Weird fluid under the truck

Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Ford SportTrac Forum

Help Support Ford SportTrac Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
S

Stephen Butler

Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2013
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Location
groton, CT
Found an unknown fluid under my truck, but I had moved the truck before I could see which part had perhaps made the leak. It was about 1-2 cups, had no smell, and I have checked the brake, oil, and steering fluid. The radiator I will check again, since I am on an incline and it's dark to tell.





[Broken External Image]:











[Broken External Image]:
 
Is it pink? Like a strawberry milkshake/pepto-bismol? That would be coolant with transmission fluid mixed in. Or vise versa
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Take off radiator cap and have a peek. I'd venture you'll see some of this scum in the radiator. If you do, I'd say your radiator's failed, allowing coolant and ATF to mix. I'd ground the car - you're going to need full ATF service (pan drop and the whole nine yards) as well as new radiator and full coolant flush. Might as well change the oil too, just to be safe. Coolant in the engine oil or transmission is very corrosive to the soft metals (copper, lead, tin) used in bearings, etc. Don't put off this one - potential is high here for major damage.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yep, I agree with the others. It appears to be coolant mixed with oil, and the pinkish color would indicate that the internal transmission fluid cooler in the radiator is leaking...that's not good.



Remove the radiator and have it pressure tested and checked for leaks. If you find that the transmission cooler in the radiator is leaking, you will need replace the radiator, change the transmission filter and then have the transmission fluid flushed. I recommend the flush because just droping the transmission pan only drains out about 50% of the transmission fluid...A flush will typically change out about 98% of the old contaminated fluid.



...Rich
 
Well, based upon everyone's input it would seem that it is the radiator/transmission cooler. Since I bought the truck only 3 months ago, and this happened over the weekend with it VERY cold and the truck idle, it may be that the previous owner didn't have a good mix of anti-freeze, and it froze. I will look through the forum to get an idea of how tough it is to remove the radiator from a Gen 2 V8 4x4 trac. Thanks for everyone's quick replies!
 
Do a pressure test on the entire cooling system before removing one bolt on the radiator. You should confirm that a problem exists, and determine it's location and cause before replacing parts. A decent technician would diagnose the problem before administering the medicine to cure it.
 
Thanks everyone, even you yardsale (smartass!LOL) Here is what was the problem..had the radiator tested, tested sat..it was this: TSB 11-3-25



03/31/11



6R80 TRANSMISSION BULKHEAD CONNECTOR

SLEEVE LEAKING TRANSMISSION FLUID



FORD:

2009-2010 Expedition, Explorer Sport Trac,

Explorer, F-150





So I will take it to ford Monday and have them fix it under my extended warranty coverage (I hope)



Thanks again guys :supercool:
 
Wondering how this turned out. I had the same leak (periodically, would only show up when the truck sat for a few days) for over a year, and finally let Ford do the repair. I didn't believe it was the source of my leak, but apparently it was because it's no longer happening. But, my leak was definitely transmission fluid. It looked a little cooked or used up, but nothing like yours.



If the previous owner of your truck kept seeing leaks, maybe he overfilled it and you got some frothing? Or was there coolant in it?



Thanks.
 

Latest posts

Top