in PA.
My fears are that the dealer, not a Toyota dealer, but a small local guy that has a family member that works at the local Toyota dealer and this guy gets a lot of the trade-ins.
The coolant overflow is milky pink.
The T4R only has approx 25 miles on it since a new radiator was placed in it and the trans coolant was flushed and replaced. I will try to post a picture.
This vehicle has 157k on it.
My fear is that this dealer saw the strawberry milk and fixed it up before the sale and now I have a vehicle that the transmission could go out any day. If this is the case and damage was done how long do I have before it dies and what may be symptoms that I may see/hear.
Once again, thank you to all.
 
My fears are that the dealer, not a Toyota dealer, but a small local guy that has a family member that works at the local Toyota dealer and this guy gets a lot of the trade-ins. The coolant overflow is milky pink.
Click to expand...

Well I'm convinced. Especially since a small lot dealer would never just replace the radiator.
 
pictures

here are some pictures of what I got. I don't think it looks too good.
 

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I would say your concerns are valid and given what you have said, i would absolutely suspect that a pnk milkshake occurred and they tried to fix it. I would suggest draining the radiator and overflow and see if it is all milky pink. If it is, it needs to be flushed and filled with new coolant. If they didnt do a better job of flushing the tranny than they did the radiator, you should probably run quite a bit more fluid through there as well. What you dont know is how bad the problem was or how much damage was done or is yet to come.

Take lots of pictures and keep them. It may do no good, but i would go back and confront the dealer and try to get the full story. I agree with the above, why would a mom and pop dealer go through the trouble of putting in a new radiator if nothing was wrong with the original. And to flush the tranny as well, sounds too fishy.
 
I'm curious how this one turned out.

I just bought a 2000 Ltd. from a used dealer with 119k on it. The transmission fluid is a clean red. The pics that are above are similar to what I see on my radiator cap and tube into the overflow. But the liquid in the overflow is thin and watery. Is there just some buildup over time from the red coolant on surfaces in the cooling system?

I have no real maintenance records.

On a recent trip from STL to Chicago it ran well. No slipping whatsoever. The transmission temp got up to about 210 at the end of the trip in traffic with outside temps at 72 degrees which I thought might be warm?. The engine got no more than about 200 as I recall.

All the talk about the milkshake has me a bit concerned, but I'm thinking a radiator replacement anyway in the very near future.

The radiator doesn't look new, how do I tell if it's original? Seems to me if it's original then there never was an issue.

And is it normal for the upper hose to suck flat from negative pressure when shut off and cool?
 
I have since installed a new radiator and TRD Transmission Cooler and changed the fluid. Tranny still runs great, no issues.

Then I was headed up the backside of towards mosquito pass on CO 3 in AWD mode when I noticed on the scan gauge that the tranny temp was 285.

Still no problems so I probably should not be concerned, but that seems awful darn hot!

Anyone know what temp the light goes on at?
 
blockhead said:
I have since installed a new radiator and TRD Transmission Cooler and changed the fluid. Tranny still runs great, no issues.

Then I was headed up the backside of towards mosquito pass on CO 3 in AWD mode when I noticed on the scan gauge that the tranny temp was 285.

Still no problems so I probably should not be concerned, but that seems awful darn hot!

Anyone know what temp the light goes on at?
Click to expand...

Wow that is really hot! I read some where that the temp light comes on at 300 and by then your trans is toast. That's what I read so don't quote me but I would look into a bigger trans cooler
 
looks like aftermath of pink milkshake to me, I had this happen on the interstate at 5am (still dark out) didn't know anything was wrong until my heat went cold and my dash lights started to flicker. I then looked at the temp and it was pegged on hot. i drove 2 miles to the next off ramp and shut it down. I had the milkshake:cry2:

I towed it home replaced the radiator took the tranny pan down cleaned the pan changed the filter and put new fluid in, when i started it i spent 1 hour with a garden hose flushing the radiator out then replaced the thermostat, ran perfect no tranny issues. I have put 5,000 or more miles on it sense it happened with no worries or issues, however I still get a little pink goop under my radiator cap from time to time.

It looks as if they fixed yours and if it shifts good and smooth, doesn't get hot or any of that you should be fine. If it was driven a lot messed up the tranny would not work decent at all. I recommend a simple flush, take your resivor out put a good cleaner in it with a scotch bright pad and shake the heck out of it, i i used purple power and the reservoir looks like new
 
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