HELP! Transmission slippage on a 2004 Sienna

[Toy_Dreamer]

I am going to keep this short and simple in hopes of advice from one of you. My father has a 2004 Sienna and he is having transmission issues. About a year ago we had the transmission checked out because it felt like it was slipping upon accelerating here and there, not all the time. When we got it back we found out there was coolant leaking into the transmission and vice versa and they had to replace the radiator. Everything seemed to be working fine until recently when the van starts to slip even more when accelerating. It doesn't happen all the time but when it does you definitely notice it. We received a quote on a transmission with 60,000 miles and it will cost him $3,000+! So now we are looking for something to do other than replacing it, unless that is the only thing to be done. The repair man also stated that there is nothing to be done if there is water or coolant leaking into the transmission because no matter how many times you flush the transmission you can't get all the coolant out.

If there is anything else that we can do to prolong this cost of a new transmission or if you have any suggestions please let me know!

Thank you!

Nate

[dandaman]

Based on your description you're pretty much looking at a new transmission. Bad transmission oil is the death knell for a transmission, the clutches and such probably wore out. You can certainly try something cheap like changing the fluid again but running with water in there will rapidly destroy the friction material which causes the slipping.