Mike S 3
Active Member
(cross posted from Explorerforum..)
Just installed an oversized trans pan from PML.
http://www.yourcovers.com/transpan_11089.php
This is a prototype pan that they have developed, and I got in touch with them and volunteered to test fit it to my truck. It's close, but it fits! The pan is cast aluminum, cooling fins, has a magnetic drain plug, and holds 3 more quarts than the oem pan.
Here is the factory pan, no drain plug, stamped steel, no cooling fins, gets the job done but nothing special.
I originally purchased the Performance Automatics pan, but turns out it doesn't fit. Some have made it work by grinding a few of the fins to clear the frame brace, but i wasn't happy with the quality of the casting, the drain plug was not at the lowest point in the pan, and i didn't feel like modifying a part that was sold and supposed to fit our trucks. So I worked out a return of the Performance Automatic pan, minus the dipstick kit. I wanted to keep the dipstick kit to have an easy way to fill the trans after replacing the pan. here is a shot of the dipstick kit, made it much easier to refill and check the level:
Swapping out the OEM pan with the PML pan is pretty straight forward. The oem pan gasket is reusable which is nice. Everyone likes pictures so here are a few of the install.
draining, i was surprised how 'dirty' the Mercon LV looked after 54k... not so sure about that 'filled for life' business...
New PML pan:
Clearance at the tightest part, near the front drivers side cross member:
clearance on the other side:
While i was in there, I installed a new filter, part FT171, and used 10.5 quarts of the case of Mercon LV I bought, (~$70 from the dealer):
I'm hoping this pan will help to keep the fluid temps at a reasonable level. Daily driving I never saw any temperature problems, but last years vacation into the rockies saw temps near 225 - 230, which from what I have read is within specs, but its still higher than I'd like to see. Time will tell if it helps!
Just installed an oversized trans pan from PML.
http://www.yourcovers.com/transpan_11089.php
This is a prototype pan that they have developed, and I got in touch with them and volunteered to test fit it to my truck. It's close, but it fits! The pan is cast aluminum, cooling fins, has a magnetic drain plug, and holds 3 more quarts than the oem pan.
Here is the factory pan, no drain plug, stamped steel, no cooling fins, gets the job done but nothing special.
I originally purchased the Performance Automatics pan, but turns out it doesn't fit. Some have made it work by grinding a few of the fins to clear the frame brace, but i wasn't happy with the quality of the casting, the drain plug was not at the lowest point in the pan, and i didn't feel like modifying a part that was sold and supposed to fit our trucks. So I worked out a return of the Performance Automatic pan, minus the dipstick kit. I wanted to keep the dipstick kit to have an easy way to fill the trans after replacing the pan. here is a shot of the dipstick kit, made it much easier to refill and check the level:
Swapping out the OEM pan with the PML pan is pretty straight forward. The oem pan gasket is reusable which is nice. Everyone likes pictures so here are a few of the install.
draining, i was surprised how 'dirty' the Mercon LV looked after 54k... not so sure about that 'filled for life' business...
New PML pan:
Clearance at the tightest part, near the front drivers side cross member:
clearance on the other side:
While i was in there, I installed a new filter, part FT171, and used 10.5 quarts of the case of Mercon LV I bought, (~$70 from the dealer):
I'm hoping this pan will help to keep the fluid temps at a reasonable level. Daily driving I never saw any temperature problems, but last years vacation into the rockies saw temps near 225 - 230, which from what I have read is within specs, but its still higher than I'd like to see. Time will tell if it helps!
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