transmission pan with a drain plug
#1
03-20-2010, 03:50 PM
transmission pan with a drain plug
I changed my trans filter today, (thanks for the 165in lbs torque info from this forum) on my 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT v6 3.8L
and while I was getting messy anyway, I bought a new pan and had a drain plug welded on. I did this so I didn't have to try and find someone who would weld it for me when I had the van sitting on the ramps with no pan on.
prep, might want to put some old card board down, to help catch any fluid that misses your drain pan
took about 2 hrs, spent 10mins trying to find my 10mm socket and about 45mins to beat the old pan off with the rubber mallet and a block of wood, as soon as I was able to get the first drip out, then I could put the putty knife in to help brake the seal
first you want to loosen all the bolts and I removed all the bolts except for the 4 corners, the 2 corner bolts towards the back of the vehicle I loosened about half way out, and the front corner bolts only loosened slightly, reason is as soon as you break the seal the pan will not drop but drain a little slower, then you slowly remove the bolts
the fluid in pan was pretty dark/black in color, which surprised me since on the dipstick looked just slightly brown
then I took the filter off and made sure to PULL the old o-ring off, put the new Mopar filter with o-ring on back in place making sure to hear it click in.
cleaned off the old rtv sealant on the bottom of the transmission wiped up splatter fluid, pull the magnet out of the old pan, had about 1/4 inch of very fine metal particles, put the magnet in the new pan, put a bead of mopar rtv atf sealant all the way around the pan and circle the bolts
and laying there with it balanced on one hand, I took my clean rag and wiped the spot in the rear of the trans where the fluid still slowly dripped, and I wiped the inside at that same spot, then quickly held the pan up and it stuck pretty good, and was aligned right on the first push, then I put 4 bolts in (each corner) hand snugged, then I installed rest of the bolts, alternated tightening
I then measured the fluid I had in the pan, just under 4qts, add some for spillage, so I put 4 qts in, started the van, let it sit in park for a few mins then I went through the gears, checked the fluid, looked ok for the fluid still being cold, then I went to the dump to recycle the oil, checked the fluid when I got there, and added 1/4qt more to top off,
got home, parked it No Leaks yeah
here are some pics of my pan,
also pic shows hammer being used, that is just the location that I put a putty knife in to help break the seal
100_8202.jpg?t=1269169602
100_8198.jpg?t=1269169608
100_8195.jpg?t=1269169613
100_8249.jpg?t=1269169627
and while I was getting messy anyway, I bought a new pan and had a drain plug welded on. I did this so I didn't have to try and find someone who would weld it for me when I had the van sitting on the ramps with no pan on.
prep, might want to put some old card board down, to help catch any fluid that misses your drain pan
took about 2 hrs, spent 10mins trying to find my 10mm socket and about 45mins to beat the old pan off with the rubber mallet and a block of wood, as soon as I was able to get the first drip out, then I could put the putty knife in to help brake the seal
first you want to loosen all the bolts and I removed all the bolts except for the 4 corners, the 2 corner bolts towards the back of the vehicle I loosened about half way out, and the front corner bolts only loosened slightly, reason is as soon as you break the seal the pan will not drop but drain a little slower, then you slowly remove the bolts
the fluid in pan was pretty dark/black in color, which surprised me since on the dipstick looked just slightly brown
then I took the filter off and made sure to PULL the old o-ring off, put the new Mopar filter with o-ring on back in place making sure to hear it click in.
cleaned off the old rtv sealant on the bottom of the transmission wiped up splatter fluid, pull the magnet out of the old pan, had about 1/4 inch of very fine metal particles, put the magnet in the new pan, put a bead of mopar rtv atf sealant all the way around the pan and circle the bolts
and laying there with it balanced on one hand, I took my clean rag and wiped the spot in the rear of the trans where the fluid still slowly dripped, and I wiped the inside at that same spot, then quickly held the pan up and it stuck pretty good, and was aligned right on the first push, then I put 4 bolts in (each corner) hand snugged, then I installed rest of the bolts, alternated tightening
I then measured the fluid I had in the pan, just under 4qts, add some for spillage, so I put 4 qts in, started the van, let it sit in park for a few mins then I went through the gears, checked the fluid, looked ok for the fluid still being cold, then I went to the dump to recycle the oil, checked the fluid when I got there, and added 1/4qt more to top off,
got home, parked it No Leaks yeah
here are some pics of my pan,
also pic shows hammer being used, that is just the location that I put a putty knife in to help break the seal
100_8202.jpg?t=1269169602
100_8198.jpg?t=1269169608
100_8195.jpg?t=1269169613
100_8249.jpg?t=1269169627
Last edited by trophyslayer; 03-21-2010 at 01:21 PM.
#2
03-21-2010, 10:01 AM
#3
03-21-2010, 10:58 AM
#4
03-21-2010, 12:53 PM
#5
03-21-2010, 12:57 PM
the drain plug has a magnet on it i had a fabricator from a website order the pan, drill the hole and weld the bung(the threads on the outside of pan)
then he painted it
seending a pm about price and where I got it,
but it basicly looks like one of the 8$ drain plug kits you can get from the auto parts store, and have someone weld it onto a new pan, or your pan when you get it off
anyone interested in info, feel free to send a message
#6
03-23-2010, 08:05 PM
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For the GC I usually drain, refill, drive, drain, remove pan, change filter, replace pan, refill. This is the procedure recommended in the FSM and gives around 75% fluid change. On an interim basis I will do a partial fluid change without changing the filter which is trivial with the exrtractor.
#7
03-23-2010, 09:50 PM
Sounds a bit excessive. I prefer a fluid extractor which can drain the pan through the dipstick tube. More economical if you have more than one vehicle, can be used for future vehicles as well and best of all no mess.
For the GC I usually drain, refill, drive, drain, remove pan, change filter, replace pan, refill. This is the procedure recommended in the FSM and gives around 75% fluid change. On an interim basis I will do a partial fluid change without changing the filter which is trivial with the exrtractor.
For the GC I usually drain, refill, drive, drain, remove pan, change filter, replace pan, refill. This is the procedure recommended in the FSM and gives around 75% fluid change. On an interim basis I will do a partial fluid change without changing the filter which is trivial with the exrtractor.
I have one I use for my jeep but it didn't work to good on the van, seemed my tube kept hitting the filter, so that's why I decided on the drain plug
I also just used the drain plug after driving it for 3days, took less then 10mins to drain and refill