transmission cooler rupture inside the radiator mixing on 03 FX35 Help

KevinA

Member
Will trany fluid ruin engine if ran thru engine mixed with antifreeze. Dealer wants to charge arm & leg to replace engine and trany. They suggested to flush radiator system several times and that might & might not work. comment plz. Or suggestions.
 
Not sure about tranny fluid in the cooling system... I would imagine that it would make a mess, but coolant in the tranny would be a big problem with possible bearing failure. Both need to be flushed. How did you discover the failure? How far was it driven in that condition? Were any abnormal noises present?
 
Fluid in radiator turned purple blueish and radiator overflow tank filled with the liquid.I drove it around 200 miles but drove fine , just tranny slipped a little engine performed fine no overheating problem. I want to keep my 03 FX it is a blast to drive but dont want to put a lot into it.
 
first off, do not drive it anymore. Get your cooler/radiator replaced. Sounds like the Transmission heat exchanger in the radiator has ruptured causing cross-contamination. Both systems will require multiple flushing. I'm not sure if the cooling system has a bleed off anywhere (I'm just becoming familiar with these vehicles), but flush the cooling system with water only... that will save some money since you don't want to be throwing anti-freeze away. Fill the system, let it warm up to operating temp, shut off, cool down, drain, fill, repeat. When you stop getting any color in the water from draining, you'll be good to go there. The thermostat may need to be pulled/inspected/replaced.

The transmission flush, unfortunately, can only be done with transmission fluid, and may still require disassembly since it's going to take quite a few to get all of the fluid exchanged from the torque converter. I would do this simultaneously as the coolant flush, since you don't want to run the engine with a transmission full of water, regardless if it is only idling or not.

Good luck.
 
the tranny fluid will be under much more pressure than the coolant, so yes, tranny fluid will enter the coolant system but not much antifreeze would make it to the tranny, if any. if the tranny fluid looks fine then I wouldn't worry about more than just filling it up. if it looks milky then maybe it will need a flush, but chances are much less likely that coolant found it's way into the tranny.
 
I recently made amistake while doing a tranny drain and fill and ended up putting the wrong fluid in it
that night i woke up with a busted tranny Night mare the next morning I wok up early and i got em flushed....
they require about 20 bottles at the shop to do a tranny flush with the machine I am not sure what it's called
RTI 3000 or something.... I bought the s matic fluid for 8 dollars at the dealer 20 bottles for 170 and the shop
charged me 50 so all to gether like $220-230... alot of money but also gave me a peace of mind....
 
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