99 4runner, V6, AT. "Enjoyed" a strawberry milkshake this winter which led to replacing the radiator, flushing block, tranny, etc. Tranny was also flushed and refilled shortly thereafter to make sure no residual coolant floating around.

Last week, A/T Oil Temp Light came on, while driving, engine temp sub 200. ATF smelled of burnt fluid which also looked slightly brown. Flushed and filled transmission for lack of other idea as a starting point. Dealer said there was a small amount of coolant in the fluid but could not locate a leak. I have also not observed a leak of either coolant or ATF and I check often.

At this point, the problem has not recurred and I've done considerable highway driving since. Could this be caused by a blockage in the ATF lines that run through the radiator? Thoughts?

 

It seems as if members who have flushed the tranny 3x with gallons of new ATF have had the best results after the milkshake. Get some good but not pricey ATF such as Castrol Import ATF and start flushing 15~20 qts each time.

I'll let others who have been down this road chime in.

 

I did a few good flushes with the cheapest ATF I could find. Then did a flush with some good stuff and filled. Sounds like you just need another flush.

 

The small amount of coolant they found was probably left over from the strawberry milkshake. It's difficult to get every last bit out.

 

Flush several times. I flushed several, and it still didnt save me. Seems as though recovery is hit or miss.

 

i used about 20 qts before i had it flushed by the dealer, and so far after about 5k, no problems

 

A friend of mines 98 4runner did the same thing with having the transmission temp light come on while on the highway. He had the burned fluid and flushed it several times. After that he got about another thousand miles and started to notice slippage then the temp light came on and the fluid was burned again.

He had a transmission shop tear it down and what caused the problem was the seals in the pump went out and caused a significant amount of recirculation around the pump impellers causing heat buildup.

This may or may not be whats causing your problem but I thought I would throw it out there for consideration.

FOG

 

I had the same thing happen to me except it wasent a small leak the damndable thing spewed it all out in our mechanics parking lot. We found out that the rad had blown causing coolant to circulate through the trani and the brown fluid was green and red mixed togeather and heated. We had ours flushed ( the trani ) at a trani shop and a new rad put in. Talkin with another guy on Yotatech he was saying that it's best to change the rad about every 7 yrs to avoid the milk shake. My uncle ( a Transmission specialist) said the coolent when it gets into the trani it eats at all the seals and valves and really does a number on the torque convertor. So I'm shopping around for a used trani. I've heard from many different people that after the milk shake you can have any where from a month too six years outta the thing. Mine is a 99' 4runner SR5

 

this is very much based on:

did you do normal recommended atf maintenace for life of vehicle pre-milkshake

how soon did you notice the milkshake between when it started to leak, and when
it was finally put on a tow truck ?

if you drive only short trips a milkshake can remain hidden for a long time
eating at things before it becomes noticeable (overheat, shifting issues)

if the cooler lets go on one trip, and you are on the highway and it overheats
and you stop, that may mean the least damage and best chance for success

when mine let go...I don't know when it actually started to leak, but I was wheeling
a few miles, got on the highway, everything fine. drove 39 miles at 75 mph, checked
temp gauge and it was pegged. stopped right away. I still do not know when or if the
tranny will let go, but I did have it flushed 3x

 

I have about 3 years experience in rebuilding transmissions. My recommendation is if you get the strawberry milk shake. you should have the trans rebuild because water destroys the clutch materials and if it gets into the torque converter your done because there is a clutch in there as well. and i always install a separate transmission cooler depending were you live im in so cal so its not cold enough to need it warmed up by the radiator fluid... so in short im not saying it dosen't work to just keep flushing but it might just be a waste of money especially if your in the high mileage club just my 2cents

 

Mine was all within a day. Doing some driving here and there in small town Canada. Maybe 45mph at the most. I noticed the shifting from first to second getting longer and clunking. I figured " Meh Low Trani fluid. I'll pick some up later. " The clunking got more pronounced and the shifts had already got worse even shifting from second to third. Than when we went to take the kids to soccer. We did not even make it out of town. Started to hear a sound like a diesel and a wicked bad smell comming from the runner. Looked down at the temp gauge and it was maxed. Good thing it wasent to far from our mechanics so we had to shut it down a couple times to let it cool down. When we got into the parking lot and shut off i looked under to see it dripping trying to find out where it was coming from.I poped the hood and looking down towards the trani it puked over like that kids volcano science fair project. From what my uncle said there are vent's at the top of these things? ( first ive herd of vents). So yeah that was my intro to when somthing goes bad with a Toyota it is bad.

 

no there is no vent on the tranny. all you have is the dipstick, and that is it.
splooge from the milkshake will boil out of the radiator overflow, or blow
your dipstick off (unlikely)

 

I agree. If there aren't a lot of miles from when you know about the problem, you can have success in minimizing problems.