This part was lying in my trans. pan

avyctes · Post by **avyctes** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:17 pm

I've been dealing with a leaky tranny pan that started leaking about a year after I had it serviced at Aamco (fluid and filter). Since cash has been tight lately I decided to fix this problem myself this weekend (got an early start).

Anyway, when I got the pan off just now this part was lying in the bottom of it. This is a C6 transmission in a '72 Ford F100 (I believe someone swapped the motor and trans. out at some point).

This part is 6 7/8" long, shaped like a long slim plunger with a circular part on one end with an o-ring around the middle of it (this round end is about 3/4" diameter). It's of plastic construction. I really need to know what this little thing is, where it goes back in at, and how important it's supposed to be (obviously it's not catastrophic as I've been driving the truck for X amount of time with it lying in the pan). Could this have come out by itself (a keeper came loose), or would this have been left out when they were doing the filter/fluid job, merely forgotten in the pan?

Thanks in advance for any info.

PS, I'll try to post a pic. Tried before and kept getting a 'forbidden' error, so I'm just going to get this description up at least.
Regards, chris.

avyctes · Post by **avyctes** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:20 pm

Still won't allow me to attach this pic. Are pics not allowed on this forum? I may try ftp the pic to my ISP space, and link to it.

avyctes · Post by **avyctes** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:23 pm

spartman · Post by **spartman** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:28 pm

That is a factory plug.

it is placed in the fill port to keep junk out of the tranny until they get it installed and put the fill tube in.

These are harmless and show that your transmission shop did not drop the pan to change the fluid.

avyctes · Post by **avyctes** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:50 pm

Thanks for the quick reply. I can proceed now!

Post by **FORDification** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:09 pm

Right, it's just a shipping plug. When the filler tube is installed later, the plug is just pushed down into the bottom of the pan where it will sit harmlessly until the transmission is serviced. Seeing that in your pan probably means your transmission has never had the pan off....it's a virgin!

ezernut9mm · Post by **ezernut9mm** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:51 pm

sell it on e-bay. make sure you use the word "rare" alot in the description. should bring big bux.

fordman · Post by **fordman** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 6:17 am

one of those would be good for shipping a used transmission.

avyctes · Post by **avyctes** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 8:38 am

Cool. So sounds to me like when I had my fluid and filter changed these guys just let my truck sit in the que area for a day, then called me and said it was ready to go... Figures.

Odd that this thing has stayed in there this long without someone replacing the filter and saying 'Huh, he don't need this in here' and pitching it out.

Thanks guys. I'm more a WW2 gun afficionado, but I do love old Ford trucks. This is my first transmission fluid/filter job, as I've always taken it to have it serviced. Just wish those Ford engineers had thought of drain plugs!

fordman · Post by **fordman** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 6:37 pm

ah but you cant change the filter without taking the pan off anyway. so they saved the drain plug money when they built the truck. they do make after market drain plugs that you can install in the pan real easy though.

avyctes · Post by **avyctes** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:56 am

How do the drain plugs install, and are they leak proof? I actually looked at an aluminum pan with heat dispersing vent ribs and a drain plug, like $168 or so. I was like, 'eh, I'll deal with the aggravation at that cost'...

fordman · Post by **fordman** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:55 pm

i think they would be leak proof if installed correct ly. i dont know how you could install it wrong though. i think you just drill a hole in the pan and put the bolt put in the pan and it sercures on the inside of the pan with a nut on the bolt part. then to drain the pan you take the inner bolt out to drain it.

Post by **FORDification** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:47 pm

But the only problem with one of those add-on drains is that you can't get all of the fluid out. There's going to always be at least as much fluid remaining as the depth the drain extends into the pan...probably at least 1/4".

Now...if you promised yourself that the only reason you'd install a drain plug in a stock pan was to get as much fluid out before dropping the pan, then it would be acceptable IMO. Otherwise, it would be comparable to taking a shower and then putting your dirty underwear back on.

carnuck · Post by **carnuck** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 3:12 pm

They probably just tapped into the line going to the cooler and changed the fluid (if they did anything at all)

The_Eman · Post by **The_Eman** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 3:24 pm

Sorry to say this but I wouldn't let Amaco wash my windshield. They'd f**k that up too. They rebuilt a transmission for me about 20 years ago for a pretty penny. Took me months to come up with the money. The tranny went bad again after about 4 months and they wouldn't take responsibility. I'm still very bitter about this.

Amaco = Earl Schieb = Maaco = Crap

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This part was lying in my trans. pan

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