Strawberry Milkshake Opinions Needed

[jrice00]

Hey everyone just picked up my first 4Runner a week ago and I've been doing as much maintenance on it as I can..

The day after I bought it I flushed the coolant and replaced with 50/50 Toyota Red and distilled water because there was some white corrosive gunk in the cap. Since then some more of the material has reappeared. After looking at these pictures would you say the strawberry milkshake is imminent or is it some other sort of corrosion that I have going on?

 

[MStudt]

What did it look like when you drained it? Check the dipstick and see where it reads, and the color on it.

 

[PitbullRescuer]

That looks more like regular corrosion from inside the coolant passages to me. How did everything look when you flushed it? Did you flush it until the water ran clean through the block and all?

 

[jrice00]

Unfortunately it was green coolant when I drained it with very minimal corrosive gunk. The flush didn't release anymore of the stuff either. I ran the engine for about 15 minutes with the heater on during the flush. And it was clear after the flush. Thanks for the replies!

 

[BrianSD_42]

did you complete flush between coolants (vs. drain and fill) or after?

 

[fourwd1]

After looking at these pictures would you say the strawberry milkshake is imminent or is it some other sort of corrosion that I have going on?]

If that residue was from the transmission fluid and coolant mixing, the transmission cooling line in the radiator already ruptured.
There is no warning that it is "imminent", it just goes.

 

[jrice00]

did you complete flush between coolants (vs. drain and fill) or after?

I drained the green coolant then followed that by a flush with distilled water.

 

[jgue467]

How much time

elapsed between the flush and the pics? I hate to say it, it looks nasty. If that were mine, I'd take the radiator off and take it to a shop to have them boil/clean it out thoroughly. How are your engine temps?

 

[jrice00]

elapsed between the flush and the pics? I hate to say it, it looks nasty. If that were mine, I'd take the radiator off and take it to a shop to have them boil/clean it out thoroughly. How are your engine temps?

It was about 6 days between the flush and those pictures. Would it be easier/ cheaper to just replace the radiator?

 

[jgue467]

If you can afford it, yes. Did you say you have 4wd? If so, has the factory tranny cooler been bypassed to an external one?

 

[jrice00]

If you can afford it, yes. Did you say you have 4wd? If so, has the factory tranny cooler been bypassed to an external one?

The transmission is still being cooled by the original radiator, which is why I think I'm just going to buy this:

Amazon.com: Denso 221-0508 Radiator: Automotive

If I've understood the other posts that I've read, replacing the radiator should negate any chance of having the milkshake occur.. Correct?

 

[JayRolla]

The transmission is still being cooled by the original radiator, which is why I think I'm just going to buy this:

Amazon.com: Denso 221-0508 Radiator: Automotive

If I've understood the other posts that I've read, replacing the radiator should negate any chance of having the milkshake occur.. Correct?

Replacing the radiator now means its new. Most failures happen after 100k miles. To negate the chance of it rupturing you must bypass it. This way if it does rupture it does not mix with the trans fluid. Best bet is to do both.

 

[mountain mike]

For those of you who have bypassed the radiator do you have any overheating issues? I would like to bypass the radiator as well, but worry the tranny will overhead if I am not moving very quickly. What comes to mind is 4wheeling, going slow, and working the tranny in low gearing. Would that cause the tranny to overhead if the radiator is bypassed?

 

[MCObray]

The transmission is still being cooled by the original radiator, which is why I think I'm just going to buy this:



Amazon.com: Denso 221-0508 Radiator: Automotive



If I've understood the other posts that I've read, replacing the radiator should negate any chance of having the milkshake occur.. Correct?

I just had the same Denso Radiator installed. I was running 150s on the HWY and 170-190 in city. The radiator was bypassed last week with BM 70264, and am now running 138-143 HWY and have yet to get over 170 in town.

Bypass the radiator with a cooler for some piece of mind if you can swing it. Well worth it IMO.

 

[PitbullRescuer]

The transmission is still being cooled by the original radiator, which is why I think I'm just going to buy this:

Amazon.com: Denso 221-0508 Radiator: Automotive

If I've understood the other posts that I've read, replacing the radiator should negate any chance of having the milkshake occur.. Correct?

Sort of correct. ONLY way to guarantee it'll never mix is to bypass the radiator and run an external cooler only. Anytime the tranny fluid is running into the radiator, you run the mix. Could be as simple as getting in a minor traffic accident and rupturing the threshold between the trans cooler & radiator. Could also happen if you happen to get a defective replacement radiator.

For those of you who have bypassed the radiator do you have any overheating issues? I would like to bypass the radiator as well, but worry the tranny will overhead if I am not moving very quickly. What comes to mind is 4wheeling, going slow, and working the tranny in low gearing. Would that cause the tranny to overhead if the radiator is bypassed?

I've run an external cooler on every automatic 4Runner I've ever owned, no overheating at all.

 

[jgue467]

The transmission is still being cooled by the original radiator, which is why I think I'm just going to buy this:

Amazon.com: Denso 221-0508 Radiator: Automotive

If I've understood the other posts that I've read, replacing the radiator should negate any chance of having the milkshake occur.. Correct?

Sure you can use that. Like others after this post have said also bypass the factory cooler setup. Get a tranny cooler off ebay/amazon for about $35 or so and have the in/out tranny lines go to it. Then on ur new radiator (which has a built in tranny cooler) run a hose from the in/out - so if it ever leaks inside the radiator the coolant will only run back/forth on this hose. Now ur good!

 

[MCObray]

Sure you can use that. Like others after this post have said also bypass the factory cooler setup. Get a tranny cooler off ebay/amazon for about $35 or so and have the in/out tranny lines go to it. Then on ur new radiator (which has a built in tranny cooler) run a hose from the in/out - so if it ever leaks inside the radiator the coolant will only run back/forth on this hose. Now ur good!

Question. Are you referring to the two lower port holes on the Radiator? I just used the blue caps provided in the B&M kit to cap it off. If not, would it be just as easy to take the caps off and route the house from one port hole to the other? Or would coolant come shooting out?

Thanks.

 

[jrice00]

What kind of transmission coolant should I be using?

 

[jrice00]

Update:

I believe I had success today. The rad job took about 3.5 hrs (I'm a complete beginner). Thanks to the forum with instructions and pictures. I would like to get a scan gage to monitor a lot of things as well as transmission temps.

Does the forum ever have group buys on scan gages ?

 

[JayRolla]

Update:

I believe I had success today. The rad job took about 3.5 hrs (I'm a complete beginner). Thanks to the forum with instructions and pictures. I would like to get a scan gage to monitor a lot of things as well as transmission temps.

Does the forum ever have group buys on scan gages ?

You can buy an ebay $35 odb2 bluetooth adapter and the torque app for $5 on an your phone and it will give you codes and trans temps.