Coolant in Tranny?

eastbaysubaru · Post by **eastbaysubaru** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 2:36 am

Is it possible that coolant is leaking into my tranny? I was going to change my tranny fluid this afternoon and when checking the dipstick I noticed that it was very thin and lightly colored. It was no where near the color of ATF. I also read in the Haynes that:

"The presence of engine coolant in the automatic transaxle fluid indicates that a failure has occurred in the internal radiator walls that separate the coolant from the transaxle fluid"

So, if this is the case, what can be done?

-Brian

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 2:41 am

Yeah, the bottom of the radiator houses the ATF cooler, so if it leaks coolant and ATF can mix. If that's happening, I'm afraid you'll probably have to replace the radiator and flush the transmission and cooling system. It may be possible to repair the radiator, but it'll probably cost only slightly less (or maybe even more) than getting a new or "previously owned" radiator.

ciper · Post by **ciper** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 3:07 am

My suggestion would be to get an external tranny cooler (you should have one anyways!) and bypass the OE cooler. Drain it out and see if any coolant comes out later on.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 7:38 am

Get a seperate cooler (or replace the radiator) and have the transmission flushed right away. A friend of mine had this happen to his Aurora and it killed the transmission two months after the radiator was replaced. We had a good laugh at the time as we kept accusing him of putting the coolant in the wrong place as a joke. Granted, this was an Olds, not a Subaru, but either way it can't be good.

Steve

eastbaysubaru · Post by **eastbaysubaru** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 8:59 am

Hmm...I just replaced the radiator a month or so ago.

-Brian

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 4:54 pm

With a new or used unit? Did it have a warranty?

eastbaysubaru · Post by **eastbaysubaru** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 7:45 pm

It's new. I really don't think that the radiator is the problem. The same symptoms were present with the old (original) radiator. Is there any other place aside from the radiator that coolant could mix with ATF?

-Brian

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 7:58 pm

I don't believe so.

The same symptoms were present before? Did you thoroughly flush the transmission after replacing the radiator?

eastbaysubaru · Post by **eastbaysubaru** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 8:12 pm

I haven't yet. That was going to be part of what I did yesterday. What's wierd is that coolant is still disappearing. It doesn't seem to be leaking out anywhere that I can see and it doesn't appear to be in the engine oil which I changed yesterday. This is kinda what pointed me towards the tranny.

-Brian

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Coolant in Tranny?

Coolant in Tranny?