Stripped Trans Drain Plug

S

stever1000

New member
The previous owner stripped the trans drain plug and sealed it with RTV sealant. I pulled the plug today and half the threads were missing. I can't get a new plug to thread in.

I am going to re-tap it as described here:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/re-tapping-3-4l-transmission-pan-drain-plug-95045/

It doesn't mention dropping the transmission pan to re-thread the hole. Can I get away with re-tapping it underneath the vehicle? and using a magnet to catch filings?

I started removing the pan following this writeup:
Dropping Pan And Flushing Transmission

But realized what a pain the gasket/pan is to remove. A lot more time consuming than I want to spend...

I'm going to flush the transmission afterward with new fluid

So...can I safely be lazy and just re-tap the pan while its on the vehicle? Tomorrow is Friday and I have to drive somewhere on Saturday morning...

Cheers
 
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I retapped mine without dropping thd pan. I used small amount of grease on the tap to catch the metal shavings. I also bought a thin telescopic magnet and inserted it in the drain hole to collect metal shavings.

I bought ATF from walmart and performed few rounds of drain and fill. I didn't start the truck. I left the drain open and kept filling it thru the dipstick. This way any debris that was left in the pan got washed away.

Once I was satisfied, I put the plug back and filled the tranny with about 4qts of synthetic ATF.
 
It's pretty simple to drop the pan and would probably be easier to work on a bench instead of under the vehicle. Plus, you can clean out your filter while you're at it.
 
thegipper said:
It's pretty simple to drop the pan and would probably be easier to work on a bench instead of under the vehicle. Plus, you can clean out your filter while you're at it.
Click to expand...

I would disagree. The form in place gasket is holding the pan on tight and I have to carefully break it loose without scratching the mating surfaces. Then I have to carefully scrape off all the old gasket and reapply. It sounds easy but it’s a huge pain in the ass

But yes, tapping it on the bench (or in my case the floor since I’m in an apartment) would be easier once the pan is removed and prepped
 
Did you try the new one with a new crush washer? If you reuse the washer the plug goes in too far and strips, but the plug is softer than the pan so pan might be ok.
 
repo said:
Did you try the new one with a new crush washer? If you reuse the washer the plug goes in too far and strips, but the plug is softer than the pan so pan might be ok.
Click to expand...

Yeah I tried a new plug and it wouldn't turn at all

I also bought the M10x1.5 tap so I will try that first to see if I can recover the old threads
 
stever1000 said:
I would disagree. The form in place gasket is holding the pan on tight and I have to carefully break it loose without scratching the mating surfaces. Then I have to carefully scrape off all the old gasket and reapply. It sounds easy but it’s a huge pain in the ass

But yes, tapping it on the bench (or in my case the floor since I’m in an apartment) would be easier once the pan is removed and prepped
Click to expand...

I've had my pan off so many times now, I guess it just seems easier. I also use a rubber gasket instead of the nightmare known as FIPG. I can remove the pan in 10 minutes tops.

If your pan has never been removed, it would probably be easier to just tap it on the truck. Just be careful you don't get any metal shavings in the pan.
 
What rubber gasket have you used? I’ve heard of these leaking since they are one thickness whereas the form in place gasket forms to the imperfections in the mating surfaces
 
stever1000 said:
What rubber gasket have you used? I’ve heard of these leaking since they are one thickness whereas the form in place gasket forms to the imperfections in the mating surfaces
Click to expand...

Yes, I want to know too about the rubber gasket. Dropping the pan is not something you're suppose to do very often since we have a metal mesh filter under the pan and not a paper style filter that needs to be changed every 30,000 miles. So, resealing with FIPG sealant seems perfectly fine and is what I'm planning on doing. My rig has 165k and I know the pan has never been dropped but I will be dropping it soon to get a glimpse of the health of my trans by how much accumulation of clutch material and other metal shavings I see on the magnets. I'm also curious to see how the filter looks and whether it's clogged at all.
 
I tried retapping my trans pan drain plug while it was still attached but started to see bits of shaved metal that I wasn't comfortable with so i ended up replacing the pan. Breaking the fipg seal & removing the old fipg was the toughest and most time consuming part. To break the seal I used a combination of a thin 1" wide putty knife & a razor to GENTLY work along the edges of the mating surfaces. After working the edges I tapped all sides of the pan a with 1.5lb hf plastic hammer then repeated with the razor/putty knife combo. After doing this combination several times I eventually heard the pan getting knocked loose when I tapped it with my hammer.

I used crc gasket remover and a plastic razor and plastic putty knife to scrape away the old fipg. The gasket remover made it very easy to remove but be careful because I've heard this stuff can remove paint if it's used too liberally and sits on a surface too long.

I used toyota's fipg which was pretty easy. I just squeezed it out along the edges of the pan similar to squeezing out toothpaste. Everything has held up without leaks since EDIT: April 2016.

I work slow so this whole process took me several hours. Good news is during this time you can let all the old trans fluid drip out.
 
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fourfive said:
I tried retapping my trans pan drain plug while it was still attached but started to see bits of shaved metal that I wasn't comfortable with so i ended up replacing the pan. Breaking the fipg seal & removing the old fipg was the toughest and most time consuming part. To break the seal I used a combination of a thin 1" wide putty knife & a razor to GENTLY work along the edges of the mating surfaces. After working the edges I tapped all sides of the pan a with 1.5lb hf plastic hammer then repeated with the razor/putty knife combo. After doing this combination several times I eventually heard the pan getting knocked loose when I tapped it with my hammer.

I used crc gasket remover and a plastic razor and plastic putty knife to scrape away the old fipg. The gasket remover made it very easy to remove but be careful because I've heard this stuff can remove paint if it's used too liberally and sits on a surface too long.

I used toyota's fipg which was pretty easy. I just squeezed it out along the edges of the pan similar to squeezing out toothpaste. Everything has held up without leaks since April 2017.

I work slow so this whole process took me several hours. Good news is during this time you can let all the old trans fluid drip out.
Click to expand...

I bought a tool like the one I supplied a link to separate the pan from the transmission. I used it on [MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION] rig and it worked really well. I do remember buying one via Amazon with Prime and didn't have to pay the crazy shipping fee but my search this morning didn't come up with one.

https://www.amazon.com/Engine-Trans...ds=Engine+Transmission+Oil+pan+separator+tool
 
mtbtim said:
I bought a tool like the one I supplied a link to separate the pan from the transmission. I used it on [MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION] rig and it worked really well. I do remember buying one via Amazon with Prime and didn't have to pay the crazy shipping fee but my search this morning didn't come up with one.

https://www.amazon.com/Engine-Trans...ds=Engine+Transmission+Oil+pan+separator+tool
Click to expand...

Dang it Tim, wish you would have known about this tool to recommend Edit: April 2016. Do you happen to know what brand yours is?
 
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I believe I got the gasket at Advance auto parts. Its just a simply rubber gasket and hasn't leaked a drop in several years. I even reused it several times (had the pan off like 4 times) while I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my tranny.

FIPG/RTV is such a pain in the ass to remove which is why I didn't use it again. I figured if I ever wanted to clean the filter again I wouldn't want to screw with removing that crap.

There is enough "play" in the cork/rubber to fill any imperfections in the two mating surfaces, assuming you do not have a major dent or gouge in the pan/tranny.

Several others on here run either the cork or rubber gaskets without any issues. Just make sure you do a good job of removing the old FIPG/RTV and it will work fine.

Think of it like differential covers. Often they come from the factory with RTV but many people use gaskets once they remove the cover for the first time. As long as you clean up everything nice and there isn't any damage, the gasket will work fine.
 
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fourfive said:
Dang it Tim, wish you would have known about this tool to recommend Edit: April 2016. Do you happen to know what brand yours is?
Click to expand...

I thought for sure I bought mine via Amazon, but when I looked through my order history, I couldn't find it. I looked at my tool and it doesn't have a name on it. Mine looks exactly like the one I provided a link to so if you find one that looks like that, you'll be getting the right one.

It worked really well but I do remember struggling a little to find the right place to start where I could tap on it with a hammer to drive it in. Once I got it slid under the pan, I was able to slide it along breaking the gasket material free.
 
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