do I need a new radiator or is it my head gasket

[jennyb1075]

I don't wanna get ripped of by a mechanic. 2 different people told me that it was 2 different things. Here's what happened. I was on a 2 hour road trip on the highway. Half way home my O/D OFF light started flashing & RPM shot up. I pulled over & put it in park to try to get O/D light off. Would not go off. I made it home fine, truck did not run hot and shifted fine. Got home & turned engine off & some thick light pinkish to pinkish brown stuff started pouring out of my engine coolant reservoir. I let it cool of & opened the radiator & it is full of this stuff that looks like a melted strawberry milkshake. Also checked tranny fluid & the stick has the same stuff on it.

I was told that the ATF oil cooler busted in the radiator & that I needed a new radiator and to flush my transmission. On the other hand someone else told me that it was a cracked head or head gaskets needed to be changed, radiator & transmission flush. Can anyone help me out here, PLEASE! what is it radiator or head gasket? Someone please answer ASAP. THANKS!!!

Remember truck not running hot and drives fine.

 

[TheJackal]

Sounds more like the radiator. The transmission fluid has mixed in with the engine coolant.

 

[budwich]

been there done that....as mentioned, your tranny rad cooler "coil" leaked. I wasn't successful with a flush although I am not sure how long my rad and tranny were "friends" but ultimately antifreeze is very corrosive to tranny parts especially clutch pads which eventually "dissolve"... not fun, and not cheap. Good luck.

PS. it ain't a head gasket problem.

 

[1993fordexploere]

it sounds like the radiator to me i agree

 

[Ray Lobato]

I would think that if it was a cracked head, that you would be getting white vapor (engine coolant) coming out of your exhaust.
Sounds like the radiator to me.

 

[Fusion213]

Definately going with the radiator, if it was a head gasket, like ray said, white smoke would be coming out of your exhaust and also, what would explain the strawberry milkshake color in your radiator and xmsn?

 

[jennyb1075]

Thanks so much to all of you. Ya'll have been a big help!

 

[90ranajo]

Also if it was a head gasket, your engine oil/coolant would looked like a chocolate shake. Since yours looks like a strawberry shake, then its the tranny cooler in the radiator as everyone has stated before.

 

[9050lx]

Buy an external trans cooler.Plug the trans lines in the radiator.Flush that trans out immediately.Yeah its not the head gasket.I just had this issue with a van.

 

[Cobraguy]

Buy an external trans cooler.Plug the trans lines in the radiator.Flush that trans out immediately.Yeah its not the head gasket.I just had this issue with a van.

Bad advice. Get a new radiator and utilize the cooler as intended. Use an external cooler after the radiator if you would like.

The trans has to come apart. I promise you...you do not want to try and save this with a flush. It will fail on you when you least want it to. After it fails, you will be amazed at what it looks like inside. The clutches and bands lose their linings in big chunks.

The cooling system MUST be completely flushed and all rubber hoses and connections MUST be replaced. Do NOT reuse the hoses!! They will fail on you too. They start to swell, then rupture. Remove the thermostat and totally flush the entire system...including the heater core. Replace the radiator and hoses and you should be good with the cooling system.

GM got a bad batch of radiators many years ago and we went through this with a lot of vehicles. It ain't pretty!

edit: who, may I ask, looked at your car, saw the trans and cooling system both full of strawberry milkshake, and told you it was a head gasket????

 

[9050lx]

I have put 40,000 miles and 2 yrs on an AOD with a large external cooler since my discount part store radiator leaked trans fluid into the cooling system.There was no water detected in the trans at all.the hoses have all been fine.I have a neighbor who has had a Nissan develop frothy deposits in trans and radiator and after flushing and adding lubeguard has driven 1 yr and 20 thousand since his incident.As far as the trans rebuild,If it is your only daily driver,It would be an excellent idea to R&R.I'm of the idea that you have no further appreciable damage to cause by continuing to drive it,excepting the possibility of breaking down .

 

[jennyb1075]

Bad advice. Get a new radiator and utilize the cooler as intended. Use an external cooler after the radiator if you would like.

The trans has to come apart. I promise you...you do not want to try and save this with a flush. It will fail on you when you least want it to. After it fails, you will be amazed at what it looks like inside. The clutches and bands lose their linings in big chunks.

The cooling system MUST be completely flushed and all rubber hoses and connections MUST be replaced. Do NOT reuse the hoses!! They will fail on you too. They start to swell, then rupture. Remove the thermostat and totally flush the entire system...including the heater core. Replace the radiator and hoses and you should be good with the cooling system.

GM got a bad batch of radiators many years ago and we went through this with a lot of vehicles. It ain't pretty!

edit: who, may I ask, looked at your car, saw the trans and cooling system both full of strawberry milkshake, and told you it was a head gasket????

Ok, thanks I had the radiator replaced, they said that they rerouted or capped of the hoses from the transmission to the radiator so that my new radiator wouldn't get recontaminated, so that I could drive it to the transmission shop which is about 15 miles away down the highway. Should I try driving it? would this cause more damage or does it matter since I have to have it rebuilt anyway? Do you know an approximate estimate of the cost to rebuild? It's gonna take me a couple of months to come up with the money to have it done (was quoted $2000-$2500). Can I just have the tranny flushed and refilled for now untill I come up with the money to have it rebuilt?

 

[Cobraguy]

It won't hurt to drive it that far since you're replacing it. Sounds like your radiator shop did you a favor by keeping your cooler uncontaminated. Don't forget to change all your rubber hoses that see coolant. Those things don't like oil and will fail. They usually separate inside and you can see a bulge start. But sometimes it happens quickly and they fail before you can notice.

Price is dependent on the shop and geographic area. You might want to do some shopping around or buy a good reman and install it yourself.

I'm not saying this will fail on you right now. I'm saying that the contamination done to your clutch and band linings is not reversible and they will fail. You might go a while before they do, and you might not. If you caught this immediately and didn't drive it, then try the flush. But since the trans has that much coolant in it, I would be dubious. I was in on the GM fiasco. I rebuilt a ton of those transmissions. It ain't purty....

This is just a nasty problem all the way around. There is no easy way to CORRECTLY repair it. It's expensive. Oh...and by the way...I would be amazed if flushing the trans would remove ALL the coolant.

 

[beenwrong2002]

i had a very similar problem....radiator....

 

[9050lx]

Watch the pros(service writers) get recommendations and SECOND OPINIONS on a price for a trans rebuild.Some guys will prey on your vulnerability!Get recommendations I repeat ,and get everything in writing!I still say to run a couple transmission fluid changes and see how it goes,Get an independent mechanic someone you trust to drop the pan and take a look. You have nothing to lose but time and a couple hundred dollars at most to attempt to service this trans!!

 

[9050lx]

Here is another idea.Go over to clickclick racing,register as a member, ask for advice from Silverfox.He will give you excellent advice I promise.I would disregard all advice written here in favor of his advice, including my own.If this angers people on this forum so be it.He may even be able to build you a trans for a good price or recommend someone in your area.

 

[beenwrong2002]

I would disregard all advice written here in favor of his advice, including my own.If this angers people on this forum so be it..

ummm do you like these forums?

 

[Cobraguy]

Here is another idea.Go over to clickclick racing,register as a member, ask for advice from Silverfox.He will give you excellent advice I promise.I would disregard all advice written here in favor of his advice, including my own.If this angers people on this forum so be it.He may even be able to build you a trans for a good price or recommend someone in your area.

Hey...no argument from me. Far be it for me to say I have the only solution. But I based my recommendations on experiences with this exact problem. However, he shouldn't be afraid to ask anyone else their opinion. But don't think for a second I have not given good advice. I'll put my knowledge and experience up against many. My immediate family owned a Ford dealership for many years. I'm pretty familiar with the company and the products. Doesn't make me an expert in all things by any means, but I don't give advice if I don't have a good idea...or at least qualify it as such.

 

[budwich]

I would do as the "gentleman" suggested and ignore everything that was posted here ... I think that includes his posts too, all of them ...

 

[9050lx]

I appreciate your sense of fair play Cobraguy.For the sake of argument there is really no way any of us can know what the extent of the tranny damage will beunless we worked on it.In my own case the pressure differential of the tranny fluid to water probably saved my transmission from developing a lot of damage.That and the fact that I checked it frequently as the discount store radiator also leaked water!If any of you guys have serious technical questions, Silverfox at the clickclick racing forum really does have the answers.He mainly specializes in AOD and anyone thinking of building one should spend several hours reading the forum.For the other guys I have offended here, keep an open mind and think good thoughts.