RW> Yeah...it always seemed like I was on foot every New Year's Eve for quite
RW> a few years too. That was before I had two cars and kept one in the
RW> garage
RW> for just such occasions on Dec 31...

It is nice having extra vehicles.  Keeps the stress and pressure down on my
occational repairs since I have plenty of spares.

RW> That still sounds strange to me. Too bad you didn't keep that radiator
RW> and
RW> tear it apart to find out what happened...

I spoke to the local shop that did my Monte Carlo transmission rebuild and
told them about what happened to the Durango - since I have a CEL code that
references the torque converter.  

He told me he has seen that happen before and calls the mixture "a
milkshake". I told him what happened, what was done, and about the
code I am getting now. He said that getting the antifreeze in the
transmission can cause rust to form, not to mention problems with internal
parts, clutches, etc.  

I have been running it a solid year since that happened, but I know there
was a good bit of antifreeze that entered the transmission before it was
flushed.  It was a "milkshake".  The pressure from the radiator
failure caused one of the main hoses that goes to the radiator to burst,
which is what eventually led my wife to pull over and the truck broke down
due to overheating.  The mess this made was just incredible.  I have never
seen such a mess in an engine - other than a "car-be-que".  

So, the "mixture" was probably flowing into the transmission for
a bit before busting one of the hoses due to the pressure.  

If only I would have know ahead of time, I would have gladly replaced the
radiator - with a smile on my face.

- Mark

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