First time into a transmission. Dropped the pan and found this. What is it? Can it be put back in place? Do I need to replace something?

 

Haha ..... it's a plug inserted in the dipstick hole at manufacture and when they install the dipstick tube on the assembly line, it just gets pushed into the pan to await discovery at first fluid / filter change.

I used to save a few from my buddy's tool box top where "stuff accumulated" and clean them up and leave three or four in the pans of my police cars to make someone wonder some day when they maybe bought the car at auction and went to change fluid and filter. In service, we changed trans fluid every 30,xxx miles .... so it was just a gag I did. Keep waiting for someone to someday mention finding several on a forum like CV.Net.

 

Awesome. Thanks

 

So the big question- has the fluid never been changed in 40 years or did the PO not know what it was and just left it in there? Yikes!

 

Found one of those in the Mighty Mighty Crown Vic!

Spent a good ten minutes looking for a hole it fit before turning to crownvic.net and giving folks there a good laugh. 😉

Fluid can be changed without dropping the pan, either by a machine that connects to the cooling lines or by running the engine with the lines disconnected. I'm the kinda guy that wants to see what's in the pan so I do it old school. Nothing quite like tranny fluid running into your sleeves!

 

When my brother was working at a Ford/Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealership they called that the cherry.

 

So I was wondering too whether the fluid has been changed. Truck rolled over 200,000km (120,000 miles) on Saturday. Hard to tell. Even if the fluid had been changed, the screen/filter obviously hadn't. But it seemed pretty clean (the screen). Well, all new fluid and screen in now. Thanks for the help and stories guys.