tranny drain plug

[savvarock]

I know our trannys aren't supposed to have drain plugs. My '70 does. I know some guys that have them. I was told that there was a "punch out" where you can add a bolt for drainage. Does anybody have any info on this subject?

[stangeba]

My 71 350 has one. As few times as people changed the trans fluid and filter they saved some money and dropped it. I think a nut is welded to the inside of mine. Don't know if the work is worth it.

Bruce

[savvarock]

Stangeba, did it come like that or did you do it to your car?

[stangeba]

It had one from the factory and since I'm the original owner I know where it's been.

Bruce

[savvarock]

Thanks for the info. I wonder if mine came like that or was it done at a later date.

[chevygod]

On my 71 TH350, it has a factory drain plug, I believe it is mentioned in the glove box manual. My 72 TH350 did not, so I got a pan from a 71 Impala with a plug. I don't know what my 70 TH400 has, I will look tonight/tomorrow if I remember. But, yes, from my original, stock cars, it is correct for a 71 TH350 to have it and a 72 TH350 to not.

 

Best regards,

Tom

[savvarock]

Hey Tom, just looked at my owners manual and you were right. Page 58, "it is not necessary to remove the pan because a drain plug is provided". I went by what the Haynes and Chilton manual said (no plug). I would have never thought of looking at the owners manual. I recently changed my tranny oil and noticed the plug. That's why I was curious. I would still recommend dropping the pan beacause the plug doesn't allow all of the fluid to come out and you don't know what's sitting on the bottom. It sure makes it a heck of alot easier to drop the pan though. Thanks.

[stangeba]

I remember the first time I removed the pan to change the fluid and filter, the filter screen was torn! It's got 145,000 miles now and other than leaking a bit still works great!

What fluid do you put into them now? In the 70's it was either red for Fords or the GM stuff. Don't know about Chrysler.

Bruce

[savvarock]

I put ATF DEXRON III MERCON. The back of the bottle says GM approved DEXRON III and Ford approved MERCON. I changed my tranny filter and gasket because everything looked wet underneath the car. I cleaned everything up but my main seal is seeping. It's not leaving a mark on the ground but it's annoying. I'll get to it one day.

[Guest]

Have any of you ever put magnets in the bottom of the pan to catch the big pieces of junk? I've heard pros and cons on doing this.

 

[502ci]

I have magnetic plugs tranny, oil, and rearend.

 

Just check them often so a "bad" thing doesn`t happen...a bunch of gathered metal doesn`t decide on moving all at once.

 

Hopefully there is no metal to begin with.

 

[Guest]

I can't imagine any "cons" to having a magnet in the pan. Most factory setup have one.

 

If you don't have a drain plug, you can buy a kit from Summit Racing (for less thatn $10 I think).

[502ci]

I can't imagine any "cons" to having a magnet in the pan.

The only con is when the magnet has collected alot of metal and cannot hold anymore and then however it happens (bump, impact, fluid pressure) all the collected metal comes loose and is now flowing as a dangerous mass that would of never happened if a magnet wouldn`t of brought it all together in the first place.

 

[AndyBill402]

I put a large round magnet in the bottom of my transmission pan. I got it from an Electronic surplus catalog. I put the magnet where I wanted it to go, and then used J-B Weld to glue the edges to the pan. It's never moved. So far, all I've caught is some slime.

 

I've also got FilterMags on my oil filter. These things are worth every penny. They work exactly as advertised. If I'm not mistaken, FilterMag also has a flat tranny magnet now.

[Kliegl]

.

[Guest]

Quote:

...all the collected metal comes loose and is now flowing as a dangerous mass that would of never happened if a magnet wouldn`t of brought it all together in the first place.

[/QB]

But seriously, how likely is this? The kind of shock required to dislodge the bundle of metal from the magnet would mean you probably had a pretty serious accident anyway, besides, the metal would simply fall back to the magnet - especially since the fluid probably wouldn't be flowing anymore. And maybe you wouldn't care at that point anyway! The benefits definitely outweigh any possible, remote risk.

[502ci]

Quote:

But seriously, how likely is this? The kind of shock required to dislodge the bundle of metal from the magnet would mean you probably had a pretty serious accident anyway, besides, the metal would simply fall back to the magnet - especially since the fluid probably wouldn't be flowing anymore. And maybe you wouldn't care at that point anyway! The benefits definitely outweigh any possible, remote risk.

I was showing "the con" (worst case scenario) to you, also I stated several posts before that...

 

"I have magnetic drain plugs tranny, oil, and rearened."

 

So I do believe they work and out way the bad.

 

[MI_Custumz]

Just changed the trans fluid and filter. There was a slit in the rubber gasket that was on the car. I knew it was leaking from the front of the pan and now I know why. The drain plug is slowly leaking when I torqued it to 12lbs. So I gave her another 1/4 turn and we will see what happens. The same thing is happening around the oil drain plug, not enough to worry me too much. The washer between the drain plug and pan is a plastic type material and has a slice in it. I need to change the oil next month (every 3 months) so I plan on replacing it. Are they easy to find and exactly what are they called?