To all you AUTO TRANS Nay sayers: THERE IS HOPE & The Icerunner is BACK!!
03-12-2009, 08:13 AM
#1
Contributing Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Chicago (area) IL
Posts: 313
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
To all you AUTO TRANS Nay sayers: THERE IS HOPE & The Icerunner is BACK!!
Well well well,
been 3 months after the dreaded Strawberry milkshake incident involving a broken/corroded trans Line from my Original radiator. Moreover, coolant and ATF mixed together to make gallons and gallons of nasty, sticky red/pink mixture in BOTH myTransmission and my cooling system...
The 4 Runner was in my garage for THREE months during one of the coldest winters in history.. Thank god I had the 2000 4X2 Ford ranger with 122K miles as a back up this winter...(it SUCKED)
NOTE: in all my service experiences, this proved to be the messiest thing I have ever had to undertake.
About 20 hours of total work, and I'm still cleaning up the mess....
Well here is what I did:
MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION:Tell me, after I discovered what happened, did I just drive it home 1 hour after my transmission began to slip?
ANSWER:
HELL NO, ARE YOU INSANE?
No, I pulled over and shut off the engine and paid $140.00 to have it towed as soon as I discovered the issue...
HELL YEA....
The Procedure (like I said prepare for a FREAKIN mess)
1) flushed out the TRansmission with 20 Quarts of fresh ATF Untill it ran the right color...
2) Drained the cooling system as mush as humanly possible with galllons and gallons and gallons of water with the engine running.
3) Removed the old radiator
4) Replaced old OEM radiator with brand new KOYO aftermarket radiator negotiated $160.00 delevered with lifetime warrenty with tax included" from 1800-radiators (beats the $550.00 dealer price for OEM). Very impressed with the Koyo unit as it fits perfectly and looks really well built. Koyo's have a reputation for quality..
5) Flushed out the Cooling system with an INSANE ammount of water and then drove the vehicle for 20 miles flushed again...Repeat repeat repeat Finially the system was pure water. NOTE: be very carefull running PURE water with no antifreeze in the wintertime as if the car sits it will freeze you can crack/ ruin your 7,000.00 engine..
6) added right mix of Toyota Red long life coolant
Happy with the results and very happy with the Koyo and I will post pictures soon...Later
MY BEST ADVICE: Change your Original OEM radiator (or bypass) BEFORE THIS HAPPENS TO YOU.
157,000 Miles all original and IT RUNS GREAT YOU CRAZZZY BASTARDS!
been 3 months after the dreaded Strawberry milkshake incident involving a broken/corroded trans Line from my Original radiator. Moreover, coolant and ATF mixed together to make gallons and gallons of nasty, sticky red/pink mixture in BOTH myTransmission and my cooling system...
The 4 Runner was in my garage for THREE months during one of the coldest winters in history.. Thank god I had the 2000 4X2 Ford ranger with 122K miles as a back up this winter...(it SUCKED)
NOTE: in all my service experiences, this proved to be the messiest thing I have ever had to undertake.
About 20 hours of total work, and I'm still cleaning up the mess....
Well here is what I did:
MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION:Tell me, after I discovered what happened, did I just drive it home 1 hour after my transmission began to slip?
ANSWER:
HELL NO, ARE YOU INSANE?
No, I pulled over and shut off the engine and paid $140.00 to have it towed as soon as I discovered the issue...
HELL YEA....
The Procedure (like I said prepare for a FREAKIN mess)
1) flushed out the TRansmission with 20 Quarts of fresh ATF Untill it ran the right color...
2) Drained the cooling system as mush as humanly possible with galllons and gallons and gallons of water with the engine running.
3) Removed the old radiator
4) Replaced old OEM radiator with brand new KOYO aftermarket radiator negotiated $160.00 delevered with lifetime warrenty with tax included" from 1800-radiators (beats the $550.00 dealer price for OEM). Very impressed with the Koyo unit as it fits perfectly and looks really well built. Koyo's have a reputation for quality..
5) Flushed out the Cooling system with an INSANE ammount of water and then drove the vehicle for 20 miles flushed again...Repeat repeat repeat Finially the system was pure water. NOTE: be very carefull running PURE water with no antifreeze in the wintertime as if the car sits it will freeze you can crack/ ruin your 7,000.00 engine..
6) added right mix of Toyota Red long life coolant
Happy with the results and very happy with the Koyo and I will post pictures soon...Later
MY BEST ADVICE: Change your Original OEM radiator (or bypass) BEFORE THIS HAPPENS TO YOU.
157,000 Miles all original and IT RUNS GREAT YOU CRAZZZY BASTARDS!
Last edited by waskillywabbit; 03-12-2009 at 06:23 PM. Reason: Inappropriate Language Removed
03-12-2009, 08:48 AM
#2
Registered User
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Shelburne, VT previous: Everett, WA; Bellingham, WA
Posts: 419
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
would you say you're a proponent for aftermarket transmission coolers? 
good work! i know it was cold, too! had an inner tie rod/steering rack bushings to do in an unheated garage. bought a space heater for the project
good work! i know it was cold, too! had an inner tie rod/steering rack bushings to do in an unheated garage. bought a space heater for the project
03-12-2009, 08:57 AM
#4
Contributing Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Chicago (area) IL
Posts: 313
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
O Hell Yea
Hell yea I think the Trans line in the radiator will all eventually leak in ALL 3rd generation 4 runners..its a given and I hear about it far too much.
Replace the OEM radiator every 7-8 years or Bypass the Mother with a external cooler.
Later,
Replace the OEM radiator every 7-8 years or Bypass the Mother with a external cooler.
Later,
Last edited by icerunner; 03-12-2009 at 09:06 AM.
03-12-2009, 09:05 AM
#5
Contributing Member
Funny though, IIRC I've never heard of one of the older 88-95 ATF coolers failing, just the newer models 96-04.
03-12-2009, 09:08 AM
#6
Contributing Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Chicago (area) IL
Posts: 313
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You are right
You my friend are right on the money Just 3rd gen from what i've heard...Maybe the Toyota Red "long life" Coolant turns too acidic or the trans cooling line in the radiator is too thin/weak of a design..?.(or both...?)
Last edited by icerunner; 03-12-2009 at 09:13 AM.
03-12-2009, 09:10 AM
#7
Contributing Member
Last edited by mt_goat; 03-12-2009 at 09:12 AM.
Trending Topics
03-12-2009, 10:33 AM
#8
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Posts: 1,756
Likes: 0
Received 7 Likes
on
6 Posts
Maybe the Toyota Red "long life" Coolant turned too acidic in your case, but changing the coolant as per Toyota's recommended 30000 miles would prevent that. If I remember correctly, your coolant replacement interval was almost twice as long as Toyota's recommendation. Not saying that was or wasn't one of the causes of the failure in your case, but you never know.
03-12-2009, 10:48 AM
#10
Contributing Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Chicago (area) IL
Posts: 313
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
03-12-2009, 11:22 AM
#12
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Posts: 1,756
Likes: 0
Received 7 Likes
on
6 Posts
Somebody has already posted a picture up either on here or on UltimateYota showing the ATF cooler portion of their rad. I searched for 10 minutes just now, but I couldn't find it. I remember seeing it a couple of months ago.
03-12-2009, 01:06 PM
#13
Contributing Member
It wasn't one that had failed though, we need to see one that failed so we can see if its from corrosion or if its a fatique type failure.
03-12-2009, 02:31 PM
#14
Contributing Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: NoVA
Posts: 200
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Mine broke too! Your backup car was better than mine though. 71' VW Bug with who knows how many miles lol. I love that car though. I threw the radiator out. :-( My ATF connection broke off of the radiator when I tried to disconnect it to do a timing belt change.
Last edited by kcebes; 03-12-2009 at 02:32 PM.
03-12-2009, 08:01 PM
#16
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: San Diego
Posts: 108
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I looked into all this several months ago and called a bunch of transmission shops, toyota dealers, independant toyota shops, and radiator shops and NO ONE said they have seen that Tacomas are more prone to this than other cars or trucks. And that it is an extremely rare occurance with all automatic cars and trucks.
Most all trucks and cars with auto trannys have the tranny fluid run through the radiator and sometimes they will fail, however it is extremely, extremely rare.
However, I can see where if this happened to you it is not comforting at all.
FYI
Bill
Most all trucks and cars with auto trannys have the tranny fluid run through the radiator and sometimes they will fail, however it is extremely, extremely rare.
However, I can see where if this happened to you it is not comforting at all.
FYI
Bill
03-13-2009, 12:36 AM
#17
Contributing Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Chicago (area) IL
Posts: 313
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Maybe the Toyota Red "long life" Coolant turned too acidic in your case, but changing the coolant as per Toyota's recommended 30000 miles would prevent that. If I remember correctly, your coolant replacement interval was almost twice as long as Toyota's recommendation. Not saying that was or wasn't one of the causes of the failure in your case, but you never know.
Yep, in full discloseure no doubt I ran about 50,000- 60K miles change intervals (I think). I bought it with 60K and I'm not sure if that was done by the P.O....? Yet I flushed it 2 times WITHOUT using "distiled" water (my bad)
I'm not 100% sure that was the cause, if it was, that is on me, yet on a 10 year old vehicle with 157K miles parts will wear out eventually. I going to crack that sucker (rad) open wih a saws-all to inspect further and I will post pictures.
03-13-2009, 07:47 AM
#18
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Posts: 1,756
Likes: 0
Received 7 Likes
on
6 Posts
Yep, in full discloseure no doubt I ran about 50,000- 60K miles change intervals (I think). I bought it with 60K and I'm not sure if that was done by the P.O....? Yet I flushed it 2 times WITHOUT using "distiled" water (my bad)
I'm not 100% sure that was the cause, if it was, that is on me, yet on a 10 year old vehicle with 157K miles parts will wear out eventually. I going to crack that sucker (rad) open wih a saws-all to inspect further and I will post pictures.
I'm not 100% sure that was the cause, if it was, that is on me, yet on a 10 year old vehicle with 157K miles parts will wear out eventually. I going to crack that sucker (rad) open wih a saws-all to inspect further and I will post pictures.
03-13-2009, 08:51 AM
#19
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Chicago Area
Posts: 298
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I had a transcooler (the trd one) installed by 2002 4runner b4 i started to the work myself. it is definitely in line with the radiator. is it ok to bypass the radiator? do you need to plug those holes? this is interesting.
03-13-2009, 09:32 AM
#20
Contributing Member
