I finally have the engine running pretty darn good on my 85 300 D. The car sat for a decade and I discovered that the radiator and coolant mixed. I replace the radiator and all of the hoses and cooling lines going to the radiator. I drained the old transmission fluid and replaced the transmission filter and transmission pan gasket.

The transmission fluid was a milky pink gooey mess.

Even after installing brand new transmission fluid it’s still very milky and thin and the transmission is definitely not liking it. I’m going to drain the brand new transmission fluid is there any other procedure that I need to follow?

I let the old transmission fluid drain out of the car for weeks before I put the new fluid in so I’m really surprised that there’s so much of the old fluid still in the system

Quite a bit stays inside the torque converter. If you use a pump to flush in new oil (many shops have), that should force old oil out of the converter. I think the oil gets hot enough to slowly evaporate any water. But, the paper clutch plates are quickly ruined by water, so that is only good to get any remaining residual water out. Perhaps if you heat the milky oil on a large camp stove, you can boil the water off and make it usable. Given ~$40 cost, might be worth the trouble.

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

I can't believe someone would even suggest trying to salvage water-contaminated oil. Go recycle it for God's sake.

Make sure you drain the transmission AND the torque converter. Fill with fresh oil, run through the gears and let everything come up to operating temperature, then drain pan and torque convert and refill again with fresh oil a 2nd time. Drive it and see if things improve. If you still have some moisture or foam on the dipstick, drain/refill again.

A couple of oil changes are a heck of a lot cheaper and less involved than fitting a replacement transmission.

It goes without saying, but time for a new radiator.

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Current stable:
1995 E320 157K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 125K (SLoL)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Gone and wanting to forget:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™) [Definitely NOT a Benz]

I did drain the torque converter when I originally drained the old contaminated fluid.

Ok this is exactly what I am doing and yes it’s got a brand new radiator.

Thanks for the advice

Drain contaminated ATF

Fill transmission kerosene to flush it out, bump through the gears will in park so it can actually get all of the crud out, much cheaper than buying ATF over and over and a lot more effective at cleaning all the crap out.

I went through the same exact thing, except I panicked while you kept your cool.

You also most likely have to flush the cooling system, if it's contaminated as well, you don't need citric flush, just degreaser and dish washing machine powder, That stuff doesn't sud and cleans very well.

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1998 Ford Escort ZX2 5 speed - 279,000 miles My Daily

1992 Mercedes 300D 2.5 202,000 - Pure junk
2000 Mercedes E320 Black - 136,000 miles - Needs repair

Don't forget to grease the screw and threads on the spring compressor.

Don't use kerosene, it will only do more damage. Start the car, shift briefly into each gear, then drain, replace the filter and refill. Repeat until it runs clear.

kerosene wont do damage as long as its not driven, The water is in the pan and the torque converter mostly.

use the kero or buy a couple of cans of seafoam transtune (white can) and a pail of dex/merc ATF (NAPA or any store sell it under their own name for about 70 dollars for 5 gallons).

flush twice.

buy a can of kooler klean and flush the cooler backwards with it once you are done flushing out the old fluid from the discharge line of the cooler circuit.

tip: do the cooler flush midway in the process - reverse the cooler connections and let it flush backwards to flush out the trapped gunk inside it.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

Really? Show me one FSM or independent shop manual that recommends it. The transmission has a lot of friction components and plastics that may not like being soaked in solvent. And kerosene doesn't mix with water, so what's the point?

Exactly.

I can show you more than one transmission manual that advises putting NOTHING in an automatic transmission except the recommended transmission fluid.

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When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.

Kerosene in an automatic trans to flush it. That's a fantastic idea.

Kerosene is so harsh it will DESTROY those clutch discs. If you haven't taken apart an auto trans, you won't know delicate the materials are to fluids. Stay away from degreaser too and laundry powder. Degreaser eats away at metal and laundry powder will suds up everything and cause a bunch of aeration.

Spend the money and do it right with ATF. Change the filter. Use the citric flush and do it right.

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Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

Someone who doesn't know better might find that advice a little misleading.

Those of us who do know better know that the citric acid belongs in the cooling system if rust and corrosion are an issue.

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When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.

I know some old timers that recommend kerosene to clean out the transmissions in the past. But I think their wrong and straight up Kerosene while shifting through the gears is quite risky. Maybe mixture with clean ATF may clear out worn grime, but still I wouldn't risk it.

To the OP, this is what I would do:

-Go to WalMart. Buy 5 gallons of SuperTech Dextron/Mercon ATF for like $12 a gallon.

- Find a bucket that is deep enough and can fit under your raised car. You are going to mark out 3 quarts and if you can, a 6 quart line.

-Pull the driver's side trans cooler hose to the radiator and aim it into the marked up bucket.

-Pour 3 quarts of SuperTech trans fluid in the trans.

-Start the engine. With an assistant, allow the bucket to fill up to 3 quarts and then shut the engine down.

-Refill 3 more quarts, start engine and allow trans to fill bucket until the 6 quart line and then stop engine.

- Dump bucket and do the process over until you see clean fluid shooting out the cooler line.

- You may possibly drain out more than 3 quarts at a time, but be sure to not let the trans run dry.

- Now it shoots out pretty quickly, You may have time to shift through the gears while the fluid is shooting out.

-Once the fluid is shooting out clean. Reattach the cooler line and take it for a little spin to warm up the trans.

-Pull the pan clean it, replace the filter and drain the torque converter and fill it up with your desired fluid. Drive it and see how it runs.

This flush procedure is what I've done many times with many of my classic Mercedes for regular maintenance, although I never flushed 5 gallons in your situation -
Maybe 2 or 3 for regular maintenance. I think it does a better job in replacing ALL of the fluid instead of the usual drain and refill.


Good luck and I hope it turns out well.
.

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1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

when antifreeze mixes with oil or ATF it becomes jelly like blobs (as Ive seen in more than quite a new nissan xtrerra automatics).

The can of transtune you use in a flusher machine does the same job of kero. The bigger problem starts when you actually drive the car and the clutches try to bite with the water and fluid oil slurry, The water can steam off and literally wipe out the clutch friction. As long as the vehicle is stationary the atf movement is primarily through the torque converter and oil pump with very limited quantities in the valve body apply circuits as the manual valve is not allowing fluid to go into the shift apply worm tracks and eventually accumulators and apply pistons.

Once you get gel into those assemblies, its literally russian roulette with the txn - best tear it down and rebuild it.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

I’ve attached a photo of what’s coming out of the car. At first I thought even though I replaced the radiator and all the lines somehow water was still getting into the transmission but I verified that there is no coolant escaping anywhere

Is this normal when a radiator fails? I mean, I’m happy to keep filling this thing up and emptying it but it just doesn’t seem like that much water could’ve been in the transmission...

I put a little bit of fresh new transmission fluid next to what’s coming out of the car for reference

I just read someone posted a flush procedure it’s starting to look interesting

Attached Thumbnails

 

I'd use the method described by DeliveryValve until it runs clean. I'd also try to pump or gravity feed fresh ATF through the cooler in the radiator with both cooler lines disconnected.

Draining and refilling gets a lot of fluid out IF you drain converter but still not like pumping it through.

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer