Would you prefer all trans pans have a drain plug?

[OneEyeJack]

I wonder how the dealers and repair shops feel about low/no maintenance upgrades like sealed automatic transmissions with no dipstick?

Look at the difference in maintenance between a 1950 auto and a 2017. You won't see a 2017 vehicle on a gas station lift (even if they still existed) every 2K miles with a teenager chasing zerk fittings with a notebook containing a chart showing all the lubrication points while the engine oil is draining.

For me, buying a new car, a sealed transmission with no dipstick and a complicated workaround to attempt a fluid level check might just be a deal breaker. I'm not ready to give up my home garage habits, yet.

 

[Merkava_4]

Get you a cement mixing tub.

 

[Ammofirst]

Why no external filter for these things? Total B.S.

 

[4WD]

Only had one in four with no drain plug and put one in - all "cold work"

 

[Lubener]

No drain plug will make it necessary to drop the pan, clean it out and install a new filter. Would also be a possible leak point.

 

[4WD]

You guys who are "cleaning out pans" must be running fluids a long time - nothing to do with me.

 

[L_Sludger]

I want a big fat Chrysler style dipstick tube suitable for fluid suck out and refill

 

[dlundblad]

Dorman makes those pans with the drain plugs. I am thinking about adding one to the truck.

 

[tig1]

Both of my Ford Fusions have drain plugs.

 

[Barkleymut]

my 09 FORD Flex has a drain plug, love it.

Wish my Saturn had one, especially since its about time to change the trans fluid.

 

[marine65]

My 06 Sentra has a drain plug.
Easy as pie.
4 quarts out and 4 quarts in.
just like changing the oil.
just scoot the drain pan over about a foot a let it go.

 

[Sierra048]

YES! YES! A THOUSAND TIMES YES. I too have my eye on a new tranny pan with a drain plug from Summit Racing for my GMC with 6L80E.

 

[fdcg27]

It is a nice feature on those cars that have it.
Even if you intend to drop the pan, it's nice to be able to drain it first.
OTOH, aside from members of boards like this one, this would be of no benefit to most owners.
You also occasionally hear of people draining the ATF thinking they were draining the oil and then filling the crankcase with what would be the recommended amount of oil after a drain.
Seems a little lame to confuse the two pans as well as to be unable to figure out that it was ATF draining out and not engine oil, but it has happened and there's even a thread about someone doing this here, should anyone care to bother searching for it.

 

[Rolla07]

Originally Posted By: clinebarger
They get over torqued so often either causing a leak, Damaging the thread where I can't get it to seal after a service, Or the head is rounded off making it no use to me.


This happened to me on my Corolla...I hate the crush washer, hard to know how tight to go...wish the atf drain plug was same as oil plug..less likely to overtighten or strip.

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Both of my Ford Fusions have drain plugs.

Our 2017 2.3 EB Explorer is the first vehicle we've owned that has a transmission drain plug, What a treat

! Changing the ATF is easier and less messy than changing the engine oil and filter. Although those are also easier to change than in any vehicle I can recall doing it in for the last 45 years

. Our 2005 Explorer goes to the mechanic to get the messy ATF pan drop change and new filter, around every 25-30,000 miles. That's not something you do laying on the ground

.

Whimsey

 

[Linctex]

The internal trans filter is just a rock catcher.
I hear "no better than 100 micron" used a lot, and I believe it.

I have an aux cooler, and also a Baldwin BT839-10 (10 micron, HUGE filter) in the line going back to the trans.

When I need to change out 6 quarts, I just spin the filter off and idle while draining into a bucket until it makes bubbles. Then spin filter on and add fluid. So easy. Takes 5 minutes or less.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: Sierra048
YES! YES! A THOUSAND TIMES YES. I too have my eye on a new tranny pan with a drain plug from Summit Racing for my GMC with 6L80E.



I hear based on where the cross beam and exhaust is that isn't an easy job-to drop the pan or certainly put a different one on.

Just FYI.

 

[NYEngineer]

My wife's Kia Sorento has a drain plug on the trans pan. My stepson decided he was going to change the oil in my wife's car once and I really didn't want him touching it. Anyway, he drained the trans fluid and poured four quarts of oil into the engine on top of the four old quarts that were already in there.
Sometimes, maybe oversimplifying things with a plug is not always a good thing.

 

[Wheel]

I vote yes to drain plug and external filter.

If it was easier to change the fluid, at least the BITOG members wouldn't need to drop the pan cause we'd have changed the stuff.

 

[HouseTiger]

Having a ATF pan drain plug, a torque converter drain plug and a spin on filter would take away all that overpriced business from dealers and 'service' joints. It would mean that ordinary folks could save money, learn a bit more about their vehicle, how it operates, and appreciate the mechanical marvel that it has become.


Naaaaaaaa .........................