Radiator & Tranny fluid ****tail = Disaster!

[typhoon43]

Well I lowered my truck in the front with a torsion bar adjustment and over the last couple of weeks I have inadvertantly gone over the speed "mountain" in my neighborhood a little fast and bottomed the truck out in the front. About a week a go I noticed tranny fluid on the ground and after checking it out it seems I tweaked the barbs coming out of the cooler on the radiator. I thought it was just a slow leak so I''ve been adding ATF until I had time to get it into the shop. Well today I pull out of my nieghborhood, get on it a tad to avoid oncoming traffic and the engine just revs, no gearing.. Oh crap.. I coast into a parking lot, slap it in P, then D, and it goes. I drove it right back home. Thinking to myself "Maybe it's a HUGE leak and I'm out of fluid, hence the slippage". Well I open the hood and immediately I see my radiator overflow tank is way over the fill line and looking VERY RED


It hits me.. I must have cracked one of the tranny cooling passageways INSIDE the radiator and it's now blending Coolant and Tranny fluid. Which means not only do I have this mixture in my gears and TC, I have this mixture running through my engine Guys, how screwed am I? My mechanic just wants to replace the radiator, but I'm fearing the worst. It's a 97 SOHC 4.0 with 108k on it. She's been a real trooper so far.

If it is just the radiator, how hard of a DIY swap is it? I've totally disassmbled my Typhoon before, and done entire turbo swaps. Anything extra hard about getting the raddy out on an Ex? Do I need to pull the whole front off? I'd prefer to do it myself rather than pay my mechanic all that labor. I need a little "YOU CAN DO IT!" motivation if possible..

Thanks for listening.

 

[Nate1]

ATF is very "scrubby" with detergents, so you have thusfar probably just cleaned your engine, if it has not been overheating. I would flush the coolant a few times (2?) with the old radiator to get as much as possible out, then put the new one in, and flush a few more times... and flush every 5k mi or so for the first few thousand miles... just to make sure you are not corroding anything. It is a bit much, but hey, its better safe than sorry considering its the innerds of the SOHC.

For your trannie and TC, I would just have Ford flush it twice and see if they last, but I don't know of much else you can do.

Good luck with that, it sounds like pretty tough luck

 

[typhoon43]

Yeah it seems to be "scrubby" as you say. I noticed the liquid was pink and foamy around the fittings. I found a radiator on ebay for 195.00 shipped so I may go that route. Been a while since I truly wrenched. Car stereo is so much cleaner

 

[jgilbs]

195?! goto radiatorbarn.com mine was like 150 shipped.

 

[Glacier991]

Any water in a trannie will dissolve or significantly affect the adhesive for the friction material or the material itelf. It means either a severely shortened life or a rebuild NOW. Sorry.

 

[glfredrick]

I agree with Glacier... The stuff won't really hurt your water jackets inside the engine (might discolor the antifreeze for a while till it all flushes out, but it will toast your tranny.

 

[00XLS]

Yeah antifreeze isn't the best thing to have where you need lubrication. Prob won't last to much long, if funds allow I'd have it tore down and rebuilt.
BTW what year is your typhoon? color, #, ect....

 

[cjbarron5]

yes but did you get antifreeze in the tranny? most coolers when they break push out and dont ever suck in hence the haveing to add fluid simple test pull the dip stick and look for antifreeze if you dont see any then flush the lines when you put in the new radiator and if you are still not sure drop the pan a rebuild might be a little bit hasty of a call

 

[Glacier991]

An excellent point. How does the trannie look, fluid wise? Thanks CJ, good heads up - we sometimes jump to conclusions. Before it is flushed I'd want the fluid carefully evaulated.... moisture in it or no? THEN decide....

 

[typhoon43]

yes but did you get antifreeze in the tranny? most coolers when they break push out and dont ever suck in hence the haveing to add fluid simple test pull the dip stick and look for antifreeze if you dont see any then flush the lines when you put in the new radiator and if you are still not sure drop the pan a rebuild might be a little bit hasty of a call

CJ yeah there is definitely Afreeze in the tranny. I pulled the stick with the engine running and it's Pink and very foamy. Looks like carbonated Pepto-Bismal, which is what I feel like chugging right about now.

Oh, and whoever was asking about my Typhoon
Green/Gray 93, #1134, 12.59@113 1/4

 

[00XLS]

Oh, and whoever was asking about my Typhoon
Green/Gray 93, #1134, 12.59@113 1/4

Nice numbers I would try a really good flush and filter and fluid change and see what that gets you but ones antifreeze gets in there its usually fubar.

 

[typhoon43]

Nice numbers I would try a really good flush and filter and fluid change and see what that gets you but ones antifreeze gets in there its usually fubar.

Yeah already making those calls. Ford wants 2400.00 WITHOUT LABOR for the tranny. Good gawd..

Looks like a rebuild for me..

 

[Glacier991]

DO NOT continue to run that trannie - flush or no. The damage is done. You can only makes things worse inside. Bite the bullet. It's toast.

 

[cjbarron5]

this is true unless you feel ambisious you could rebuild it your self i saved $1100 by doing this but i also have done a few before

 

[typhoon43]

I've been inside a few 700R4's before but I'm not sure I'd want to risk it. I was approved for a loan (it's nice actually working for the Credit Union), and sinc emy Ex is paid off in 2 months anyways, I won't really notice the loan payments. I'm eyeing a brand new 5R55E now.

 

[typhoon43]

Just an update:
My mechanic called Ford and they gave him a new 5R55E for 2100.00 He's charging 300 labor to pull my old one and put the new one in. 3 yr/ 36,000 mile warranty from Ford, so at least I'll be safe for a few years. New radiator is 275.00 installed. Misc fluids, yada-yada.. 2700.00 out the door.
Welcome to my world of debt..

 

[ccanuk]

anti freeze has only been in the tranny for a week right

how is it going to destroy the tranny that fast? and what is a rebuild gonna solve if there is no sever wear? just a really good flush and fill should be fine I would imagine as long as the tranny hasn't been working too hard.

Maybe I'm missing something here? are the seals and gaskets going to fall apart or something? I just don't see how diluting the friction agent for a week will wear out the moving parts to the point of failure

 

[Glacier991]

From the FAQ at www.qualiy-trans.com (an exellent FAQ section btw)

FAQ 31- I have water in my automatic transmission. Can it be flushed out?

In a word, no. When water gets inside of an automatic transmission, the friction lining of the clutches absorbs it and dissolves the glue that attaches the material to the clutch plates. Usually, some amount of water will come out of suspension and form white gummy masses in various areas of the unit.

Simply put, this is why the unit cannot be flushed to remove all of the water.

In addition, the presence of water will start rust forming on the ferrous metal parts throughout the unit. The amount of water and the length of time that it is inside of the unit will determine the extent of the damage, but the resolve to the problem will be to overhaul the transmission.

There is no shortcut that will "repair" the situation! It's only a matter of time before the unit will exhibit abnormal operating characteristics and fail completely.

FYI, water usually gets into the transmission in one of two ways. First, all transmissions have a vent to maintain equal barometric pressure inside of the transmission. If the vehicle is driven through water (as in a flood) and the water level is at or above the vent, the water will cool the unit lowering the internal temperature and water is drawn inside of the transmission.

Also, virtually all modern transmissions (some were air cooler in the old days) have two cooler lines that route from the transmission to a special tank the radiator to cool the transmission fluid. If this special tank ruptures, transmission fluid can enter the radiator and water can enter the transmission. In this case, the cooler tank in the radiator will have to be replaced as well as rebuilding the transmission. One of the common indications of transmission fluid in the radiator coolant is the "strawberry milkshake" appearance of the coolant.