ATF in radiator!!?? (1 Viewer)

[LCconvert]

So last week we went out to cut wood. I drove my Jeep J10 and the wife drove the 80 with the kids. On arriving home we noticed the 80 leaking some nasty brown/orangish fluid. It was coming from the coolant overflow tank. I also noticed that someone had left a hat tied to the front bumper that covered a good portion of the front grill the whole drive home. However, my wife says she never saw the temperature leave the normal range.

So I started to do some research and thought maybe we had a blown HG. I decided to drain the coolant to see what it looked like. It was bad. I remember considering switching from toyota red to green sometime in the past...but couldn't remember if I did. I know mixing the two can cause a similar problem. So just in case, I filled the radiator with distilled water and let the truck come up to operating temperature and drove the truck a little to mix up the fluid. I drained it again and the fluid looked just as bad. I really don't think I mixed the two types. But during the drive I noticed the transmission was shifting a little funny!! So I immediately thought there might be a link and consulted IH8MUD. The motor oil on the dispstick looked fine but when I checked the tranny dipstick it was the same color as the radiator fluid!! And according to you smart folks on IH8MUD, it is possible to leak ATF in the radiator and vice versa.

What is your best guess on what happened? It sounds like it is likely the ATF is leaking into the radiator from the heat exchanger. Do I just start by replacing it? Any tips?

thanks!!

 

[gummycarbs]

There's a transmission cooler in the radiator, in addition to the transmission cooler out front.

Transmission cooler

Time for a new CSF radiator.

 

[nukegoat]

New radiator

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

New radiator, professional transmission flush by a reputable shop before installing new radiator. Keep an eye on the transmission fluid religiously for the duration of an oil change to see if any metal etc.. comes knocking. Pretty easy to burn up a slushbox when atf is comprised.

 

[LCconvert]

New radiator, professional transmission flush by a reputable shop before installing new radiator. Keep an eye on the transmission fluid religiously for the duration of an oil change to see if any metal etc.. comes knocking. Pretty easy to burn up a slushbox when atf is comprised.

So this is not something I should try and flush myself? I hope I didn't do any damage to the transmission.

 

[Proven]

shops have a machine that can do the fluid exchange. It's actually worth it in my opinion.

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

So this is not something I should try and flush myself? I hope I didn't do any damage to the transmission.

A shop that does transmission work can hopefully positive pressure flush it. The problem I see isn't that if your transmission circulated the coolant...it could be in your torque converter and the only way to be sure it's properly flushed and refilled is through a positive pressure flush done at a reputable shop. Otherwise, doing the flush yourself risks damaging/ further damaging your torque converter.

 

[Tools R Us]

So this is not something I should try and flush myself? I hope I didn't do any damage to the transmission.

It's not all of that, the trans flush is pretty easy, getting all of the oil out of the cooling system is more of a challenge. Give a call when you have a chance.

 

[Desert Dino]

@LCconvert can I ask the make of your disaster old radiator??

Let me guess, it was aftermarket?

There are radiators that this catastrophe CSF cannot happen. Two separate completely heat excangers .

See also this tread 1FZ-FE who disconnected AT cooling from the radiator? I opened a few days before.

 

[LCconvert]

@LCconvert can I ask the make of your disaster old radiator??

Let me guess, it was aftermarket?

There are radiators that this catastrophe CSF cannot happen. Two separate completely heat excangers .

See also this tread 1FZ-FE who disconnected AT cooling from the radiator? I opened a few days before.

No, it was a toyota radiator, all I use is OEM parts. Like I stated above, I think it was the hat in front of the grill that might have caused the problem... or it was a very strange coincidence.

 

[skhochay]

awch , that the worst of all water in trany - very curious to see that happen when you split the radiator , post some pictures . AT flush is a must.

 

[CJF]

No, it was a toyota radiator, all I use is OEM parts. Like I stated above, I think it was the hat in front of the grill that might have caused the problem... or it was a very strange coincidence.

Coincidence.

Especially if you're anywhere that isn't currently experiencing summertime temp's.