Trans cooler... Pink milkshake still ahead?

[nacho]

I know that having a dedicated automatic tranny cooler sounds like the way to go. I want to do this also as soon as possible, but I have some serious concerns. The metal tubes that you connect the 3/8" tranny hose and cooler to go into the tranny and are connected to the rad by a fitting that is failing....correct? That failing fitting is allowing the tranny and radiator fluids to mix and cause the pink milkshake. If you connect the new tranny cooler to those same metal lines, then what is to stop the same thing from happening when that same fitting inside there fails? Nobody seems to know right where that fitting is.

I'm not trying to cast a dark cloud over this idea of bypassing the built in stock tranny cooler system. I just want to know if it's proven to prevent the pink milkshake? How does anyone know for sure it still can't happen?
Does anyone know exactly where the failure point is inside the rad and is it in a place where it won't matter anymore once we have new coolers in?

Apparently this isn't a problem exclusive to just Toyota. Read this part of a post I read on a Honda forum below:

"I tried to go to local honda dealer. Then in the middle of the road engine light came on and the car stopped. So I had to tow it to the dealer. Dealer checked it and they said " Torque converter clutch stuck off. Transmission cooler lines busted in radiator causing coolant to mix in transmission fluid. Recommended to flush transmission and replace radiator."

My point is- can anyone be positive that having a dedicated tranny cooler will guarantee that we will never have the milkshake problem?
Maybe I'm over thinking it, but in all my research, I can't seem to find out if that exact point of failure has been positively identified.

 

[NickF]

When most people install secondary coolers, they bypass the radiator entirely. As in, they go directly to the external cooler and back to the tranny. The radiator failing will have no affect on it at all, because its not connected to it.
Maybe you're thinking they put the cooler in series with the radiator, and that will still have the possibility.

 

[nacho]

I realize the radiator is being by-passed, but the metal pipes that have the faulty fitting are deep inside and still connected to those lines that go to the tranny. The fitting that is causing the fluids to mix is still part of the system and nobody seems to know right where it is.

The after market cooler is attached to those metal pipes that go into the tranny. Those pipes just don't route through the tranny and back out. They are connected to the radiator lines somewhere in there where the faulty fitting is, and that fitting is still part of the plumbing system. If it fails, then what is to stop the fluids from still mixing?

I wish I could see a diagram of how the metal lines were routed inside the tranny and where that exact fitting is that can fail.

What everyone is saying is that it's ok for that fitting to fail after you put in a separate tranny cooler that by-passes the rad. Well, when it fails after the new cooler is in place then where does the rad. fluid go to then? My point is that those old metal pipes that go into the tranny are still connected to that fitting in there somewhere.

In theory, putting in a separate dedicated tranny cooler will do just what you want it to do and only cool the tranny. The radiator will be separate from it and only cool the engine.....but what happens when that faulty fitting fails? That fitting is still the only thing keeping the fluids separate isn't it?

 

[jim984runner]

you need to realize the cooling is accomplished by the transmission pumping fluid through those lines into a chamber in the radiator not antifreeze through the transmission so by using an external cooler the metal tranny cooling lines will allow the transmission to pump transmission fluid through the cooler and never come near anything containing antifreeze there by avoiding the risk of mixing all together

 

[004Gunner]

The only place for coolant to mix with transmission fluid is within the radiator

 

[Qyota]

In theory, putting in a separate dedicated tranny cooler will do just what you want it to do and only cool the tranny. The radiator will be separate from it and only cool the engine.....but what happens when that faulty fitting fails? That fitting is still the only thing keeping the fluids separate isn't it?

To be perfectly clear - the fitting that fails is ON/IN the radiator. Once you bypass the radiator completely...no more worries of contamination.

 

[quicksilvr]

I realize the radiator is being by-passed, but the metal pipes that have the faulty fitting are deep inside and still connected to those lines that go to the tranny. The fitting that is causing the fluids to mix is still part of the system and nobody seems to know right where it is.

The after market cooler is attached to those metal pipes that go into the tranny. Those pipes just don't route through the tranny and back out. They are connected to the radiator lines somewhere in there where the faulty fitting is, and that fitting is still part of the plumbing system. If it fails, then what is to stop the fluids from still mixing?

I wish I could see a diagram of how the metal lines were routed inside the tranny and where that exact fitting is that can fail.

What everyone is saying is that it's ok for that fitting to fail after you put in a separate tranny cooler that by-passes the rad. Well, when it fails after the new cooler is in place then where does the rad. fluid go to then? My point is that those old metal pipes that go into the tranny are still connected to that fitting in there somewhere.

In theory, putting in a separate dedicated tranny cooler will do just what you want it to do and only cool the tranny. The radiator will be separate from it and only cool the engine.....but what happens when that faulty fitting fails? That fitting is still the only thing keeping the fluids separate isn't it?

Even if there was a fitting or something that was failing inside the transmission.....why would there be coolant inside the transmission? Just wondering why you even got the idea that something could fail inside the transmission, and you'd get coolant contamination because of it.

To be perfectly clear - the fitting that fails is ON/IN the radiator. Once you bypass the radiator completely...no more worries of contamination.

What he said. lol. Coolant is in the radiator, and in the engine block and heads. As long as your transmission fluid does not go through the radiator, or the block, or the heads.......you should be good. :



EDIT: I think you thought that coolant actually ran through the transmission to cool it as well. That's where you went wrong in your thinking. There is no "transmission coolant". The cooler for the transmission just happens to be inside the radiator on a lot of vehicle designs. But there is never, ever, ever any coolant flowing through the transmission.

 

[AddictedOffroad]

I realize the radiator is being by-passed, but the metal pipes that have the faulty fitting are deep inside and still connected to those lines that go to the tranny. The fitting that is causing the fluids to mix is still part of the system and nobody seems to know right where it is.

The after market cooler is attached to those metal pipes that go into the tranny. Those pipes just don't route through the tranny and back out. They are connected to the radiator lines somewhere in there where the faulty fitting is, and that fitting is still part of the plumbing system. If it fails, then what is to stop the fluids from still mixing?

I wish I could see a diagram of how the metal lines were routed inside the tranny and where that exact fitting is that can fail.

What everyone is saying is that it's ok for that fitting to fail after you put in a separate tranny cooler that by-passes the rad. Well, when it fails after the new cooler is in place then where does the rad. fluid go to then? My point is that those old metal pipes that go into the tranny are still connected to that fitting in there somewhere.

In theory, putting in a separate dedicated tranny cooler will do just what you want it to do and only cool the tranny. The radiator will be separate from it and only cool the engine.....but what happens when that faulty fitting fails? That fitting is still the only thing keeping the fluids separate isn't it?

No. There is no fitting that fails. And, there is no radiator fluid running back inside the tranny.

What happens is that the radiator will get corrosion over its lifetime and eventually that corrosion will cause the inner tubes in the radiator to fail which then allows the coolant to mix with the transmission portion of the radiator. Then its pumped into the tranny. Once you bypass it, there is no longer any possible way for that to happen.

 

[quicksilvr]

Actually it is a fitting. Here is what fails usually:

Or this o-ring can fail:

I doubt the cooling fins of the transmission cooler corrode all the way through...but I guess it's possible.

 

[nacho]

Even if there was a fitting or something that was failing inside the transmission.....why would there be coolant inside the transmission? Just wondering why you even got the idea that something could fail inside the transmission, and you'd get coolant contamination because of it.



What he said. lol. Coolant is in the radiator, and in the engine block and heads. As long as your transmission fluid does not go through the radiator, or the block, or the heads.......you should be good. :



EDIT: I think you thought that coolant actually ran through the transmission to cool it as well. That's where you went wrong in your thinking. There is no "transmission coolant". The cooler for the transmission just happens to be inside the radiator on a lot of vehicle designs. But there is never, ever, ever any coolant flowing through the transmission.

No,no,no... I think you thot that I was thinking that thot, but I wasn't. That's where you went wrong with your thinking when you thot I was thinking those kinds of thots.....I think...ehhh.

 

[echo4tango]

:wtf:

No,no,no... I think you thot that I was thinking that thot, but I wasn't. That's where you went wrong with your thinking when you thot I was thinking those kinds of thots.....I think...ehhh.

i think he is just f**ing with us now.

 

[notrayray]

you need to realize the cooling is accomplished by the transmission pumping fluid through those lines into a chamber in the radiator not antifreeze through the transmission so by using an external cooler the metal tranny cooling lines will allow the transmission to pump transmission fluid through the cooler and never come near anything containing antifreeze there by avoiding the risk of mixing all together

The only place for coolant to mix with transmission fluid is within the radiator

To be perfectly clear - the fitting that fails is ON/IN the radiator. Once you bypass the radiator completely...no more worries of contamination.

No. There is no fitting that fails. And, there is no radiator fluid running back inside the tranny.

What happens is that the radiator will get corrosion over its lifetime and eventually that corrosion will cause the inner tubes in the radiator to fail which then allows the coolant to mix with the transmission portion of the radiator. Then its pumped into the tranny. Once you bypass it, there is no longer any possible way for that to happen.

Actually it is a fitting. Here is what fails usually:

Or this o-ring can fail:

I doubt the cooling fins of the transmission cooler corrode all the way through...but I guess it's possible.

^^^All of this^^^
bypass the ATF cooler in the rad, there will be no way for the ATF and coolant to mix. Period.

 

[nacho]

Great post and pics Quicksilvr.....Thanks.