[JimBiggs]

Hey Guys,
First off, this is not a Challenger problem but am looking for advice/knowledge.
I have an '03 Acura 1.7 (basically a Civic). My daughter called me last week when I was out of town. She said the car was reving high and barely moving. I knew it was the transmission. I asked her if there was fluid on the ground and there was. I was hoping it was just a hose or line. She got the car towed home and after looking at it I realized that the fitting going into the radiator (radiator also is the transmission cooler) was rusted off. When I tried to remove the fitting from the rad, I noticed it was coolant coming from the fitting. A "mechanic" I know said the rad was screwed and that it must have leaked coolant into the transmission cooler.
Does that make sense and if so - would I have coolant in the transmission? I am going to take out the drain plug for the transmission but should I also try to flush the transmission? If so, how? I already ordered a new rad..

 

[Hal H]

The transmission might be shot, since its likely it ran low of ATF - based on the symptoms.

Often the trans would be filled with fluid, run with cooler line disconnected and top off fluid as its pumped out.

You'd probably have to drop the pad on the tranny to see how it looks inside - if it had coolant contamination it might look milky inside.

 

[JimBiggs]

So I got the new rad. I pulled the drain plug on the transmission, I received a bit of hope because (1) there was fluid left in the transmission and (2) it was just straight transmission fluid - no coolant.
So installed the new radiator, topped up the transmission fluid and the coolant. Fired up the car and let it warm up, went through the gears and took it out and it seems to be working fine. Thank God!