4gunner01

I've daily driven a 2001 Toyota 4runner for the past 7 years, I bought it with 140k miles on it and it currently has 280k. It has been the best vehicle I've ever owned. I wish I would've taken the preventative measures to avoid the dreaded pink milk shake. Over a week ago I was on the way home and got within 2 blocks from my apartment in NYC. When trying to accelerate from a red light I noticed that my car was only revving up but hardly going anywhere while in drive. I limped for 1/4 of a mile to my apartment where I found a parking spot. After getting out and examining my 4runner with the hood popped I noticed the pink milkshake coming out of the radiator over fill reservoir. After a quick google search I somewhat had an idea to what went wrong (radiator failed and returned mixed trans fluid with coolant). The next day I had it towed to Aammco close by in Brooklyn. For $900 they replaced the radiator and did 3 transmission flushes and told me that it was good to go.

I picked up and drove it home two days ago and didnt drive it again until this morning just to see how she ran. Initially I only noticed that it jerks some when going from neutral to reverse. I was a little concerned with that but not too alarmed. After getting back from the drive I popped the hood to check trans fluid from dipstick ( it looked completely fine ). The think that has sent me back to a panic is the coolant is still a pink milkshake??? Brand new radiator with obvious coolant and trans fluid mixed in it.

My only guess is that the radiator hoses were not replaced or there was old milkshake somewhere in the system and they never completely flushed it out?
If anyone has had a similar experience or any insight with this please advise.

Thanks,

-Matt

Marc

The cooling system could need more flushing.
I'd drain the cooling system and fill it with water, run it a bit and repeat until the water is clear.

Jomoka

It's pretty hard to get all of the oil out of the engine's cooling system.

And.... speaking of maintenance issues... have you ever replaced your lower ball joints?

4gunner01

I've I can get out of the woods with the transmission cooling system being back to reliable, that is next on my list. Appreciate the reminder.

I picked up 15 gallons of distilled water and new coolant to re flush the radiator tomorrow.

Jomoka

You'll probably need some more specialized coolant flush chemicals. Not sure what, but simple swaps with fresh coolant and water are not going to do a great job. The entire interior of the cooling system is going to be covered with an oil slick. Rough engine block castings, hoses, heater core.

https://dannysengineportal.com/oil-m...cleaning-tips/

Marc

You don't need distilled water for flushing.

fierohink

That sucks that you got a milkshake. I was genuinely hoping that dark cloud was behind most of us.