Failed Radiator-Transmission-Engine (non-fox related)

March 20, 2014, 11:53:37 PM

Hi Guys, long time i dont post something here. I check almost daily but since my Cat its not working since 2005 i rarely post here. Well, im still driving and old explorer 96. It´s a good truck, really expensive on gas, but its good.I was surprised how long the truck has been in the last 18 years, and from the last two weeks, its has been a truly nightmare.

First, i did a complete tune up a month ago (i usually do tune ups every 8 or 9 months, depends of my driving), changed plugs, wires, oil, air filter, oil filter, fuel filter , etc, an did a transmission pan drop (i do pan drops every 2 years without problems). Everything went fine, all was good. Engine ran good, tranny shift good, everything well. Two weeks ago i have installed a pair of new headlights, and backed up the truck a bit from my driveaway, and noticed a pink drop at the ground. Been working on cars from the last 15 years gave me a bad feeling about this. Checked radiator fluid and was oily and pink......checked transmission fluid and was from the same color. I inmediately drained all the fluid from the radiator, dropped the transmission oil pan , and removed a transmission cooling line to evacuate all the water contaminated fluid. I even tried to drain the converter, but since the 4r55e doesnt have a plug, i ran the engine briefly until no ATF went from the pipes and the valve body.

I left the truck sat for almost 10 days, until i got a new rad. I know and i have read about how many damage does water inside an automatic transmission, even read a techincal bulletin from ASE about how bad is the water for the clutches (a little surprised.....its really weird when you run for 150,000 miles an auto transmission at temperatures about 100 degrees of more and nothing happens.....but when you run a few miles a tranny with oil mixed with water its completely doomed....but well im not an engineer...) Anyway, my plan consisted on running the engine and tranny a few miles, like 30 or less, with new AT Fluid, drop the pan, remove all fluid, put another filter, put the pan and fill and run till it dies, it may be tomorrow or maybe never....

Well, i did it. The tranny worked normally as before......the bad, was when i was driving at the test drive, (i wasnt driving very fast at the time, maybe 10 mph) the engine shut down completely. Tried to restart and no luck, only spins the engine slow. I opened the hood and the engine was super hot! water temperature gauge did not work! and all the water poured some miles away from me and the truck, because when i checked fluid levels it was completely empty from i dont know how far ! radiator was completely dry because i forgot to clamp securely a cooling hose.

While kicking myself for my stupidity, i went to look for tap water. I left to rest the engine like 10 minutes with the hood opened, and started to add some water slowly to the radiator. I only had a gallon tank, so i have to return walking to the place where i got water like 3 times (fortunately it was not very far from the truck broke down) . It was not easy to start again, i have tried like 10 times (i know, engine got seized from the heat) and finally started. It was rough at first block, but from the way home, it ran fine like before. I was expecting white cloud of smoke from a headgasket or warped head, but it was at night so i could not see very well.

Today i restarted the engine and everything looks normally. No weird noises from valvetrain or white smoke, normal idle, no tumbling, acelerates normally, etc.

Well, now that you know all the story here are the two questions which are killing me right now, and would decide if its worth to spend more money on it, if its going to die soon from engine, trans, or both, or what.....

1.- Did the transmission would have permament damage from the situation described above ?

2.- Did the engine have permament damage from the overheating, what i can expect from the damage if this is the case, blown head gasket, piston rings, cracked head ?

Trust me i have been searching on the net about this, but i got mixed reviews, from the normal "dealer charged me 5000 for and entire rebuild" to the unexpected "i filled all the fluids, restarted, and ran until i rolled down/sold/trashed 10 years after.

Truck is an explorer 1996 V6 OHV 4X4, 4R55E Auto, with like 140,000 miles (odometer doesnt work) in case i have missed something.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.