Strawberry Milkshake

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SmokEaterHD

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Here's the deal, found out some old friends of mine were selling their 2000 Limited. They are always very meticulous with their vehicles and keep them forever so I knew it had been taken care of. Well, it gave off a warning of some sort and her husband went to take it to the shop when it blew smoke. He pulled over and someone brought him some water for the radiator and he drove the couple of miles back home. They decided to just buy a new vehicle and sell this one. He thought it had blown a head gasket, but I don't think that is the problem. So needless to say, they gave me a killer deal, but I want to make sure I'm covering all my bases in getting this back on the road. I'm gonna be using it for my daily driver and plan on adding to the 192K it already has on it. Other than the mileage it doesn't have a mark on it. One of the cleanest used cars I've seen. So I was getting ready to tear into the head gasket when I decided to pull the tranny dipstick. I had read on here that the milkshake could be an issue with older, high mileage vehicles. Sure enough I have a frothy pink fluid on the dipstick. What all do I need to cover to make sure I get this fixed as I will be doing most if not all of the repairs myself? I know I need to drain and flush the tranny and check for any debris in the pan. Is the radiator possibly still good if I flush it out? Or do I just need to purchase a new one? I'm also possibly going to be adding an external tranny cooler like I've seen in this thread: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...oler-transmission-cooler-install-3rd-gen.html Or will a new radiator have it built-in? I realize that an external cooler is better, but I live in Missouri and our winters can be downright cold. I wasn't sure how the tranny would hold up since it would not be cycled thru the warm radiator and would basically have to rely on itself to warm up.

The radiator now has a red tinge to it so I know it has tranny fluid in it. Also, my friend said she had gotten a notice from the dealer that it was time to change out the water pump and timing belt in it. Should I do this at the same time or can it wait until later? The only water pumps I've ever had to deal with were on a couple of trucks I had and I did it when the old ones went bad. They were not cheap!

What are the odds that the transmission is bad? It was only driven a couple of miles back home after the "smoke" blew. And it has sat ever since. We did start it so I could drive it onto my trailer, but that is it as it is still sitting on my trailer. Are there any indicators I can look for to help determine its viability?

Any help would be greatly appreciated so I don't overlook something and have issues down the road.

It will be mainly used for my daily driver, but occasionally pull a 6.5X12 trailer with my mower on it and an 18' boat on occasion. I still have my Duramax to pull anything heavier.
 
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Yes you need a new radiator.

Get a new radiator and flush the transmission and engine coolant systems. You may need to flush the transmission more than once.. Once you have the new radiator, there is no need for the external cooler. The external cooler is a fix for those still running with the original radiator that has not failed yet and dont want to replace the whole radiator. Yes the transmission cooler part is built in just like it is on the original one.

After the flushes, it should be fine. It all depends on the amount of damage it sustained.




Oh and :welcome:
 
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Thanks, that's what I like to hear. Wish I had thought about it not being the head gasket earlier today and I would of gone and gotten a new radiator since I was off duty. Still thinking I need to do the water pump while I'm at it though. Be one less time I have to drain the coolant. Nothing I can't handle on my next day off though provided the store has the parts.
 
mmml4 said:
What color was the smoke? Do a compression check.
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I'm checking with the P.O. now on the smoke color. Since I know there is the frothy pink fluid in the tranny I'm betting that was the culprit. But will definitely do a compression check. I just don't see much change of both things being wrong at the same time.
 
If it was white smoke then he lost a head gasket and a new radiator won't fix that, sorry. The compression check should shed some light on the head gasket. If indeed you have engine coolant in the tranny fluid then I would do a complete fluid exchange and not several pan drains.
 
Ok, the P.O. says it started getting hot on her and she cranked up the heat and rolled down the window and the temp gauge cooled right down. She had just left her house and turned around and parked it. Her husband got in it to take it to the shop and it blew what he called steam. He put water in the radiator and drove it a couple miles home. It has sat ever since.
 
mmml4 said:
If it was white smoke then he lost a head gasket and a new radiator won't fix that, sorry. The compression check should shed some light on the head gasket. If indeed you have engine coolant in the tranny fluid then I would do a complete fluid exchange and not several pan drains.
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If it helps when I started it to load it onto my trailer it didn't smoke or steam at all. It only ran for a few mins, but I remember when I blew my head gasket on my old Jeep Wrangler it dumped fluid all over the ground. I haven't had any drips under this since I got it. When I checked the oil dipstick it looked normal. I didn't see any signs of coolant being in it at all.

How would you do a complete fluid exchange? You mean use a flush? I figured I would have to keep dumping fresh tranny fluid thru it and let it drain without the pan on.
 
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First step is drain, remove, clean the pan and the pick up strainer. Put the pan back on and add back the amount of fluid you drained.

There is a write up on it somewhere, but basically you disconnect the hose (at the radiator) from the transmission that is sending fluid to the radiator and direct it into a bucket. You then start the engine a run out about two quarts or so and then stop the engine and put in the same amount you pumped out. Do this until new clean fluid comes out, IIRC it me about 12 or so quarts.

I bought a white bucket and marked it at 1 quart increments.
 
Welcome. Glad to see someone else bringing one back to life.

For the radiator, go with a Koyo1998. For the tranny, since you have a trailer, play it safe and take it to a shop that has a T-Tech Machine. Basically a low pressure flush. Should be able to reuse the filter but I'd replace it to be safe. Clean the pan real well and you should be okay.

Post some pics! Let's see this thing.
 
mmml4 said:
First step is drain, remove, clean the pan and the pick up strainer. Put the pan back on and add back the amount of fluid you drained.

There is a write up on it somewhere, but basically you disconnect the hose (at the radiator) from the transmission that is sending fluid to the radiator and direct it into a bucket. You then start the engine a run out about two quarts or so and then stop the engine and put in the same amount you pumped out. Do this until new clean fluid comes out, IIRC it me about 12 or so quarts.

I bought a white bucket and marked it at 1 quart increments.
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Under normal routine maintenance circumstances, this is good advice. But given you've had the milkshake, get a T-Tech flush.
 
Make sure you are relatively okay otherwise first as far as the engine goes. No need to spend a lot of time and money on things only to find out you had other major problems to deal with. If your issue is limited to tranny and radiator, have the tranny thoroughly flushed and replace the radiator with a koyo. And yes, your logic makes sense to go ahead and change the timing belt and water pump while everything is drained.
 
Well, here is a pic from the other night when I brought it home. Pretty dusty from the gravel road they lived on. And that is frost on the hood, not a rough spot in the paint.
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Other issues I have with it is the hood won't always latch. It locks in the first position, but not the fully-closed position. The rear hatch doesn't latch at all and that is a new problem they said. I thought maybe it was because they lived on gravel so I sprayed some penetrating lube in it yesterday and still no dice. Maybe I need a new latch? And the last issue is the doors won't lock with the keyfob. She said it needed some module to fix it. She has the info, but I still need to get it from her. More worried about the hood and the rear hatch right now.
 
Hood is almost guaranteed to be the hood release cable. Not a biggie, $30 ish buck and 20 minutes of your time. Not sure about the rear hatch or key fob issue though.

Hate to be a d*ck, but what did you get her for? PM me if you don't want to post it. I bought a Limited earlier this year for a steal I think but always curious to see how others did.
 
PitbullRescuer said:
Welcome. Glad to see someone else bringing one back to life.

For the radiator, go with a Koyo1998. For the tranny, since you have a trailer, play it safe and take it to a shop that has a T-Tech Machine. Basically a low pressure flush. Should be able to reuse the filter but I'd replace it to be safe. Clean the pan real well and you should be okay.

Post some pics! Let's see this thing.
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So what kind of shops carry the T-Tech Machine? Any tranny shop? Or specifically a Toyota dealer? Price? Also, do I replace the radiator before or after the flush. I'm assuming I'm gonna have to flush the radiator system (hoses, etc) as well since it's probably sucked some tranny fluid into the motor as well.
 
SmokEaterHD said:
So what kind of shops carry the T-Tech Machine? Any tranny shop? Or specifically a Toyota dealer? Price? Also, do I replace the radiator before or after the flush. I'm assuming I'm gonna have to flush the radiator system (hoses, etc) as well since it's probably sucked some tranny fluid into the motor as well.
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I dont recommend quick lube places but I've seen a few of them that have the T -tech. Any transmission place will have a t-tech too. Dont go to toyota unless you're rich, they'll eat you alive. Good luck w/ everything please keep us posted. Oh and Welcome :)
 
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