“Is the transmission cooler a separate part from the radiator? It looks like it from a quick google search.”
It appears to me that the tranny cooler is part of the radiator. Look at these photos and note the small connections on the bottom of the radiator:
Plan Two: Thousands of people donate their cars to organizations like Goodwill and Salvation Army. Most of these cars are sold for scrap. But the decent ones are kept and sold for cash or given to people like your friend who just need something to drive. Call these organizations and inquire. That’s what they do. That’s what they are there for. it’s worth a call…
I sure don’t understand that test procedure about replacing the radiator, hoping, and “not charging”. Not charging for what? The radiator or any potential trans repair?
Why not just change/replace the trans fluid, drain the radiator completely if not empty already, connect the cooler lines together, and drive the car around the block to test the transmission with an empty cooling system rather than waste time and radiator/money?
The methodogy sounds weird to me.
"Why not just change/replace the trans fluid, drain the radiator completely if not empty already, connect the cooler lines together, and drive the car around the block to test the transmission with an empty cooling system rather than waste time and radiator/money? "
It sounds like he basically did that (although not how we would recommend doing it) by refilling the tranny and verifying it still worked correctly until the fluid all leaked out again. If he has really established the transmission is not dead, he might as well just replace the radiator and the fluids.
It also sounds like someone is willing to replace his radiator and not charge him for the work/parts if the tranny turns out to be bad. I assume he will want the good radiator back in that case. I don’t really understand that either?
I understand the OP is a bit disgruntled with me about suggesting responsibility here, but the comments in the original post are what led me to say what I did. These are things the owner of the vehicle did before it was towed in.
Their comments were to the affect that:
“He TRIED driving it around the block…”. Does this means fluid put in, and then they TRIED driving it around the block? Does TRIED mean it was shifting fine for half that distance followed by a barbecue when the fluid was running out the last half the distance?
This was followed by towing to the shop according to the OP.
“It went into gear at first…”. “At first” meaning what? Fresh fluid helped followed by the trans frying “after” at first?
“Locked up when he tried to put it in reverse while parking…”. Trans wheezing its last before the tow rig arrived?
There was a known problem and it does not take very long for an auto transmission to toast itself. If it’s puking transmission fluid and anti-freeze all over the street as per the OP, then why spend one minute dumping more of either one into the car and attempting to drive it some more as fluids are gushing out? Makes no sense to me since the last half of “around the block” could have sealed the deal.
Obviously, I wouldn’t have done that either; but at this point it really doesn’t matter. The transmission is either OK or it isn’t. If he is lucky a new radiator and some fluid will solve the problem; if not, he’s pretty much hosed. Hopefully he’s lucky.
I had a very similar situation happen on a customer’s '00 Taurus. We had a good used radiator, and installed it with its cooler intact. We cleaned out the goo in the cooling system with Cascade dish washer detergent. It took two treatments over two week’s time. DO NOT use heavily sudsing soap of any kind. We also did and extensive Flush and Fill on the tranny. Unfortunatley he only got another 3000 out of the tranny after that, so we put in a used tranny. So far so good.
Perhaps cleaning out the radiator, AND changing the transmission fluid, will get him far enough down the road that he can afford to have a used tranny installed, if and when it’s needed.
“Tried” = This was before he knew what was going on - that the tran fluid would drain into the radiator after once around the block. At this point, he only knew he was losing fluid.
“It went into gear at first…” We’re talking a BLOCK here. Not a Manhattan block - a residential one.
“Locked up when he tried to put it in reverse while parking…” Self explanatory. It was fine until then.
“There was a known problem and it does not take very long for an auto transmission to toast itself.” No, it was not a known problem. It became known through this testing. And hopefully it does not take 5 minutes (or less) of driving for a tranny to be toast! Also, given the state of the dipstick, hopefully it was fine.
But I’m probably wasting my words on what is likely a troll - I’m just too new to the forums to know.
That’s a great suggestion! Thank you.
It’s a friendship thing… these guys have a history.
“It’s a friendship thing… these guys have a history.”
Cool, hope the tranny turns out to be OK.
You don’t like what I say so that makes me a troll, huh? Ok. I’m a troll.
You’re giving some hazy details about a car that you do not own or drive.
Losing trans fluid into the radiator? What makes you think the reverse is not occurring with coolant going into the transmission?
A residential block you say? A residential block is long enough to roast a transmission, especially one that has anti-freeze in it.
Locked up - self explanatory. Exactly right - “locked up” is very clear.
It WAS a known problem whether you like to admit it or not. You stated yourself the car was puking coolant and trans fluid into the street.
The obvious answer is not to drive the car one inch further until it is diagnosed and repaired.
Instead more fluid was added knowing that it’s going to barf itself right back out and it’s off to the races again.
Goodbye. Happy now?
Susan, you may not like what ok4450 has to say, but I and others can assure you he’s not a troll…it’s tough to tell on this new forum who the regulars/veterans are as it doesn’t show number of posts anymore, or join date.
In any case, I think most people are hoping it works out for you, but trying to give advice for the next time something like this happens. Nothing wrong with saying “good point, we’ll be wiser next time”…
I hear that automotive scrap is now going for about $120 a ton. And that’s what I’d recommend be done with this car. There are plenty of vehicles out there, the value of which is determined by how much gas is in the tank. And this is obviously one of them. Almost every Neon ever made had its transmission fail. There’s no such thing as “having trans fluid in the coolant” only. In this case there definitely is also “coolant in the transmission” The Neon design objective was to create a throw-away car, and they succeeded. Walk, take the bus, or ride a bike to work until you can afford something worth buying, because this thing definitely is NOT.
Susan, I can assure you that ok is not blowing smoke at you. I own and operate a transmission rebuilding shop and have been rebuilding automatics for the last 23 years. I am a regular on this site along with ok4450. Automatic transmissions are EASILY damaged by running them low on fluid. Clutch plates in automatics are only thousandths of an inch thick each and are very unforgiving once the fluid has run low and they start to slip. They get hot. I have seen some clutch plates get so hot they actually weld themselves together. I can assure you that engine coolant WILL destroy these friction plates. Its definately not flush the coolant out and hope that you got to it in time…If the engine coolant contaminated the ATF, write it off… Dont waste your time trying to see if it will work again… It might for a very short time but in any case, the coolant will cause the friction material to break up and fall off of the clutch plates. In my opinion, replace the radiator and replace the transmission with either a salvage yard trans which would be the cheapest way to go or rebuild the current transmission. I always completely diassaemble coolant contaminated automatics and vat them to get all the coolant out of the passages. Tell your friend that if he just flushes out the trans and hopes for the best, I hope he has some sort of emergency road service to come get him and his car once those frictions come apart…
transman
Transmission fluid in the coolant would require flushing the engine with Cascade and bypassing the transmission fluid cooler. If coolant has mixed with transmission fluid it is almost certain that the tranmission will fail almost immediately. Even a few spoons of water in a tranmsmission will quickly destroy the clutches, as transman stated.
This post is not directed at the OP, who I think has misinterpreted what I was saying about responsibility. It was not meant in a mean-spirited way at all.
My question is for Transman. I think the transmission is toast; either dead in the water right now or on the off-chance the vehicle was moving again after repair it would be dead soon after.
The logic of installing a new radiator and whatnot just to determine a trans problem sounds goofy to me.
Would not the simplest thing be to just unhook the cooler lines, splice them together temporarily with a rubber hose, drain the trans fluid/refill, and then do a quick stationary converter stall test, followed by jacking the front wheels off the floor and running the trans through the gears to check shifting, assuming the stall test was anywhere near the correct neighborhood?
That should provide at least a rough way of determining the trans condition without replacing radiators, etc. What do you think?
I wouldnt even bother with unhooking the cooler lines or doing anything with the transmission except taking it out. They can flush it till they’re blue in the face because once engine coolant enters the trans, kiss it goodbye… Its just a matter of time before it goes, and as you know, they rarely go at the right time…
transman
Good enough for me. Case closed.
As the poster mentions below, scrap iron is bringing… 