I visited a mechanic friend and watched him drop a

[demarpaint]

I watched a buddy do a tranny pan drop..............I was planning on doing a fluid exchange on my Jeep today but opted to visit a buddy at his shop do a pan drop and filter change. After that mess I'll continue to pay someone to do pan drops when I need it done.

This pan was on with RTV Sealant making tipping the pan difficult so he decided to pry the pan to try and break the seal. There was fluid everywhere!

He did a bang up job cleaning the pan, and then installing a gasket vs the RTV sealant the factory used. The book calls for 4 qts of ATF with a pan drop and filter change, it took a lot more than that to fill it though. He put 4 qts of fluid in drove it about 1-2 miles and ended up adding about another qt of ATF to get it properly filled.

All in all for the $25 labor he would charge me to drop the pan and replace the filter I had no desire at all to do a pan drop. I forgot just how mich of a mess that job can be. At least now with the job he did today for his customer removing the pan will be easier and neater in the future.

 

[sangyup81]

what's the standard charge for something like that?

 

[ethangsmith]

Instead of doing the horrid pan tip and drop method, I just usually siphon the pan out through the fill tube and add as much new fluid as how much old fluid I took out. It's ghetto and doesn't allow the filter to be changed, but if the fluid is just old, it saves time and mess. I just did it on my wife's parent's 87 Honda Accord. I would siphon 2 quarts out each evening and put 2 new quarts in. Drive it to work the next day and repeat it again in the evening when I got home. By the time I was done, the worn out brown fluid was clean red fluid!

 

[Trav]

I usually just take a line off and let it run to pump the pan almost empty before dropping it.No mess or fussing,Once its back together i just continue with the line off fluid exchange.

 

[tomcat27]

sounds like its a Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler. most of those use RTV. most of them also take 4.25-5 qts to refill.

dropping a pan is messy - but I like to see whats inside;

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: tomcat27
sounds like its a Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler. most of those use RTV. most of them also take 4.25-5 qts to refill.

dropping a pan is messy - but I like to see whats inside;

Chrysler doesn't build a thing that they don't think can't be improved with a liberal application of RTV silicone.

 

[o2man98]

Originally Posted By: rshunter
Originally Posted By: tomcat27
sounds like its a Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler. most of those use RTV. most of them also take 4.25-5 qts to refill.

dropping a pan is messy - but I like to see whats inside;

Chrysler doesn't build a thing that they don't think can't be improved with a liberal application of RTV silicone.


So true.....

I hate doing ATF pans lying on my back.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I agree with let the mechanic do the transmission fluid exchange along with changing transmission filter. It is too much work and too messy to save $25-50. But after the first fluid/filter exchange had been done, the subsequence transmission fluid exchange can be done with fluid extractor every few years in less than 10 minutes.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: sangyup81
what's the standard charge for something like that?


Labor and materials costs about $125 he said. He'd charge me $25 with my ATF and filter if I was planning on doing it. He's a friend and that is a special price.

This was an 06 Jeep Liberty he was working on, he's a pro so he wasn't going to spend time syphoning fluid or dropping a tranny line. OTOH if I was doing mine I'd get the fluid out then drop the pan, especially with the mess it could make in my garage.

For the $25 labor I'll be going to him with my parts and fluid when I'm ready, and let him do it. By the time I get the vehicle in the air, and do the job the $25 is well worth it. Then if the pan leaks it would be his headache! I have an 08 Liberty and wanted a peek inside and had time to kill. I would do a pan drop with either an extraction or line flush to get clean fluid into the entire system.

I did learn a trick, he coats the tranny pan lip with a little bit of grease to hold the rubber gasket in place. I thought that was odd but he says it works and he doesn't get call backs for leaks. I guess an old dog can learn a new trick.

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted By: ethangsmith
Instead of doing the horrid pan tip and drop method, I just usually siphon the pan out through the fill tube and add as much new fluid as how much old fluid I took out. It's ghetto and doesn't allow the filter to be changed, but if the fluid is just old, it saves time and mess. I just did it on my wife's parent's 87 Honda Accord. I would siphon 2 quarts out each evening and put 2 new quarts in. Drive it to work the next day and repeat it again in the evening when I got home. By the time I was done, the worn out brown fluid was clean red fluid!


An 87 Accord should have a drain plug for the trans. It's in a super easy to access loctaion too, you don't even have to jack the car up. Literally easier than an engine oil change, and way easier than siphoning.

 

[AdRock]

Every auto trans I've had that had a pan on it... I installed a drain plug. No muss no fuss filter changes.

 

[tig1]

If your tranny has a dip stick, most of the time you can pump most of the ATF through the dip stick filler tube. That eleminates most of the mess.

 

[beast3300]

That's a excellent price. It nice knowing good people!! Any pics of the dirty pan or anything?

At the shop I work at we are at $92 an hour, so 25 bucks is superb.

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: sangyup81
what's the standard charge for something like that?


I did learn a trick, he coats the tranny pan lip with a little bit of grease to hold the rubber gasket in place. I thought that was odd but he says it works and he doesn't get call backs for leaks. I guess an old dog can learn a new trick.


I've been doing that for awhile. I believe I used the silicone stuff to make the cork gasket stick to the tranny pan lip. it keeps the trans pan bolt holes lined up perfectly and the cork gasket doesn't move.

 

[demarpaint]

Sorry guys no pictures. He's a good friend. Keep in mind this was a job he was doing for a customer. I happened to be talking with him the other night and he said he had this job lined up for Saturday and to stop by since I have a Jeep Liberty as well. I'm sure he could have installed a drain plug it looked like there was enough room, had the customer requested it. He could have sucked the fluid out the fill tube, however that is not how a shop does it. After watching the job I would though. Either that or put my vehicle up on the ramps or stands and put a kids swimming pool under it, even after sucking the fluid out. Then there is no chance for a mess on the garage floor. But for $25 I'll bring him the stuff and let him do it for me!

It is nice knowing good people and trusting them with my car for projects I don't want to tackle or can't tackle.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: ethangsmith
Instead of doing the horrid pan tip and drop method, I just usually siphon the pan out through the fill tube and add as much new fluid as how much old fluid I took out. It's ghetto and doesn't allow the filter to be changed, but if the fluid is just old, it saves time and mess. I just did it on my wife's parent's 87 Honda Accord. I would siphon 2 quarts out each evening and put 2 new quarts in. Drive it to work the next day and repeat it again in the evening when I got home. By the time I was done, the worn out brown fluid was clean red fluid!


That 87 Accord has a drain plug right in the side of the tranny. No pan at all, just a drain plug. I had an 86 and an 88 and they were the same. Using only a 1/2" drive ratchet(no socket attached) to remove the plug, raise the driver side of the car with several pumps of a floor jack and out comes 3qts. Refill through the dipstick hole using a looooong neck funnel.

 

[Colt45ws]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: sangyup81
what's the standard charge for something like that?


I did learn a trick, he coats the tranny pan lip with a little bit of grease to hold the rubber gasket in place. I thought that was odd but he says it works and he doesn't get call backs for leaks. I guess an old dog can learn a new trick.


I've been doing that for awhile. I believe I used the silicone stuff to make the cork gasket stick to the tranny pan lip. it keeps the trans pan bolt holes lined up perfectly and the cork gasket doesn't move.

atp has some pan gaskets that have some holes smaller than others. Small enough you have to thread the bolt through. So, you just thread the bolts in these positions, and not only is the gasket held in place, but you have a convenient way of getting it centered right and the bolts started.

 

[SAATR]

I always used silicone when the application called for silicone instead of the rubber gasket supplied with the filter. Those cheap rubber gaskets tend to cause comebacks that cost more in time to retorque the loosened pan bolts than the extra time it takes to apply a proper bead of silicone and install. Same goes for the rubber/steel reusable gaskets, always a better call than the cheapie sent with the kit, unless the original is shot, of course.