Rear Oil Pan

[88Vic]

On my Mustang I was tightening up the bolt to what I thought was the trans oil pan and I stripped the threads and it leaked like crazy. I just forked over the money and paid my mechanic to do it, along with change the diff oil. I looked on the work order when I picked it up today and it said rear oil pan replacement. I thought there was only one oil pan and a trans pan. The one that needed replacing was right by where the driveshaft connects to the transmission. Is that a rear oil pan? If so then do I need to undo that plug every time I change the oil? And also where is the trans oil pan and where do I add trans oil?

[mrltd]

Spound like you broke the tailshaft/extension housing.

The pans are as described- PANS. Stamped sheetmetal. They are mounted on the horizontal plane. The rear diff cover could be considered a Pan I guess, and since you had him change the fluid, that's the only really good way to actually remove all the fluid-Removing the diff cover.

[gadget73]

There is no drainplug on the transmission pan, at least on an automatic. You have to remove the pan with fluid in it, and do so in a way that attempts to reduce the amount of fluid you shower in. I don't think manuals have a pan, they just have a drain plug and a fill plug usually. The diff has a fill plug, no drain plug. Cover is removed to drain the oil from it.The engine oil pan has 2 drain plugs on it though, and both must be removed to do an oil change.

[88Vic]

After a second look I may be more retarded than I thought. Looks like what I tried tightening was in fact an engine oil pan but a second on behind the front oil pan right next to the crank pulley. So does this mean it has 2 engine oil pans? If it does then i'd need to remove both bolts for an oil change right? And now the question is: where is the trans oil pan and where do I add tranny oil?

Edit after reading Gadgets post: yeah mine is a T-5, going by what you say I was right after my second look (in a non stupid and panniced state from rapidly loosing oil) by noticing the engine oil pan has 2 bolts. I already know about the diff that you need to remove the cover and fill it from a fill plug on the top of the diff (at least it's on the top in my trucks I haven't looked in the Mustang). And so apparently there is no transmission oil pan for my manual, just a drain plug which I haven't located and a fill point which I also haven't located.

Thanks for the quick responses, makes me very grateful to have this Ford tech on tap.

[RunUoveR]

i think it'll do you alot of good to have other people work on your mustang for now on

[packman]

Nah, some people got to break things in order to learn how to do things right. Also helps to have a buddy (or father in my case) who actually knows what they're doing when you (me too) break sumtin.

88Vic, what year is your Mustang again?



Packman

[85MercPark]

Nah, some people got to break things in order to learn how to do things right. Also helps to have a buddy (or father in my case) who actually knows what they're doing when you (me too) break sumtin.
Packman

+1 Breakin is learnin...

Just follow the "half a turn before it breaks" rule...

[Enigma]

if it breaks, it needed replacing anyway.

[P72Ford]

On your car, there is only one oil pan. It has two sumps, and two drain plugs. The both need to be drained when changing the oil.

A stick shift car has no transmission pan. There is a drain plug, and a fill plug. To change the fluid you take out the drain plug. To fill, find out how much oil you need (and what type; some sticks use auto fluid), and fill through the fill hole.

[88Vic]

Yeah i'm guessing that bolt was done for anyways, but on the bright side my oil pan no longer leaks as it needed a new gasket anyways so now I can get good oil instead of the cheap stuff since it won't run out on me. Also I had my diff oil changed, and he told me it's a limited slip, score!

And now all I need to do is find the trans oil fill point and drain plug. And btw the car is an 87, no E6SE heads for me lol.

[Nathan in MI]

The fill plug should be about midway(ish) up on the side of the trans case. Get under there with a flashlight so you can actually see what you're looking at, and you shouldn't have any problem finding it.

And I'll agree with the others - breaking things is an excellent, albeit expensive, way to learn.