'93 Chevy Van

[theaddictedchef]

Here we go......

One of the chef's I work with has a '93 Chevy Van.  He's a super good dude from Austria and I've learned a ton from him in the kitchen.  Anyway....his coolant resevoir is filled with tranny fluid.  I looked at it and the same in the radiator.  There is this frothy white foam that is built up around the radiator cap.  I am confident that it isn't engine oil and 98% sure it's tranny fluid.  He said he took it to his mechanic and they replaced the radiator but the problem is still there and now the van is shifting very hard into 2nd gear. 

What's causing this?  Does he need a new tranny?  How do I find where it is leaking from? 

His English isn't great and it's hard to get a clear picture on how things are running.  He is a good dude and I want to help him and don't want to see him get smoked by his mechanic.  I might be able to do the work for him and need to understand a little more about what's happening. 

Any help would be great and thanks!

[bake74]

     This is normally caused by the transmission line(s), that go inside the radiator, to cool the transmission, leaking and mixing the fluids.
     You said they replaced the radiator, did they do a flush of the "whole" engine cooling system ?  They should have, but if not then the leak might be fixed but your engine cooling system has been contaminated.
     The hard shifting in trans, same thing did they flush the transmission system and refill with new fluid ?
     This would be my first questioning, then go from there.

[theaddictedchef]

Thanks Bake.  Gonna call him and ask some questions. 

Appreciate the reply!