Transimission oil in radiator?

TOPWOP1

MEMBER
2001 DODGE NEON

I found a large amount of OIL? Or Tranny fluid in my rad in a 2001 Neon automatic transmisiion
- car runs great and tranny does not slip but did not have any heat
- opened the rad cap on the top rad hose and found a large amount of brownish oil there
- Hit a large pothole 3 weeks ago and this just showed up
- is it possible that the tranny fluid can get into the coolant
- how can I tell
- how can I determine if it is engine oil or tranny fluid other than checking the levels
- car runs great, no smoke HELP

4 Replies

BOOTDOG

MECHANIC
665 POSTS

A lot of cars these days have an oil or transmission cooler build inside the radiator. I think the passage where the oil runs through the radiator ruptured causing the oil to get in the coolant system. Replace the radiator and flush the coolant system.

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Saturday, April 7th, 2007 AT 6:53 AM

BENDARE2

MEMBER
13 POSTS

Be sure to check the transmission for water!
Antifreeze in the oil can be the worst side of this coin.

Good luck Ol'Ben

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Sunday, April 8th, 2007 AT 9:42 AM

DWHITE

MEMBER
14 POSTS

Had the same problem. There was a leak in the radiator trans cooler section. I replaced radiator and cured that problem.

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Saturday, April 14th, 2007 AT 5:52 PM

SATELLITE72

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Is your oil in the rad red or brown? If it is dark brown, it could be motor oil. If it is red tranny fluid. There is a tranny line that goes through the rad, and if there is tranny fluid in the rad, there is coolant in your transmission. Fix it soon or throw away the car because it will be quite expensive to fix.

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Sunday, May 20th, 2007 AT 4:23 AM