Transmission heat exchanger line leak

Was doing oil change (2000 v8 DC 2wd) today and noticed a dripping on one of the trans heat exchanger line (bottom of radiator, drivers side). No pink milkshakes from where I can tell and transmission is working fine.
Trying to find knowledge on this issue. Has this happened to you? What’s the fix/next steps.
Thanks!

 

What is the age of the radiator? (although it does look newish in the pic). If over 10yrs or brownish at top I would replace. Could try snugging it up a hair yet I do not know if that is a good idea.

 

Those fittings are notorious for going bad, and as you know, resulting in pink milkshake. If you want insurance, you should be replacing the radiator with the timing belt/water pump/tensioner/pulleys every 100k miles/10 years.

More info on radiator situation is one of many topics over here, the thread I'm linking is a good community-created jumping-off point to get to know your truck.

 

Edit:
The radiator looks like it was replaced by the previous owner, the only record I can find it was done in 2009. The top is not brown which I assume means the radiator wasn’t overheated before

 

Timing belt, radiator, and non-OEM LBJ (or reusing LBJ hardware) are the top killers of these trucks. It appears from your pics that the trans cooler line fittings in the radiator have failed. Up to you on how you want to handle. Brand new OEM (Denso) radiator is around $130 from RockAuto, which seems to be one of the only online stores that knows how to ship without damaging 99% of the time. Just make sure you order for the correct cab type.

I’d go that route unless you have evidence to the contrary, i.e. it’s not the fitting leaking. I’m a firm believer in “never trust your PO to make the right parts choices unless you have clear evidence they chose wisely”. A lot of people proactively change the known-problematic parts if they don’t have proof the owner chose quality brands, or non-aftermarket. The sad reality is, aftermarket part quality has gone down the shitter in the last 10-15 years, and the service schedule Toyota provides for our trucks is ONLY valid if you use genuine OEM parts. Like, aftermarket LBJ? That’ll last you 5k-50k miles versus OEM that run 100-125k. Timing belt, same story. Radiator, same story.

 

Yeah, I'd rather do this before the strawberry milkshake was served. I believe

$188 DENSO 2210517 Denso 221-0517 Radiator

DENSO 2210517 is the right one for any 1st gen that has the 4.7 (at least that's what RockAuto's filter told me)

 

There’s a double cab model and “w/o double cab”.

Look up your part number at www.densoautoparts.com - never trust an auto parts store to tell you which Denso part is correct.

 

I posted this in what appears to be a duplicate by the OP.

Reposting here to include the pics:

Replace the radiator -- I'd advise doing it right away. You can get one from Rock Auto for about $120. These pics show the heat exchanger and the connections on both sides. This truck suffered a pink milkshake. See the crusty pink deposits on the one end? That's likely what's causing your leak. If the oxidation is sufficient enough to cause expansion, the inner o-ring will not seal properly.

 

And there is no way to replace the inner o-ring short of removing the tank.

 

A quick temporary fix (that could lead to a long term fix) is to completely bypass the radiator by joining the two tranny lines together with a doubled ended 1/4” barbed fitting (i’m just guessing a 1/4”. It might be 5/16” or 3/8”).

 

Update here: new Denso unit installed

 

Before you throw out the old radiator, it would be interesting to see some pics of the fitting that was leaking.

 

Mini-Storage workshop - that’s a new concept.

 

Too late, it's in the dumpster already. The pic u posted above is pretty much my best guess, either some coolant crust in the threads or a failed internal o-ring