i recently took the transmission cooling lines off the tranny to make it more compact to store in my garage, but when i took them off, transmission fluid came out the holes!!! what would cause this problem? i figure that the only thing that should be in the coolant passages would be engine coolant, not freagin antifreze... could it possibly just be rust or something from the engine block that circulated to there and turned the coolant red? i noticed about a year ago when i emptied the radiator to remove it that there was a red fluid mixed in with the green normal-looking fluid, and they were completely separate i.e. not a compound, it was like salad dressing separating and whatnot. didnt look right and i didnt know where it was from but maybe now i know...

i recently took the transmission cooling lines off the tranny to make it more compact to store in my garage, but when i took them off, transmission fluid came out the holes!!! what would cause this problem? i figure that the only thing that should be in the coolant passages would be engine coolant, not freagin antifreze... could it possibly just be rust or something from the engine block that circulated to there and turned the coolant red? i noticed about a year ago when i emptied the radiator to remove it that there was a red fluid mixed in with the green normal-looking fluid, and they were completely separate i.e. not a compound, it was like salad dressing separating and whatnot. didnt look right and i didnt know where it was from but maybe now i know...


There'd better NOT be engine coolant in those lines! The lines themselves go into a heat exchanger within the radiator - only transmission fluid shoud be in there.

What you saw is normal. The fluid routes from the torque converter through those lines, so when you turn them loose, some ATF will always spill out.

As for ATF in the coolant, it's time for a new radiator.

ahhh. i see... i just assumed radiator fluid went there since it went to the radiator and back... yeah the radiator must have crapped out on me and started letting fluid into the regular coolant... i need a bigger one anyways for that 383 lol, so it's no big loss