Got Pink Strawberry Shake for Engine Coolant?

[RonG]

I'm posting this here in hopes that it might identify some things for others with "Pink Coolant" and/or transmission fluid. I'm also curious as to how many owners have experienced the same thing. How did you go about resolving the issue?

I have always found that the more information given on a subject the better others could parse out what is relevant to their own situations. Still, I apologize for this becoming a danged book!

I have a 2005 Ram 3500 5.9 Cummins with 316,000+ miles. The transmission has always been strong in this truck. A couple of years ago I did a little repair inside the tranny to alleviate a "hard to get out of park" issue, but nothing major. I'm embarrassed to say that I have only changed the transmission fluid and filter twice in the nearly 200,000 miles I have put on it since buying it used. But I say this to make the point that sometimes you get lucky... and, you happen to buy "a good'un"!

Two days ago I was about to make a 175 mile trip and just happened to need to make a stop less than 3 miles from home before leaving town.
Well, I may not be real lucky, but I was certainly fortunate, because when I made the stop the truck was IDLING at 1,000rpm. If I had hit the Interstate, I'd likely have gone many miles before realizing the problem; burnt up the engine as well; had to have been towed back; etc.
When I looked at the dash, the temp gauge was almost pegged out. After checking under the hood -- nothing seemed, felt (or smelled) overly hot, at all. It was too warm to attempt opening the radiator cap, so I restarted the truck and turned the a/c off. The temp came down a bit (within the high-side of "ok") so I opened my windows, turned the heat up in the cab and eased back home --- yeah, I know, a real bonehead chance to take. The temp didn't go all the way back up but it didn't really return to normal either. I shut her down as soon as I got home and just let it cool down before doing anything. When I opened the hood and removed the radiator cap, the coolant level was too low to see it, but there was a pinkish "milkshake" looking stuff visible. Knowing that transmission fluid is the reddest substance available to make this color change, I pulled the tranny dip stick. Yep, same strawberry shake going on there!
So I did some research and found that what has occurred is that the transmission cooler (located near the starter -- NOT integrated in the radiator as is true of some other makes) has failed/ruptured and corrupted both the trans and the entirety of the cooling system. It is possible that it started as a tiny leak and may have driven many miles with the cross contamination going on. Sometimes the "strawberry shake" shows up only in the engine coolant, and, evidently more rare, sometimes only in the transmission.

There seems to be two trains of thought on how to take care of all this:

1. Replace the failed transmission cooler; Completely rebuild, or replace, the transmission; Totally and thoroughly flush the cooling system, replacing ALL rubber (and/or plastic) parts. And I saw a few ideas on "flushing" a cooling system that I've never run across before too! "Powdered dishwashing detergent"?

2. Thoroughly flush both the transmission itself, related components, i.e., torque converter, cooling lines, everything; AND engine cooling system. It was emphasized to be extremely thorough with the flushing, doing everything possible to ensure that all contaminates are removed from each system.

The "Replace it all" folks insist that merely flushing will not get rid of all the contaminates... especially in the trans and converter. The naysayers of the "just flush" also say that the transmission fluid will eventually render all the engine cooling system rubber (and sometimes even plastic) parts useless and highly likely to result in system failure down the road.


The "Awww, a good flush will do the job’ers" boast that you shouldn't go to all the expense and work right off because, "what if it works?"


So, at better than 316k miles, I'm aware that I've been riding on borrowed time for a while. I acknowledge that it's truly the right time (in this case) to go ahead and bite that financial bullet and repair the transmission or replace it. I am leaning toward rebuilding it myself. I'm curious what/who others have decided on for the rebuild source(s)? Why did you go with the source? What deciding factors led to your choice? How have your rebuilds turned out over time? I'm aware there are several providers out there that are popular, especially with the "power"/speed happy folks. There are also a lot of much less expensive choices, when it comes to initial costs. How has the "cheap(er)" route panned out for the ones who simply couldn't afford the pricey rebuilds?

This IS my daily driver and I need it up and running as soon as possible, but I really don't want to make a rush decision that I will regret in the near future. I truly would like this to be the last truck I own... unless I can find my original 1959 Chevy Apache. So, I want her done "right" but without going completely crazy with the costs.

I appreciate any thoughts, advice, or even anecdotes in response. I appreciate everyone who contributes to this and all forums of this nature. I believe it is the finest use of the modern communications tools at our fingertips. Thank you all for your time, knowledge, interests and introspects.

 

[Hagar1]

First off, fix the leak. If it was mine, I'd run some powder or liquid dishwasher detergent in the cooling system with just water as a coolant. I would do this a couple of times. I would also flush everything including the heater until the water comes out clean.
As for the transmission, I would flush it out as thoroughly as possible, put in fresh oil and filter, I would drive it maybe a couple of hundred miles and dump the oil and flush again. You could probably get an oil analysis from Blackstone or one of those guys. Do that after your second change. The materials in transmissions are usually pretty resilient. If there is a problem after an oil analysis, then I would elect to do an overhaul, flush the cooler and lines and replace convertor. The convertor is the most difficult part to flush.
Just my opinion.

 

[RonG]

Hagar1, thanks for the input. There are evidently a lot of folks out there that agree with you on this. Even I do, to an extent. I just wonder how many flushes it will really take to get all the contamination out of all parts of the transmission? There are a lot of nooks and crannies in a tranny. And I have heard some horror stories about truly flushing out a torque converter. My concern is that with over 316,000 miles, it seems that at best, I may be just borrowing a little time before having to go into the transmission again anyway. THEN... there is the co$t difference to consider (especially in today's economy). Factoring in that this transmission has never slipped, leaked, run hot, etc., makes me think that the flush just may be a cost effective option. I am really torn over which route to take, and info like yours makes me want to try and wait just a little longer for that fancy rebuild project. Thanks again.
Now, to find that darned leak.

 

[Hagar1]

Hagar1, thanks for the input. There are evidently a lot of folks out there that agree with you on this. Even I do, to an extent. I just wonder how many flushes it will really take to get all the contamination out of all parts of the transmission? There are a lot of nooks and crannies in a tranny. And I have heard some horror stories about truly flushing out a torque converter. My concern is that with over 316,000 miles, it seems that at best, I may be just borrowing a little time before having to go into the transmission again anyway. THEN... there is the co$t difference to consider (especially in today's economy). Factoring in that this transmission has never slipped, leaked, run hot, etc., makes me think that the flush just may be a cost effective option. I am really torn over which route to take, and info like yours makes me want to try and wait just a little longer for that fancy rebuild project. Thanks again.
Now, to find that darned leak.

I would go with flushing the trans twice. the initial drain and refill plus one more. The way that I look at it, a few hundred dollars in oil and filters is much more cost effective than a multi thousand transmission tear down. If you win on the flushing, you are clearly money ahead.
the transmissions are far more resilient than many think.
Like I previously suggested, after some driving, get the oil analysed, that will tell the story.

 

[Burla]

run rmi 25 through radiator, it takes all contamination and deposits in overflow, just use your wetdry vac and suck it out. but of course the oil line needs to be fixed.