- This topic has 5 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 10 months ago by
.
-
Topic
-
Hello everyone! My names Sari, I’m 20 and I finally got my license a couple of weeks ago. I’m in need of much advice/tips from someone else other than my current mechanic. I am driving my mom 92’ Toyota four runner (4×2). Previously to my current situation, my car was in the shop being fixed because my current mechanic claimed that the transmission was no longer good etc. so we payed him to fix it and that was done. He “reconstructed” the transmission which I’m sure makes a huge difference in the situation. We have a one-year warranty on the fixing of the transmission, so we felt confident and happy the car was finally going to be ready to make my daily commute more easy going. We received the fixed car on a Thursday, I passed my drivers exam that Friday, I took it for a couple of spins down the street etc. over the weekend and it seemed ready to drive for the following Monday commute. Long story short I made it safe to school and as I was heading back from school that Monday. I was driving down a 2-lane street at about 30mph and suddenly the car speed dropped to like 5 (freaking out,being said its my first real drive out), I pushed the petal all the way down to get the speed going again and it seemed to have this sudden “accelerated” or “forced” feel and noise. I felt concerned to ruin something so I quickly parked my car, set emergency lights, and stepped out. As I was creating an enormous amount of traffic, I attempted to turn on the car and move it out the way. It would turn on fine, and push off fine, only for a couple of inches—but would then do the same, and just like “give out” and accelerate in place. At one last attempt that I did, it just gave out completely and started going back! so thats when I absolutely parked it out of the way and called a tow and the current mechanic who fixed the transmission. The car wasn’t heated or anything weird it just wouldn’t drive forward anymore. So when the mechanic finally came about checking what happened, he said that one of the parts in the transmission that was reconstructed wasn’t good so they had to exchange it, but I was okay because my warranty covered it etc. A couple of days later I called to pick up my car when he scheduled it, and he resulted in saying that he didn’t work on the car because it wasn’t the transmission. He is now saying the car “overheated” and when the water boiled up from the radiator it transferred into the transmission, and at the mixing of oil and water it caused the transmission to fail. Unfortunately I have very little/to no knowledge in car reparation which is why I confide in the mechanic to fix it. He is now saying to fix it I will how to pay more to fix the radiator. All I’m asking is for someones honest opinion or suggestion of my situation, I don’t know what to do, if I should even pay or believe what he’s telling me. I don’t want to be like fooled into paying money for no reason etc. Someone please help!
-
Replies
-
Well… Does the transmission on this vehicle have Transmission fluid lines that even go to the radiator?
If it doesn’t, there is no possible way that the coolant from the radiator could get into the sealed unit that is the transmission.
You said the vehicle didn’t overheat. Was the temperature gauge higher then normal?
Get a second opinion if possible.
I suppose that would be another question for anyone .If there’s a link between the radiator and transmission on a 92′ Toyota four runner.
The gauges were normal.
Thank you so much for your reply …
There should be a cooler internally at the bottom of the radiator. Look down on the inside for the two hoses going to it… It sounds like an internal leak in the radiator allowed coolant into your transmission fluid… And yes, it may not show on guages as an engine overheat problem… Check your coolant (for a pinkish tinge) and the transmission fluid level..
If you are not comfortable with doing this, as suggested, a second opinion is always an option…
-Karl
I would take a look at the warranty, presuming there not trying to rip you off by rejecting a valid warranty claim they should not of fitted the transmission if they hadn’t diagnosed why the old one had failed, if they’d drained the old oil out of the tranny and seen it filled with coolant then that should of been addressed before any other repair was carried out.
I cant speak for there warranty but if If I’d done the work and the car came back with that issue The blame would of been on me and the garage would of paid out on the repair.
I’m not sure if a 92 4Runner has an internal tranny cooler like the 3rd generation 4runners do, but if it does, then you probably destroyed your transmission. Karl mentioned looking for a pink tinge in your coolant and he’s right on the money.
The problem with internal transmission coolers is that when the metal tubing that carries the transmission fluid inside the radiator gets corroded enough, it leaks into the radiator and mixes with the coolant then gets sucked into the transmission and causes a failure. In the 4Runner circle, this is called a “pink milkshake” and it is absolutely dreaded! Once this occurs, you will see what appears to look like a pink foam in your radiator…hence the term pink milkshake.
If you caught it at the first sign of transmission failure (i.e., transmission slipping) you might be able to get a tranny flush to remove contaminated ATF fluid as well as a new radiator and radiator flush and be on your way.
However, If you didn’t catch it in time…then you are looking at a rebuild or replacement of the transmission.
External transmission coolers like the B&M 70264 or 70268 are the way to go to avoid this in the future. This ensures that the ATF and coolant have no possible way to mix. You could also replace your old radiator periodicly too.Old 4runners go forever, so they encounter problems like this that most vehicles never see since they get scrapped at or before 200k.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.