keep getting coolant in my tranny? Tundra.

lendaddy · 12-05-2007, 07:25 AM

My '00 Tundra had the tranny cooler(inside the radiator) crack or burst or whatever late this summer. The coolant and tranny fluid mixed causing all kinds of ickyness.

Anyway, I had a new radiator/cooler installed and they flush the systems several times. A month or two later the tranny was milky again (though the coolant is fine and not low? I had them drain and fill again thinking it was just some residual coolant hiding out in the tranny. Now today I just had it in and the tranny is milky again????

I had them drain/fill again but man how is this happening? Any ideas?

legion · 12-05-2007, 07:30 AM

That's what you get for buying Japanese junk. Buy a Silverado next time and this won't happen.

(I had to beat someone to the punch on this one...)

Sounds like the exact same problem developed again. Could be a design flaw. It is possible to have a "one-way" leak.

lendaddy · 12-05-2007, 07:43 AM

That's just it, the coolant is fine(including stable level).

One big unknown is how much water does it take to "spoil" the tranny fluid like this? Maybe it's a tiny amount?

HardDrive · 12-05-2007, 07:45 AM

Wow. I thought this post was about something REALLY different.

Palum6o · Palum6o's Garage

It sounds like you may have residual glycol in the oil. I've heard about this occurring alot on the earlier MB C32 models. You should have your transmission oil tested, I heard you can either send out a sample or get a test kit.

M.D. Holloway · 12-05-2007, 07:53 AM

It won't take much to ruin the oil. I had a customer who had coolant in their engine oil. Problem was, it was an air cooled engine - so how did it get in? I told him to go out to the shop and throw away the old bleach bottle they were using to top fill fluids and invest in some OilSafe oil cans and designate each can for the different fluids. "How didja know we did that?"
to wit I said "Contams come from the outside or the inside - you didn't have an opportunity for the internal option so it must have come from the outside."

BGCarrera32 · 12-05-2007, 07:54 AM

Might be stating the obvious here but just dropping the pan and draining the tranny fluid after the coolant leak without a flush won't do it (if that's what they did)...it needs to get hooked up to a flushing machine so it flushes out the torque convertor as well.

cashflyer · 12-05-2007, 08:18 AM

First, let me remind everyone that japanese, chinese, and american cars all like to run the AT fluid through the radiator for cooling. This is a problem that any make could have if the cooling line gets an internal leak. And the reason it is a one-way leak is that a radiator at temp usually runs about 15-20 psi - forcing the coolant into the trans line.

Either get a new radiator or switch to an external trans cooler. And flush your trans. Even a little bit of coolant in an AT can damage the clutch discs and bearings.