What is this, and why was it laying in my transmission pan??

[murphmobile2]

Just curious, lol.

And when I removed my valve body to install my shift improver kit, the transmission drained another five quarts. Should it have drained all the fluid that easily? I was told I should only lose about a pint of fluid... not over a gallon lol.

Not that I'm complaining that it drained the fluid, more reason to change all of it now... but I am curious why it lost so much.

[Dereck]

Hi MurphMobile2

It is a bung put in at the factory to stop dirt falling into the transmission before they fit the dipstick tube, when they fit the dipstick tube they just push it into the transmission.

It is a sign the transmission iol has never been changed.

Regards

Dereck

[murphmobile2]

Sweet... I didn't think it was ever changed before lol.

Atleast it's nothing to worry about!

[Enigma]

Sweet... I didn't think it was ever changed before lol.
Atleast it's nothing to worry about!

Never been changed and how many miles are on it.??? What color was the fluid.?

[Lincolnmania]

the floater of doom!

[murphmobile2]

101600 miles as of today, lol.

It was very... very... VERY maroon lol. I used 8 1/2 quarts Valvoline MaxLife and a bottle of Lucas. I had a B&M Shift Improver kit that's been in my room for about three years, so I took out the valve body and installed the kit. Just for the hell of it, lol.

But it seems like the rpm's are floating at about 45 when you have it floored, and it doesn't want to shift unless you let off the gas. It also revs a little before it goes into gear if you floor it at 35. You can slightly hit the gas when you're in gear and it revs a little too. Feels like the TV rod is out of adjustment, so I'm going to look into that tomorrow.

[gadget73]

Congrats, you popped a virgin. Trans pan holds about 4-6 quarts, but pulling the VB will dump some more out. Total capacity is about 12 quarts if you do it properly and drain the torque converter. With an old trans, it may be safer to not drain the converter. Were there any debris in the bottom of the pan, and did the fluid smell burned or anything? If not, you'll probably be fine. When the fluid is black and the pan is full of junk, changing the fluid brings on death.

Did you replace the valve body gasket after removing the VB? Is it torqued properly? The AOD is real touchy about that, if that gasket isn't sealed properly it won't shift right at all. The fluid level also has to be right, it should be checked hot at idle after running the selector through the gears.

[murphmobile2]

The fluid did smell a tad burnt. Suprisingly very little gunk in the fluid though. And I didn't drain the TC. VB gasket is replaced, and the bolts are torqued.

I'll check my fluid levels again tomorrow too.

[uwantbreadbai]

I went to Tire Plus yesterday to have them change and flush the coolant and tranny fluid, but they told me it would be better to not change the transmission fluid because it hadn't been done before, and the car has about 130k miles I think.

[Pirate]

Just curious, lol.

And when I removed my valve body to install my shift improver kit, the transmission drained another five quarts. Should it have drained all the fluid that easily? I was told I should only lose about a pint of fluid... not over a gallon lol.

Not that I'm complaining that it drained the fluid, more reason to change all of it now... but I am curious why it lost so much.

When you drop the valve body, the pressure valve in the valve body holding back most of the fluid in the front pump and convertor is no longer able to keep the fluid in, as dropping the VB breaks the seal between the VB and tranny case. The fluid then falls out into the drain pan, with the only remnants being trace amounts in various circuits and the few remaining quarts in the convertor below the snout.
Being that there is around 12 quarts in a regular AOD...you still missed 3 or 4 in the convertor...however, in most stock convertors, there is also a drain plug you can yank to clear almost all of the fluid out of an AOD, which is what you want to do when doing a fluid change, anyway....

[Pirate]

I went to Tire Plus yesterday to have them change and flush the coolant and tranny fluid, but they told me it would be better to not change the transmission fluid because it hadn't been done before, and the car has about 130k miles I think.

Ditto. It's dead, the transmission simply doesn't know it yet.

[P72Ford]

I do not understand why people don't drain the converter. Remove the inspection cover, and take the plug out. There is no reason not to do it; pitch the car a little to get as much fluid out as possibly, if you're anal like me.

[Enigma]

Nah, not 100% that it's dead. He could be one of the very few that lucks out. But, all the mechanics I know say the same thing. If it's over 100k and never been changed, don't touch it. Odds are that will be the end of it.
Two people I know that had their first transmission fluid change after 100k miles both had dead transmissions within 3 months, or sooner.

[LTDMan83]

My old Box was at 140K, and the fluid / filter had never been changed. Evidenced at the time by the original bung still rolling around in the pan. The ATF smelled slightly burnt as well.

I fully drained all the fluid, including the converter, flushed it, and then changed the filter and pan gasket. Worked like new, and shifted perfectly, I felt lucky that time.

Seeing my success at the time, my buddy with his '94 Ranger did the same to his tranny, which also had never been maintenanced in over 100K. I think his tranny lasted for about 3 days afterwards before shitting the bed.

[cld783]

Ditto. It's dead, the transmission simply doesn't know it yet.

hahaha..