ohio4runner4x4

Wifey called me while I was out of town last nite and says" the 4R HAD a big puddle of oil under it when I came out of the mall". Wait...it gets worse....then she says " By the time I got home, the whole underside was covered with oil" !

You all know how the conversation went from there......

Anyway...I figured it was a head gasket.....I got home tonite and crawled under the 4R....it's covered with red/watery/milky liquid that it concentrated around the lower drivers side under the battery. Stuff looks like milky transmission oil. Overflow bottle is full of the same stuff. Removed radiator cap and it's full of the same stuff. Tranny dipstick looks a bit watery too. So....My deductions have lead me to believe that........ the tranny oil cooler inside the radiator blew and filled the cooling system with tranny fluid and then the radiator/tranny fluid concoction boiled over.
So....looking for some $.02 on if you agree or what else it could be? And if you agree....where's the best place to get a new radiator? And do you think it toasted the tranny?
Thanks
TR

GA95Runner

whats a 4r?

SLC97SR5

Hard to say about the tranny, flush it and see what happens. Hopefully it wasn't driven too far with coolant in it, however the water will eventually evaporate so you need to be mostly concerned with getting the coolant out of it. I'm sure the transmission isn't happy about the newly introduced "friction modifier". The engine block and water pump should be fine. I'd reccomend running a aux tranny cooler in the future.

ohio4runner4x4

Are you Serious? 4R = 4Runner

GA95Runner

no I'm not serious, and not its not.

GSGALLANT

Man... there are a lot of reported cases of that happening lately... How many miles on your truck? Did you regularly flush the cooling system and transmission since the truck was new? Have you always used Toyota red coolant and distilled water 50:50 mix like Toyota recommends?

element

I count 4 in the last 5 months. I think my next project is to bypass that cooler.

Sorry to hear about this.

ohio4runner4x4

Bought it used in 2005 w/110k from a friend of the family and it now has 133k. Previous owner gave me some of the maint records, but after a hard review....I don't see any tranny flush.....But there are some records missing. At 117k, I replaced the T-belt & water pump and flushed cooling system and used red coolant and distilled water.
I did some reading about this in other posts, and it seemed that most times the coolant went into the tranny......but mine seems like it went the other way. I guess a new radiator and super tranny flush are now on my weekend project list. So much for riding the CRF this weekend......

toy_tek

Sorry to hear this but I think you have it figured out.

BTW, I grew up in Medina county. VC to be exact, graduated from Buckeye. Don't run into many from the area on the 'net.

MTL_4runner

Get the largest cooler you can fit and bypass the radiator completely. Flush the tranny until you get nothing but transparent tranny fluid coming out and pray your wife was easy on it in while it was in that less than ideal state. You'll probably need to run about 25-30 quarts through it before it starts looking clear so start with the cheaper fluid and finish with better stuff towards the end.

ohio4runner4x4

Just called a tranny shop to do the flush for me and they told me that I ABSOLUTELY have to have the tranny rebuilt. If even a drop of antifreeze got into the tranny, the seals will swell and it will toast itself within 1000 miles. I'm not buyin it..but wonder what you guys think?
Your thoughts please....????
Thanks

mt_goat

Really sorry about your tranny dude. My thoughts (since you asked) are flushing would be worth a try. There have been some others that got the strawberry milkshake and did it but I don't know the results off hand (try to find out their results). Look at it this way, they are saying you need a rebuilt tranny now, it seems to me if the flush doesn't work you'll still be needing a rebuilt. All you have to lose is the cost of the ATF (which isn't cheap I know) and the labor if you can't do it yourself.

I would think the water part of the coolant would be a bigger problem than the antifreeze part.

mt_goat

Oh one more thought, try contacting the dealer about this and see if you can get Toyota to pay for this mess.

Potomacduck

I had the identical thing happen about 3 weeks ago. The trans cooler which is inside the radiator busted and the two fluids mixed.

My mechanic installed a new radiator and flushed the transmission. I've driven it 500 miles since then and everything seems to be fine.

Flush the trans and see what happens.

toy_tek

My best friend is a tranny rebuilder in Columbus. Let me give him a call... he might be able to hook you up or at least give advice. He travels up to Medina frequently.

MTL_4runner

I say it's a scare tactic, but don't let that milky mess stay in there too long or you will end up needing a rebuild for sure......the faster you get it out the better. The ATF is cheap and if it you still need a rebuild, you're still not out much money at all. I think it would be a crime not to at least flush it thoroughly and see how it does.

element

I have to agree with Jamie on this. I wouldn’t plan on any cross country trips until I got a few miles under the belt, but I would spend the money for a full flush before buying a new transmission.

toy_tek

Pretty much what my buddy said. Worth your while to flush it thoroughly and hope for the best. He thinks a rebuild might be $2k-ish.

Evidently the glycol reacts with the adhesives on the clutch linings, which is the main concern. They can flake off if the antifreeze is in contact for too long.

He thinks you might get lucky with a good flush. Whoever flushes will need to verify clean fluid is visible with the pump running.

If you need more info or want to talk with my friend, send a pm.

mt_goat

This guy says flush:
http://media.www.kaleo.org/media/sto...-2799007.shtml

This guy says rebuild:
http://www.hi-tech-transmissions.com/consumer.php

Here's a guy that put lake water in his tranny to get home (funny):
http://www.lincoln-club.org/skid8.html

ohio4runner4x4

Well.....New radiator is in. Cooling system is flushed. Complete tranny flush is done..took 25 quarts.
Now I got my fingers crossed and hope it's fine...........

Thanks for all the input!
T