ATF in coolant - need advice
So I take one of my '88 300 SEL's in for an ATF change and when I go to pick it up, he says there was a lot of "condensation" in the old fluid and they weren't sure if it was water or coolant. Next stop - radiator specialist who says yep that's ATF in the coolant reservoir.
So I take it over to my local indy who looks up a new radiator, $200 for a Behr, sounds good... but then he starts talking about needing to replace the thermostat and hoses --- "ATF can really chew those hoses up and the thermostat gets all gummed up" --- even though I just replaced all that a couple months ago when doing the water pump.
So is it really necessary to replace that stuff even though it's all new and it's going to be flushed with some kind of a cleaner to get the ATF out?
Also, would I be advised to change out the ATF again even if the car has only gone about 15 miles since the ATF change for fear of the coolant contaminating it again?
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(2) 1988 300 SEL W126
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