1997 Caravan (Rad Failure) transmission full of coolant

From : amd rules

Q: i need some advice. my 1997 caravan 3.0 v6 215k kms just puked a mixture of transmission fluid and coolant all over the place. wife was driving to store and complained it wasnt shifting properly. she turned around and came home. once at home it puked this mixture out the overflow reservoir onto the ground. ive since removed the radiator and tested the transmission exchanger which leaks as expected. that appears to be root cause for the failure. have also drained the transmission which was full to the brim with what looked like chocolate milk a mixture of transmission fluid and engine coolant. to remedy the problem i want to replace the rad have the transmission flushed at a local shop with new filter etc and flush the engine cooling system of course. from that point i was going to cross my fingers and hope the transmission survived. what other areas should i be looking at for potential damage items to check prior to re-assembly engine components in cooling system damaged lastly this is an oem radiator that has only been flushed once or twice since new bad me...bad me. is this failure scenario one that is common or happens relatively frequently i do have poor preventative maintenance techniques can i expect that flushing out the system will be enough ...or.. should i bite the bullet and get a transmission rebuild remember the year of vehicle and my desire to spend the fewest $$ any advice comments thoughts from the experts i am not one of them that can guide me during my re-assembly would be appreciated. many thanks ! .

Replies:

From : thehotone

get the tranny cleaned as soon as possible antifreeze and water is corrosive to aluminum and steel and bearings the longer it sets ouch i do think 215k is a good life for the van .

From : theguyamd rules

on sat 06 sep 2003 141614 gmt jerry jerry1655@earthlink.net wrote budd cochran wrote im done with you. please... jerry jerry i hope that you will be able to overcome the pain and anguish caused when budd aka the bearded fat lady at the circus turned his back on you. i think he meant me too so i too will have to find a way to cope with the disappointment. but being a very resilient person i am sure that i will find a way. .

From : amd rules

i phoned a few transmission repair shops and was given some advice. they obviously suggested that it be flushed out and one of them recommended that its better to flush the transmission by disconnecting the cooling lines and filling the tranny from the top while running the engine. this was said to be better than using an external pump because the transmission will pump itself out and get into the crevices which would not happen with an external flush system. which is best external forced flush system or using the transmission itself to pump out the sludge until the lines squirt clean fluid out assuming the latter should i place the transmission into all gears while flushing to allow the fluid to get all the areas clean either way i want to put on a new transmission filter a new rad and flush out the engine coolant system. comments/advice/suggestions appreciated. thanks ! i need some advice. my 1997 caravan 3.0 v6 215k kms just puked a mixture of transmission fluid and coolant all over the place. wife was driving to store and complained it wasnt shifting properly. she turned around and came home. once at home it puked this mixture out the overflow reservoir onto the ground. ive since removed the radiator and tested the transmission exchanger which leaks as expected. that appears to be root cause for the failure. have also drained the transmission which was full to the brim with what looked like chocolate milk a mixture of transmission fluid and engine coolant. to remedy the problem i want to replace the rad have the transmission flushed at a local shop with new filter etc and flush the engine cooling system of course. from that point i was going to cross my fingers and hope the transmission survived. what other areas should i be looking at for potential damage items to check prior to re-assembly engine components in cooling system damaged lastly this is an oem radiator that has only been flushed once or twice since new bad me...bad me. is this failure scenario one that is common or happens relatively frequently i do have poor preventative maintenance techniques can i expect that flushing out the system will be enough ...or.. should i bite the bullet and get a transmission rebuild remember the year of vehicle and my desire to spend the fewest $$ any advice comments thoughts from the experts i am not one of them that can guide me during my re-assembly would be appreciated. many thanks ! .

From : tbone

oh boy here we go again -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving i phoned a few transmission repair shops and was given some advice. they obviously suggested that it be flushed out and one of them recommended that its better to flush the transmission by disconnecting the cooling lines and filling the tranny from the top while running the engine. this was said to be better than using an external pump because the transmission will pump itself out and get into the crevices which would not happen with an external flush system. which is best external forced flush system or using the transmission itself to pump out the sludge until the lines squirt clean fluid out assuming the latter should i place the transmission into all gears while flushing to allow the fluid to get all the areas clean either way i want to put on a new transmission filter a new rad and flush out the engine coolant system. comments/advice/suggestions appreciated. thanks ! i need some advice. my 1997 caravan 3.0 v6 215k kms just puked a mixture of transmission fluid and coolant all over the place. wife was driving to store and complained it wasnt shifting properly. she turned around and came home. once at home it puked this mixture out the overflow reservoir onto the ground. ive since removed the radiator and tested the transmission exchanger which leaks as expected. that appears to be root cause for the failure. have also drained the transmission which was full to the brim with what looked like chocolate milk a mixture of transmission fluid and engine coolant. to remedy the problem i want to replace the rad have the transmission flushed at a local shop with new filter etc and flush the engine cooling system of course. from that point i was going to cross my fingers and hope the transmission survived. what other areas should i be looking at for potential damage items to check prior to re-assembly engine components in cooling system damaged lastly this is an oem radiator that has only been flushed once or twice since new bad me...bad me. is this failure scenario one that is common or happens relatively frequently i do have poor preventative maintenance techniques can i expect that flushing out the system will be enough ...or.. should i bite the bullet and get a transmission rebuild remember the year of vehicle and my desire to spend the fewest $$ any advice comments thoughts from the experts i am not one of them that can guide me during my re-assembly would be appreciated. many thanks ! .

From : amd rules

thanks tbone while i must admit i solicited the group for comments i was hoping for comments that provided some helpful information. if you can add any further thoughts to your statement below id be grateful. oh boy here we go again -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving i phoned a few transmission repair shops and was given some advice. they obviously suggested that it be flushed out and one of them recommended that its better to flush the transmission by disconnecting the cooling lines and filling the tranny from the top while running the engine. this was said to be better than using an external pump because the transmission will pump itself out and get into the crevices which would not happen with an external flush system. which is best external forced flush system or using the transmission itself to pump out the sludge until the lines squirt clean fluid out assuming the latter should i place the transmission into all gears while flushing to allow the fluid to get all the areas clean either way i want to put on a new transmission filter a new rad and flush out the engine coolant system. comments/advice/suggestions appreciated. thanks ! i need some advice. my 1997 caravan 3.0 v6 215k kms just puked a mixture of transmission fluid and coolant all over the place. wife was driving to store and complained it wasnt shifting properly. she turned around and came home. once at home it puked this mixture out the overflow reservoir onto the ground. ive since removed the radiator and tested the transmission exchanger which leaks as expected. that appears to be root cause for the failure. have also drained the transmission which was full to the brim with what looked like chocolate milk a mixture of transmission fluid and engine coolant. to remedy the problem i want to replace the rad have the transmission flushed at a local shop with new filter etc and flush the engine cooling system of course. from that point i was going to cross my fingers and hope the transmission survived. what other areas should i be looking at for potential damage items to check prior to re-assembly engine components in cooling system damaged lastly this is an oem radiator that has only been flushed once or twice since new bad me...bad me. is this failure scenario one that is common or happens relatively frequently i do have poor preventative maintenance techniques can i expect that flushing out the system will be enough ...or.. should i bite the bullet and get a transmission rebuild remember the year of vehicle and my desire to spend the fewest $$ any advice comments thoughts from the experts i am not one of them that can guide me during my re-assembly would be appreciated. many thanks ! .

From : clem

heh... next time be more specific! you might have lucked out if you happen to have the 3 speed auto tranny. 97.... i doubt it if you have the 4 speed you are really hoping for a miracle if you expect a flush to save it. ive heard that putting dexron in there shortens the life significantly... i cant imagine what anti-freeze and water did to the insides... *shudder* i have done the line-removal flush technique with good results. of course it wasnt flushing out contaminants besides old dirty tranny fluid. i dont think itd be easy to shift through the gears while flushing unless you have a helper to keep up with the containers filling with tranny fluid. keep your foot on the brake of course. its worth a try..... good luck. thanks tbone while i must admit i solicited the group for comments i was hoping for comments that provided some helpful information. if you can add any further thoughts to your statement below id be grateful. oh boy here we go again -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving i phoned a few transmission repair shops and was given some advice. they obviously suggested that it be flushed out and one of them recommended that its better to flush the transmission by disconnecting the cooling lines and filling the tranny from the top while running the engine. this was said to be better than using an external pump because the transmission will pump itself out and get into the crevices which would not happen with an external flush system. which is best external forced flush system or using the transmission itself to pump out the sludge until the lines squirt clean fluid out assuming the latter should i place the transmission into all gears while flushing to allow the fluid to get all the areas clean either way i want to put on a new transmission filter a new rad and flush out the engine coolant system. comments/advice/suggestions appreciated. thanks ! i need some advice. my 1997 caravan 3.0 v6 215k kms just puked a mixture of transmission fluid and coolant all over the place. wife was driving to store and complained it wasnt shifting properly. she turned around and came home. once at home it puked this mixture out the overflow reservoir onto the ground. ive since removed the radiator and tested the transmission exchanger which leaks as expected. that appears to be root cause for the failure. have also drained the transmission which was full to the brim with what looked like chocolate milk a mixture of transmission fluid and engine coolant. to remedy the problem i want to replace the rad have the transmission flushed at a local shop with new filter etc and flush the engine cooling system of course. from that point i was going to cross my fingers and hope the transmission survived. what other areas should i be looking at for potential damage items to check prior to re-assembly engine components in cooling system damaged lastly this is an oem radiator that has only been flushed once or twice since new bad me...bad me. is this failure scenario one that is common or happens relatively frequently i do have poor preventative maintenance techniques can i expect that flushing out the system will be enough ...or.. should i bite the bullet and get a transmission rebuild remember the year of vehicle and my desire to spend the fewest $$ any advice comments thoughts from the experts i am not one of them that can guide me during my re-assembly would be appreciated. many thanks ! .

From : redneck tookover hell

which is best external forced flush system or using the transmission itself to pump out the sludge until the lines squirt clean fluid out do both!!!! g some people swear by external some swear by the internal deal. both work your choice chaos confusion and trouble!!!! my work here is almost done .

From : Annonymous

i prefer letting the trans do the pumping. its the only way to get the torque converter pumped out. you have nothing to lose but the cost of the atf filter gasket etc. i still have problems thinking in metric but i think 215k kms is about 130k miles. youre lucky if the trans is original. it doesnt owe you anything - must have the will to live. if it were mine and it seemed to work id do the filter and flush routine again in about a month. i doubt it would cause any cooling system problems that a good flush wont take care of. the failure doesnt sound like a maintenance problem. just age related. i need some advice. my 1997 caravan 3.0 v6 215k kms just puked a mixture of transmission fluid and coolant all over the place. wife was driving to store and complained it wasnt shifting properly. she turned around and came home. once at home it puked this mixture out the overflow reservoir onto the ground. ive since removed the radiator and tested the transmission exchanger which leaks as expected. that appears to be root cause for the failure. have also drained the transmission which was full to the brim with what looked like chocolate milk a mixture of transmission fluid and engine coolant. to remedy the problem i want to replace the rad have the transmission flushed at a local shop with new filter etc and flush the engine cooling system of course. from that point i was going to cross my fingers and hope the transmission survived. what other areas should i be looking at for potential damage items to check prior to re-assembly engine components in cooling system damaged lastly this is an oem radiator that has only been flushed once or twice since new bad me...bad me. is this failure scenario one that is common or happens relatively frequently i do have poor preventative maintenance techniques can i expect that flushing out the system will be enough ...or.. should i bite the bullet and get a transmission rebuild remember the year of vehicle and my desire to spend the fewest $$ any advice comments thoughts from the experts i am not one of them that can guide me during my re-assembly would be appreciated. many thanks ! .

From : clare snyder on ca

on sun 7 sep 2003 181831 -0400 clem mygodisthereanamenotchosen@yahoo.com wrote heh... next time be more specific! you might have lucked out if you happen to have the 3 speed auto tranny. 97.... i doubt it if you have the 4 speed you are really hoping for a miracle if you expect a flush to save it. ive heard that putting dexron in there shortens the life significantly... i cant imagine what anti-freeze and water did to the insides... *shudder* i have done the line-removal flush technique with good results. of course it wasnt flushing out contaminants besides old dirty tranny fluid. i dont think itd be easy to shift through the gears while flushing unless you have a helper to keep up with the containers filling with tranny fluid. keep your foot on the brake of course. its worth a try..... the vehicle needs to have the wheels off the ground and run it up through the gears put in od as well as in neutral and reverse to flush all accumulators and servos as well as valves. the transmission has a lockup converter - and the glue holding the linings on the clutches of some of these converters is water soluable. if yours is one of these the converter clutch will fail. if it is a four speed it is not a question of if the transmission will fail but when. if you plan on keeping the van get it overhauled now while you are expecting trouble and when you will not need to be towed a couple hundrend miles to a tranny shop. it will cost less to fix before anything fails catastrophicly too. they always give trouble at the most inoportune time - and if the fluid is not changed on a regular basis they are guaranteed to fail. the 3 speed is a bit better but on a 3 liter 97 van the chances of finding a 3 speed are extremely remote. good luck. thanks tbone while i must admit i solicited the group for comments i was hoping for comments that provided some helpful information. if you can add any further thoughts to your statement below id be grateful. oh boy here we go again -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving i phoned a few transmission repair shops and was given some advice. they obviously suggested that it be flushed out and one of them recommended that its better to flush the transmission by disconnecting the cooling lines and filling the tranny from the top while running the engine. this was said to be better than using an external pump because the transmission will pump itself out and get into the crevices which would not happen with an external flush system. which is best external forced flush system or using the transmission itself to pump out the sludge until the lines squirt clean fluid out assuming the latter should i place the transmission into all gears while flushing to allow the fluid to get all the areas clean either way i want to put on a new transmission filter a new rad and flush out the engine coolant system. comments/advice/suggestions appreciated. thanks ! i need some advice. my 1997 caravan 3.0 v6 215k kms just puked a mixture of transmission fluid and coolant all over the place. wife was driving to store and complained it wasnt shifting properly. she turned around and came home. once at home it puked this mixture out the overflow reservoir onto the ground. ive since removed the radiator and tested the transmission exchanger which leaks as expected. that appears to be root cause for the failure. have also drained the transmission which was full to the brim with what looked like chocolate milk a mixture of transmission fluid and engine coolant. to remedy the problem i want to replace the rad have the transmission flushed at a local shop with new filter etc and flush the engine cooling system of course. from that point i was going to cross my fingers and hope the transmission survived. what other areas should i be looking at for potential damage items to check prior to re-assembly engine components in cooling system damaged lastly this is an oem radiator that has only been flushed once or twice since new bad me...bad me. is this failure scenario one that is common or happens relatively frequently i do have poor preventative maintenance techniques can i expect that flushing out the system will be enough ...or.. should i bite the bullet and get a transmission rebuild remember the year of vehicle and my desire to spend the fewest $$ any advice comments thoughts from the experts i am not one of them that can guide me during my re-assembly would be appreciated. many thanks ! .

From : amd rules

skinny hands ky jelly you sure you are in the right group perty soon youll be lookin for a bunny. fmb on sun 28 sep 2003 223316 gmt honeybs@radix.net beekeep wrote on sun 28 sep 2003 203431 gmt denny wddodge@woh.rr.com wrote on sun 28 sep 2003 110022 gmt denny dwdodge@woh.rr.com wrote why would you have to drop the tank to change the gears another of those east coast things bg denny the gas tank on a van is directly behind the rear end. there is only about 4 inches of clearance. beekeep i got skinny hands!! g denny but how do you get the 9 1/4 pumpkin thru a 5 space beekeep convert it to metric .

From : amd rules

thanks clare the vehicle needs to have the wheels off the ground and run it up through the gears put in od as well as in neutral and reverse to flush all accumulators and servos as well as valves. just posting a follow-up as reference material for others who may experience an atf cooler failure. i raised the vehicle on jack stands and i cycled through all gears including reverse while having my assistant continuously replenish the fluid. i had both transmission lines emptying into a container and filled through the dipstick tube. ran it until only clean pure red fluid appeared to come out of the lines. the mixture that was in it before looked exactly like chocolate milk. i used about 16 quarts litres of tranmission fluid to flush it out. the transmission has a lockup converter - and the glue holding the linings on the clutches of some of these converters is water soluable. if yours is one of these the converter clutch will fail. i was not aware of this. thanks for the heads-up. seems peculiar to design for a water soluable adhesive when the potential exists for a water based cooler failure. if it is a four speed it is not a question of if the transmission will fail but when. i have the 3spd transmission. while not quite as smooth as the big brother 4spd it has been very reliable. i do tow a small pop-up trailer with this vehicle and had added and external transmission cooler to assist with heat removal. i only wish i had taken the rad out of the loop. instead i opted to run both the oem cooler and the aftermarket cooler in series. hindsight is 20/20. if you plan on keeping the van get it overhauled now while you are expecting trouble and when you will not need to be towed a couple hundrend miles to a tranny shop. it will cost less to fix before anything fails catastrophicly too. they always give trouble at the most inoportune time - and if the fluid is not changed on a regular basis they are guaranteed to fail. generally i would agree however this van has accumulated quite a few miles and i hope to use minimum $ to get in through one more year. there is a risk to everything in life and this is one decision i hope works out for me. we are fortunate to have a second vehicle and a membership to caa aaa to cover towing within reasonable distance. i have had a transmission failure on another vehicle in the past during a family trip and can appreciate your warning regarding the hassles it can cause. the 3 speed is a bit better but on a 3 liter 97 van the chances of finding a 3 speed are extremely remote. good luck. this is the 3.0l v6 and from what i am hearing that is a good thing ! ive installed a new radiator thermostat & gasket upper radiator hose flushed the cooling system drained and installed new filter in the transmission flushed the transmission to the best of my abilities and crossed all 10 toes fingers and a couple of eyes. i have had some oily residue appearing in the rad cap region however my wife was kind enough to loan me the turkey baster suction device which has allowed me to skim it out of there and replenish the coolant. ive also cleaned out the overflow reservoir a few times to make certain it is not accumulating the oily residue. it seems to have stopped appearing and most likely came from some crevices that the flushing process had missed. yes i did purchase the wife a new baster from the dollar store ! the transmission fluid appears ok with no visible discoloration or odd smell. its been over a week and so far all seems ok. thanks again for your thoughts & ideas. update well today proved to be a disappointing day. after 2 weeks of successfulperformance following a manual flush the transmission has given up. at the moment it drives in first gear slips while attempting to accelerate and occasionally grabs. barely able to get around the block during my test. fluid levels are normal color good and no visible smell. no strange noises just massive slippage. i will again drain the fluid to inspect closer. i suspect itll require a replacement/rebuild. i may consider installing a transmission from a salvage yard if available. other than the obvious risk involving its actual condition is there any other reason to avoid making that decision just my luck..... .

From : amd rules

thanks clare the vehicle needs to have the wheels off the ground and run it up through the gears put in od as well as in neutral and reverse to flush all accumulators and servos as well as valves. just posting a follow-up as reference material for others who may experience an atf cooler failure. i raised the vehicle on jack stands and i cycled through all gears including reverse while having my assistant continuously replenish the fluid. i had both transmission lines emptying into a container and filled through the dipstick tube. ran it until only clean pure red fluid appeared to come out of the lines. the mixture that was in it before looked exactly like chocolate milk. i used about 16 quarts litres of tranmission fluid to flush it out. the transmission has a lockup converter - and the glue holding the linings on the clutches of some of these converters is water soluable. if yours is one of these the converter clutch will fail. i was not aware of this. thanks for the heads-up. seems peculiar to design for a water soluable adhesive when the potential exists for a water based cooler failure. if it is a four speed it is not a question of if the transmission will fail but when. i have the 3spd transmission. while not quite as smooth as the big brother 4spd it has been very reliable. i do tow a small pop-up trailer with this vehicle and had added and external transmission cooler to assist with heat removal. i only wish i had taken the rad out of the loop. instead i opted to run both the oem cooler and the aftermarket cooler in series. hindsight is 20/20. if you plan on keeping the van get it overhauled now while you are expecting trouble and when you will not need to be towed a couple hundrend miles to a tranny shop. it will cost less to fix before anything fails catastrophicly too. they always give trouble at the most inoportune time - and if the fluid is not changed on a regular basis they are guaranteed to fail. generally i would agree however this van has accumulated quite a few miles and i hope to use minimum $ to get in through one more year. there is a risk to everything in life and this is one decision i hope works out for me. we are fortunate to have a second vehicle and a membership to caa aaa to cover towing within reasonable distance. i have had a transmission failure on another vehicle in the past during a family trip and can appreciate your warning regarding the hassles it can cause. the 3 speed is a bit better but on a 3 liter 97 van the chances of finding a 3 speed are extremely remote. good luck. this is the 3.0l v6 and from what i am hearing that is a good thing ! ive installed a new radiator thermostat & gasket upper radiator hose flushed the cooling system drained and installed new filter in the transmission flushed the transmission to the best of my abilities and crossed all 10 toes fingers and a couple of eyes. i have had some oily residue appearing in the rad cap region however my wife was kind enough to loan me the turkey baster suction device which has allowed me to skim it out of there and replenish the coolant. ive also cleaned out the overflow reservoir a few times to make certain it is not accumulating the oily residue. it seems to have stopped appearing and most likely came from some crevices that the flushing process had missed. yes i did purchase the wife a new baster from the dollar store ! the transmission fluid appears ok with no visible discoloration or odd smell. its been over a week and so far all seems ok. thanks again for your thoughts & ideas. .

From : nosey

amd rules wrote thanks clare the vehicle needs to have the wheels off the ground and run it up through the gears put in od as well as in neutral and reverse to flush all accumulators and servos as well as valves. just posting a follow-up as reference material for others who may experience an atf cooler failure. i raised the vehicle on jack stands and i cycled through all gears including reverse while having my assistant continuously replenish the fluid. i had both transmission lines emptying into a container and filled through the dipstick tube. ran it until only clean pure red fluid appeared to come out of the lines. the mixture that was in it before looked exactly like chocolate milk. i used about 16 quarts litres of tranmission fluid to flush it out. the transmission has a lockup converter - and the glue holding the linings on the clutches of some of these converters is water soluable. if yours is one of these the converter clutch will fail. i was not aware of this. thanks for the heads-up. seems peculiar to design for a water soluable adhesive when the potential exists for a water based cooler failure. if it is a four speed it is not a question of if the transmission will fail but when. i have the 3spd transmission. while not quite as smooth as the big brother 4spd it has been very reliable. i do tow a small pop-up trailer with this vehicle and had added and external transmission cooler to assist with heat removal. i only wish i had taken the rad out of the loop. instead i opted to run both the oem cooler and the aftermarket cooler in series. hindsight is 20/20. if you plan on keeping the van get it overhauled now while you are expecting trouble and when you will not need to be towed a couple hundrend miles to a tranny shop. it will cost less to fix before anything fails catastrophicly too. they always give trouble at the most inoportune time - and if the fluid is not changed on a regular basis they are guaranteed to fail. generally i would agree however this van has accumulated quite a few miles and i hope to use minimum $ to get in through one more year. there is a risk to everything in life and this is one decision i hope works out for me. we are fortunate to have a second vehicle and a membership to caa aaa to cover towing within reasonable distance. i have had a transmission failure on another vehicle in the past during a family trip and can appreciate your warning regarding the hassles it can cause. the 3 speed is a bit better but on a 3 liter 97 van the chances of finding a 3 speed are extremely remote. good luck. this is the 3.0l v6 and from what i am hearing that is a good thing ! ive installed a new radiator thermostat & gasket upper radiator hose flushed the cooling system drained and installed new filter in the transmission flushed the transmission to the best of my abilities and crossed all 10 toes fingers and a couple of eyes. i have had some oily residue appearing in the rad cap region however my wife was kind enough to loan me the turkey baster suction device which has allowed me to skim it out of there and replenish the coolant. ive also cleaned out the overflow reservoir a few times to make certain it is not accumulating the oily residue. it seems to have stopped appearing and most likely came from some crevices that the flushing process had missed. yes i did purchase the wife a new baster from the dollar store ! the transmission fluid appears ok with no visible discoloration or odd smell. its been over a week and so far all seems ok. thanks again for your thoughts & ideas. update well today proved to be a disappointing day. after 2 weeks of successful performance following a manual flush the transmission has given up. at the moment it drives in first gear slips while attempting to accelerate and occasionally grabs. barely able to get around the block during my test. fluid levels are normal color good and no visible smell. no strange noises just massive slippage. i will again drain the fluid to inspect closer. i suspect itll require a replacement/rebuild. i may consider installing a transmission from a salvage yard if available. other than the obvious risk involving its actual condition is there any other reason to avoid making that decision just my luck..... if you get one from a salvage yard its best if you can inspect the donor vehicle. check the fluid condition then have them pull the pan for you while you are watching before you agree to buy it. a fresh wreck is better than something that has been sitting in the weeds for a year or more. i prefer a donor that was totaled from the back end. if there is heavy damage in the front it is possible that the transmission is damaged internally. salvage yards normally give you a warranty somewhere from 30 to 90 days. if there is something wrong with it you lose out on the labor and they give you a

From : anonymous nobody

amdrules@hotmail.com says... i realize this is an old thread but i was curious as to whether you replaced the tranny or what. i have a 90 3.0 with the 4 speed. i have never experienced a transmission / anti-freeze mix with any vehicle before. i have checked my radiator recently and it looks amazingly clean inside. just wondering. -- chas stokes cjs@zuul24.com i have no idea why this stupid service is making me anonymous now. most annoying. ----== posted via feed.com - unlimited-uncensored-secure usenet ==---- http//www.feed.com the #1 group service in the world! 100000 groups ---= 19 east/west-coast specialized servers - total privacy via encryption =--- .