Why not more t/c drains?

[Tommyboy]

My '97 Expedition has a little torque converter drain plug. I think it's fantastic! why not more, if not all cars have these? Sure is a great way to get rid of almost all the old fluid!
Although... a tranny pan drain plug woulda been appreciated!
Cheers!
Tom

 

[Colt45ws]

Because car manufacturers would prefer you to leave it in for life. Ford decontented the T/C plugs around 2001ish.

 

[artificialist]

That, or the dealership wants to service the transmission with a flush machine only.

 

[Herz]

or they want you to bring it in to make more money too.

 

[unDummy]

Drill/tap TC and purchase drain plug..... x millions of vehicles=someone's corporate bonus

Because its cheaper to have less PN's in a vehicle. Drainplugs, dipsticks, zerk fittings........ dodo bird?

 

[mechtech2]

What if you drill and tap into a vane? And even if you get lucky,what about the thin sheet metal holding the threads of the bolt? You need a boss to screw into.
DON'T DRILL INTO A TORQUE CONVERTER!

 

[unDummy]

Noone said to drill into the TC. Its the automakers method of reducing cost. Every mfg step and PN reduced on the assembly line adds to the bottom line.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
What if you drill and tap into a vane? And even if you get lucky,what about the thin sheet metal holding the threads of the bolt? You need a boss to screw into.
DON'T DRILL INTO A TORQUE CONVERTER!


Back when 99% of the cars on the road had one of six different transmissions, most tranny overhaul shops did not replace the torque converter when the tranny was overhauled. A good reputable shop had a machine that flushed out the torque converter. Now if you were doing a GM tranny that did not have a plug in the torque converter, you drilled a hole in the torque converter, (using a special jug that showed you where to drill) threaded it and screwed a plug into it. You then were able to hook your flush machine up to it and get it cleaned on the inside. (Of course, the torque converter was on the bench hooked up to this machine and not in the car)
No, I wouldn't recommend this today as torque converters are probably thinner then they were 30+ years ago and the best repair is to use a rebuilt torque converter.

 

[JTK]

As anal as I am, I wouldn't touch a TC drain plug if my vehicles even had one. IMO worrying about draining the TC during a normal ATF service is like tearing down your engine and completely wiping clean all the internal nooks and crannies during an engine oil change. Why touch it when a fluid exchange accomplishes the same thing?

Joel

 

[Gary Allan]

You could save a decent amount of fluid. No mixing oil:new in the converter itself. So, you drain the cooler circuit ..the converter ..and the pan ...add until full ..warm ..run through gears ..top off.

 

[Loobed]

Hwy no TC drains?

1) A drain plug on the T/C would cost more money. Bean counters don't like it.

2) It would cause problem if someone did not install it right and it flung oil on the catalytic converters and caused a fire, which would insure a lawsuit (remember the Pinto and Exploder).

3) installing it incorrectly would cause the TC to be off-balance and cause vibration.

 

[Colt45ws]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
No, I wouldn't recommend this today as torque converters are probably thinner then they were 30+ years ago and the best repair is to use a rebuilt torque converter.

Not really. http://www.p71interceptor.com/tranny/converter/
I think the primary reason they need to be rebuilt is because of the lockup clutch.

 

[JustinH]

I had a 98 f150 with the 4r70w automatic. When you rotate the crank to see the torque converter drain bolt through the inspection hole, drain it..

The torque converter holds quite a lot of fluid!

 

[mechanicx]

In my opinion all ATs should have a TC drain plug along with a pan drain plug and a screw on filter. Notice that none of them have all three, few had 2 and I don't think any had all 3. I don't think even saturns had a converter drain.

 

[mechtech2]

unDummy - Your admonition to "drill/tap TC", and then saying , "no one said to drill into the TC" doesn't make sense to me.

 

[mechanicx]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
unDummy - Your admonition to "drill/tap TC", and then saying , "no one said to drill into the TC" doesn't make sense to me.


I took him to meant for the OEM to drill and tap the TC, not to do it after manufacture. OEM would be able to punch a hole and weld a nut on and balance the assembly where afterwards you couldn't. I don't mean to get in the middle, it's just how I read what he meant

.

 

[unDummy]

Read the WHOLE sentence.
Drill/tap TC and purchase drain plug..... x millions of vehicles=someone's corporate bonus

Let me rephrase it to make it easier to understand:

Drill and tap the TC "+" cost of the drain plug "X"(times) millions of vehicles "=" corporate bonus!

So, you now see that every PN and every manufacturing step that is removed, saves money. Or, in reality, is more money the board of directors has to distribute elsewhere.

 

[mechanicx]

Originally Posted By: unDummy
Read the WHOLE sentence.
Drill/tap TC and purchase drain plug..... x millions of vehicles=someone's corporate bonus

Let me rephrase it to make it easier to understand:

Drill and tap the TC "+" cost of the drain plug "X"(times) millions of vehicles "=" corporate bonus!

So, you now see that every PN and every manufacturing step that is removed, saves money. Or, in reality, is more money the board of directors has to distribute elsewhere.



that was my understanding of what you said. I'm sure you knew I was agreeing and you just replied to me out of convinience lol

.

 

[mechtech2]

Actually, undummy's first post was clear in context.
I read it too fast.

 

[Rand]

my car has the transmission pan drain plug. I am planning on yearly drains. It removes about 40% of the fluid so by doing it yearly it never gets nasty and Its about 15$ in oem fluid to do it.