ohyeah, i also dont have a dipstick, although i have no idea where it could be.. i cant belive somone one coudl loose one of these.. it was gone before i owned it.. my first though is water in the tranny, but how would it get there? surely there cant be enough water getting into the dipstickhole.. right?

It's water, rest assured..

This color is seen all the time in the marine field, often when a trans cooler goes bad (they're water cooled in marine apps...)

If the dipstick tube is displaced from the tranny case and you hit a good size puddle, viola water in trans... Also if the tube is in place, and only the stick is missing, i could certainly assume water will get in there if you wash your car, or drive \ park in the rain...

actually the auto tranny is water cooled too isnt it? i mean the line runs through the tranny, so i could also have a leak there too? but yeah im sure its sat in the rain and been washed several times like this.. i guess ill have to find a dipstick, i did grab one out of a 74 with a 350/350 but it didnt work, it was too long.. wich really annoyed me.

Typically, the trannie fluid under pressure will leak into the radiator if you have a problem there, and THEEE-OH-RET-IK-LY, will not go the other way but with the engine off and the radiator under pressure... I could see it happen.

Leaks aside, If the dipstick has been for a significant amount ot time moisture (condensation) can accumulate in the tranny and mix with the fluid when you start it. Get it changed immediately before you cause any permanent damage.

Tranny fluid can leak into the cooling system. The tranny fluid is under something like 60 PSI where as a radiator is about 13 PSI. You'll know it if the radiator cooler fails. Your coolant will look like what they call "strawberry milkshake". It will be a pink frothy mess.