97 Explorer Transmission Mystery Check Valve

[Turf2NV]

Help!!! I dropped the tranny pan to change the filter, and there is a small check valve? (white rod with big plunger end & o-ring) in the bottom of the pan. Can't see where this should go back in. If the wife's car is not ready to go on Monday I am in big trouble.

 

[cutter]

I take it was the first sevice that is used on build line blocks hole till dipstick is in stalled throw away

 

[Brian_B]

Yep, cutter definately knows his stuff. That plugs the dipstick hole until its installed when its new. Nothing to worry about.

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

I remember freaking out, and posting when I saw the same white, o-ringed plug in my trans pan. You can safely throw it away, or tape it to your shop wall.

 

[Brian_B]

Over the years, I have seen this posted a lot. I know a lot of people freak out. I did the first time I saw it (many, many years ago). I have seen tons of them by now.

 

[TPLYNCH]

What's scary to me is that the plug was still in the pan of an 8 year old truck....

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

What's scary to me is that the plug was still in the pan of an 8 year old truck....

It just means the pan hasn't been dropped. A line-flush, which is what most dealers do, won't touch the pan.

 

[TPLYNCH]

But you still want to change the filter, and the usual tranny service is just drop the pan, change the filter and replace 4-5 quarts. Flush is an "extra", which should be done to fully remove old fluid. I have done both, alternating between the 2 services every 30K miles.

 

[barnieman]

My garage charges me 350 dollar (270 Euro) for a transmission-pan-drop + new filter + new oil. They say it is not common to do this, except when having transmission problems. It may look strange to TPLYNCH, but it seems reasonable to me that the pan was never dropped on a 1997 explorer.

 

[TPLYNCH]

My garage charges me 350 dollar (270 Euro) for a transmission-pan-drop + new filter + new oil. They say it is not common to do this, except when having transmission problems. It may look strange to TPLYNCH, but it seems reasonable to me that the pan was never dropped on a 1997 explorer.

That's nuts! It's a 30 minute job using maybe $30 in parts/fluid! Ford calls for servicing the transmission every 60K. With the weak history of the A4LD/4R55E/5R55E series, 30K is much more likely to keep the transmission running fine and avoid trouble. There on people on this board who do it every 15K just to get the most out of these transmissions. An ounce of prevention on these babies goes a long way toward avoiding a $1,500 rebuild.

 

[410Fortune]

a full system backflush is only $80-100

 

[tmhutch]

Thank You For This Thread!!

Mystery solved! So glad this thread was here

Todd