Coolant in 700r4

[BlaznJon]

I picked up a 1988 v10 Blazer for dirt cheap.The radiator was leaking at the tank.I guess the trans cooler in the radiator blew up.A little ATF in radiator,pink foam in tranny.I put new radiator in,drained trans pan changed filter 4times.20 quarts later and it almost looks like ATF.Tranny shifts fine goes into OD.What are the chances it will live?Is I worth it to go down to the lube place down the street for trans flush?There machine only holds 8 quarts.They want $100 to flush it.If It`s gone to puke enyway,I`d rather put it towards a new one. Thanks Jon

[Home Built]

I'd keep running it and checking the fluid, and changing it till it's clean.
I dunked my 350 underwater and did what your doing and it went another 20k before I had to rebuild it, and the water was not the cause of the rebuild.
the only thing that would hurt it is if it was slipping bad with the water in it and that damaged the clutches, but it does not sound like it from your description.

[BlaznJon]

Thanks for giving me hope.I changed the fluid and filter one more time and put a drain plug in the pan.I`ll put another 20 miles or so,drain the fluid one more time.I figure if i put a couple hundred miles after that I`l know one way or another. JON

[Paul Gagnon]

Go have the tranny flushed. I had a tranny suck in water once while fording a river. The transmission still seemed to work fine but the water and transmission fluid boiled. As the vapour esccaped out the dipstick tube it dropped onto the exhaust manifold and caught fire while I was driving down the road. The truck then caught fire and everything under the hood was destroyed. Don't take the chance, it's only $100.

[orangefj45]

prolonged exposure to water won't hurt as bad as coolant. cooland has glycol in it, which can over time disolve the adhesive used to bond the friction material to the friction plates as well as the band and converter clutch.

if the fluid is not opaque anymore, i would drive it for a couple of days and then change it at least one more time. hopefully you caught it in time without incurring any permanent damage. trans fluid has a lot of detergents in it and other additives that will help stabilize and clean up the old fluid still left in the trans.

[BlaznJon]

o.k. had it flushed.It wasn`t realy the hundred bucksit was the fact they only run 8 quarts thru .I wanted to have them run fluid tell it was RED and a couple quarts more.Even though they still had cooler lines hooked up,it was another 100 for eny thing more then the 8 there flushy thing holds.I knew there was some reason colant in the tranny was a bad thing.Thanks for explaining why.Eny Idea why the radiator would split like that?The guy I got from said it had been sitting for 4 years because he was working on his house and didn`t give a reason why He stopped driving it .Thanks again Jon

[orangefj45]

sometimes the heat exchanger in the rad fails, normally due to corrosion cause people put tap water in em. hard to say.

[lumpdog]

I personally drain and fill my trans every other time I do an oil change, and I always have fresh clean looking fluid that way. Been doing that for a long time now and have never had any issues.

[mudslinger99]

If you want to flush the transmission your self you could unhook one of the lines going in to the radiator.. Have somebody in the truck while you unhook the line.. Put a funnel in the dipstick and have several open quarts of fluid ready to pour in.. Put a bucket under the truck to catch the fluid..Once your have the line unhooked and have the fluid ready to poor in..Then have somebody start the truck and let it idle no need to rev it.. Try to poor in as much fluid as you have coming out.. When you think it is clean enough turn the truck off and hook everything back up and check your fluid and top it off to what is required..

You can do that at home and it will only cost you the fluid you use and your time..

[orangefj45]

that technique will work, but don't run the truck too long cause you won't have any fluid being returned to the trans via the cooler line. that can cause lubrication/temp problems with some of the internal parts.

also, shift it into rev and OD while you're doing it so the fluid can circulate thru the drums and clutch packs, washing out all possible contamination.

like i've mentioned before, ATF has a lot of additives and detergents in it. these will help bring the remaining old fluid up to par. you will NEVER get all the old fluid out without doing a complete overhaul/torque converter replacement. but you really don't have to get all the old fluid out either. as long as it's diluted well enough, you'll be just fine.