Gray material in trans pan

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Nov 9, 2008
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What would be gray that comes off that wouldn't be stuck to the magnet? Clutch material?

I did a pan drop on my '99 about 5k ago, but didn't do the gasket right, so off it came again. I'm guessing I would have cleaned up the inside of the pan... Anyhow, there was a big of grayish material in one spot. Not a huge pile, just some. Bit more fuzz on the magnets than I would have guessed for such a short period of time. [No I didn't keep pics, figured it wouldn't come out well.]

ATF was still nice and red, no surprise there. Shifts about the same as ever, bit harsh on cold 1 to 2 shift, rest of time same-old, same-old. Same delay into 1st when cold that it's had for a long time (tried a new strainer, no change). I do drive it hard, so maybe it's just normal end of life clutch shedding? prior owner appears to have never changed fluid, it was kinda nasty at 140k when I did the first flush.
 
I did a pan drop on my wife's '16 Chrysler a while back. Fluid didn't look bad.

10k miles later the filter was clogged and fluid looked very dark with a lot of clutch material. I think the new fluid just cleaned it out a lot. Knock on wood!
 
What would be gray that comes off that wouldn't be stuck to the magnet? Clutch material?

I did a pan drop on my '99 about 5k ago, but didn't do the gasket right, so off it came again. I'm guessing I would have cleaned up the inside of the pan... Anyhow, there was a big of grayish material in one spot. Not a huge pile, just some. Bit more fuzz on the magnets than I would have guessed for such a short period of time. [No I didn't keep pics, figured it wouldn't come out well.]

ATF was still nice and red, no surprise there. Shifts about the same as ever, bit harsh on cold 1 to 2 shift, rest of time same-old, same-old. Same delay into 1st when cold that it's had for a long time (tried a new strainer, no change). I do drive it hard, so maybe it's just normal end of life clutch shedding? prior owner appears to have never changed fluid, it was kinda nasty at 140k when I did the first flush.
Clutch steels, gears, shafts and any other ferrous particles will stick to the pan magnet, the grey sludge on the magnet is normal, metal pieces and slivers are not. Clutch plate material is a fibrous material and not magnetic. That material and/or overheated fluid is what causes the fluid to darken and go brown then eventually black.
 
I did a pan drop on my wife's '16 Chrysler a while back. Fluid didn't look bad.

10k miles later the filter was clogged, and fluid looked very dark with a lot of clutch material. I think the new fluid just cleaned it out a lot. Knock on wood!
Probably what it did.
 
I did a pan drop on my wife's '16 Chrysler a while back. Fluid didn't look bad.

10k miles later the filter was clogged and fluid looked very dark with a lot of clutch material. I think the new fluid just cleaned it out a lot. Knock on wood!
It’s possible the torque converter is going. I’ve never run into a situation where fresh fluid plugs up a filter.
 
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