Transmission Gasket or Sealant?

[4RrDriver]

I dropped the pan on my 2004 4 Speed A340F. It did not have a gasket, instead it had a pink-ish color sealant.

I cleaned the filter out but I notice the gaskets on the filter are a little crushed down and I'm not confident they'll seal well if I reuse them. So I'm going to buy a new filter kit. The kit I'm looking at is a Wix 58030 and comes with what looks like a cork gasket for the pan.

I have used cork gaskets before and had good luck with them if installed right. I have never used sealant/form a gasket on a transmission pan but it seems straight forward and if it's done right works well.

I don't anticipate taking the pan off again as I'll be putting Amsoil ATF and a remote inline filter in. After 115k miles, the pan was fairly clean, assuming this was the first time it's been off.

Is there any advantage, other than if I decide to remove the pan again in the future, to one way or another? Will the stock bolts be long enough if I use a gasket, since the gasket is thicker than the sealant? The dealer says there is no gasket for my truck - from the factory they just used sealant. The sealant seems better long term, especially with very cold temps in my area.

Thoughts?

 

[<<<<]

I'd just use this original:

Genuine Toyota 1281 Transaxle Red Gasket Silicone 100g Tube Fipg 00295 01281 | eBay

 

[RS Dude]

After about 10 trans filter and fluid replacements (every 30k miles) and replacing the cork gasket each time, my pan became deformed and started to leak even with a new gasket and sealant. It turns out that each time you torque the 17(?) bolts, they create a concave deformation that is impossible to seal correctly. I had to carefully tap to pan flat with a hammer and against a flat surface to true the sealing flange. I then used Permatex Trans. Sealant with perfect success. The Toyota sealant is the best, but more costly. So, the lesson of the story is use sealant only and no cork or fiber gastket to keep you pan flange true.:lookout: