Car troubles

[Spivonious]

I figured there's some more mechanically-inclined people than me here so I'll put this out here.

My wife's 2000 Neon busted one of the connectors from the radiator that takes transmission fluid (I think the intake one, but it doesn't matter, read on). I take a look and after consulting the parts guy at the Dodge dealer I need to order a new radiator. Upon closer inspection I see the trans fluid (red) is mixing with coolant(yellowy-green). This leak will obviously be fixed with the new radiator, but I'm worried that the coolant has done some damage to the transmission. The car showed no signs of transmission troubles before this happened, and has been sitting in the driveway ever since (about four days).

Will I be okay replacing the radiator and giving the transmission a good flushing? Or will the transmission need to be replaced too?

I'd prefer to do the work myself to save on the labor costs. Am I crazy?

[yard dawg]

transmission should be ok with a flush. Make sure you get it all out. The tourque converter will have fluid in it even if you remove the pan and drain it all. It needs to be flushed out. You can swap out the radiator yourself but the tranny should be flushed out by a pro.

[Spivonious]

transmission should be ok with a flush. Make sure you get it all out. The tourque converter will have fluid in it even if you remove the pan and drain it all. It needs to be flushed out. You can swap out the radiator yourself but the tranny should be flushed out by a pro.

Phew, that puts my mind a little more at ease. If I replace everything and fill up the fluids, is it safe to drive it a few miles to a transmission place?

[yard dawg]

I woudlnt drive it. Fix it then have it towed for the tranny flush and have them add antifreeze too. It may not hurt it to drive with a little antifreeze in the tranny but I wouldnt risk it.

[Jason1212]

The other thing you will need to worry about is your cooling hoses. Transmission fluid is petroleum based and can degrade rubber hoses. If it happens the hoses will become mushy. I have seen this happen, but the cars were driven for awhile with the fluids mixing.

[DrDoug]

Yup, get it towed to the tranny shop. Be prepared that the shop may show you fine debris in the pan and state that you need major work. This is not necessarily the case. You will have clutch material in the pan, and some clutches are sintered (metal flakes embedded in the material), so you will see fine black (clutch) and some shiny metal flakes (the sintered metals). Anything else, and you may have more problems. If it is just that, have them flush it out and change the filter.

Tranny shops that are reputable are few and far between. They really make their money when the customer needs major work, so some like to drum up a bit of business when they need it. I have spent most of my life as a mechanic, and I know the background stuff real well. I have been asked to seltzer batteries, dribble oil on shocks, STP automatic transmissions and so on. I never have, and I quit two jobs because I was harassed about not doing it.

Good luck!

[Thrust]

I figured there's some more mechanically-inclined people than me here so I'll put this out here.

My wife's 2000 Neon busted one of the connectors from the radiator that takes transmission fluid (I think the intake one, but it doesn't matter, read on). I take a look and after consulting the parts guy at the Dodge dealer I need to order a new radiator. Upon closer inspection I see the trans fluid (red) is mixing with coolant(yellowy-green). This leak will obviously be fixed with the new radiator, but I'm worried that the coolant has done some damage to the transmission. The car showed no signs of transmission troubles before this happened, and has been sitting in the driveway ever since (about four days).

Will I be okay replacing the radiator and giving the transmission a good flushing? Or will the transmission need to be replaced too?

I'd prefer to do the work myself to save on the labor costs. Am I crazy?

I'm either confused by what you're explaining or your misinformed about your problem.

The radiator (cooling system for the engine) is separate from the transmission cooler (cooling system for the tranny). The transmission cooler/radiator is often found in front of the main radiator, however, they do not "share" anything other than location (i.e., they don't share any connections).

It would be literally impossible to find transmission fluid in your antifreeze. If you're finding a milky substance in your oil, then you could have blown a head gasket. This will allow engine coolant to gather in the drain pan.

Also, if your wife's neon has significant miles and hasn't had routine transmission service (flushes, etc.), then flushing the transmission **could** cause it to begin slipping.

[Spivonious]

Thanks everyone for the advice. There is definitely only ATF coming out of the hose, and what looks like only coolant coming from the radiator. Is it possible that when I tried pushing the connector back into the hole that I ruptured the tank divider? Would ATF show up in the coolant overflow right away? The car was only driven about 2-3 miles after the hose broke, and my wife says it forceably stayed in low gear the whole time (some sort of overheating failsafe mode?)

If I drop the tranny pan and it's all just ATF is it probably okay to just refill fluids?

I don't mean to sound obstinant; I just want to make sure the tow and flush is something really needed.

Also, is flushing something I can do myself, or is the equipment pretty expensive (i.e. >$100)?

[Spivonious]

I'm either confused by what you're explaining or your misinformed about your problem.

The radiator (cooling system for the engine) is separate from the transmission cooler (cooling system for the tranny). The transmission cooler/radiator is often found in front of the main radiator, however, they do not "share" anything other than location (i.e., they don't share any connections).

It would be literally impossible to find transmission fluid in your antifreeze. If you're finding a milky substance in your oil, then you could have blown a head gasket. This will allow engine coolant to gather in the drain pan.

Also, if your wife's neon has significant miles and hasn't had routine transmission service (flushes, etc.), then flushing the transmission **could** cause it to begin slipping.

According to my research (and visual observation) there is one radiator for the car with two chambers inside, one for tranny cooling and one for engine cooling. If the wall between the two chambers ruptures, then coolant can be mixed with ATF. The radiator has intakes/outputs for the tranny on the bottom and intakes/outputs for the engine on top.

Low mileage (<60k) but it was her father's up until a year ago, so who knows what maintenance he did. I think he took it to the dealer at the scheduled intervals, so it should have had correct things done to it.

[StukaJU87]

The radiator (cooling system for the engine) is separate from the transmission cooler (cooling system for the tranny). The transmission cooler/radiator is often found in front of the main radiator, however, they do not "share" anything other than location (i.e., they don't share any connections).

Untrue. I do not know about his particular car, but MANY cars with auto trans have the trans fluid cooler built into the radiator.

[Spivonious]

Just to sum up things:

Car is 2000 Dodge Neon ES, ~60k miles, never driven hard.

1. intake metal nipple thing broken off of radiator, with dark red atf leaking out.
2. car driven home from work ~ 3 miles. Car stayed in low gear the whole trip.
3. at first it looked like this nipple just screwed into the radiator so I tried reattaching it but it wouldn't stay in tightly.
4. at this point I noticed small amount of coolant dripping out of radiator.
5. put a small bucket underneath the drips and next day bucket was full with most (90%) red slight amount of green.
6. parts shop says I need new radiator.

[StukaJU87]

The car probably stayed in low gear due to the loss of tranny fluid. Install a new radiator, flush and refill the trans. You should be golden.

[Spivonious]

Okay, now the ultimate question. We'll be in Florida from Saturday through Wednesday. Should I fix it all now or later?

Thanks again for everyone's help. Usually I'd just take it to the dealer, but I'm interested in learning more about cars so I figured this is a good way to start.

[StukaJU87]

It won't hurt it to let it sit until you get back. Enjoy your trip and deal with it later.

[DrDoug]

Yup, as long as the coolant is just that (coolant, and not water only), your tranny will not get any worse by letting it sit a bit longer. Do get it done asap though, don't let it languish.

Lots of people get confused with the tranny fluid in the coolant. There are two types of transmission coolers for automotive use, air cooled and coolant cooled. Heck, my Mustang has both (by my design) types installed. So yes, coolant and tranny fluid are only separated by a metal line. If the line corrodes or cracks inside the radiator, this happens.