Hope someone has tried what I am thinking and knows why it wouldn't work. I have a '06 with the 5.9 and 48RE transmission. I want to do a fluid/filter change so I bought a pan with a drain plug. I don't want to go through the mess of the pan dripping and splattering as much as possible. I have various diameters of long tubing and was thinking I could put it down the transmission dipstick tube and siphon most of the fluid out of the pan so it's not as likely to splatter when I remove the pan. Anyone done this?

I saw a video of a guy just drilling a hole in his old pan from the outside, but I am leary of blindly drilling without seeing whats behind where I am drilling so not going to do that. I also bought a couple drain plug kits, one with a nylon looking washer and another that gets welded in so have been debating attempting this with my existing pan. I've heard I could swap out the plastic washer and use a copper one and not expect any leaks. But am hesitant about using any screw on drain plug kit, just because I'd hate to see it start leaking down the road. I don't really think I want to use the weld on one because I am not that great of welder and never even practiced on thin steel. Sorry for the long story, just figured I see if I can get some opinions?

One more ?, Do you just fill the new ATF+4 through the dipstic tube. If so the thing is almost horizontal if I recall and not sure how you get a funnel to go in there and make it easy to pour. Maybe find a flexible funnel?? Just looked like it is not a very optimal way of pouring it in.
Thanks for any replies.

 

I have never heard of trying to siphon it out... it is a rather small opening. I would just make the big mess and put on the pan with the drain plug. I have a PML and although the mess is reduced it seems that the valve body can drip for years. I don't understand your second question??? What kind of plug is on the pan with the drain plug(1st para)? Or are you putting a drain plug on the existing pan(2nd para)? If it is the latter I would get a pan that is tapped already.

You refill through the dipstick tube. It may not be optimal but it is the only way.

 

You won't be able to siphon the fluid out. It's too thick, and the rise is too great.

There are a few kits available that will allow you to pump the fluid out of the dip stick hole. Some are designed for motor oil, so they have a very small tube to fit the oil dip stick tube. You can save time and effort by getting the kit with the bigger tubing.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Oil-Change-Pump-Kit/11071257

A quick google search on "oil change pump" will give you other choices.

 

FWIW, I use a Pella oil extractor to siphon the oil out of my VW diesel tdi's. Simple and no mess. I don't see any issue pulling ATF with it. The siphon hose is pretty small too.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

I saw the same vid I think you're talking about. Thought about doing the same but never got my nerve up. Doing that way would get fluid down the drill bit, my arm and anywhere else if I wasn't quick enough. I decided to just drop the pan and spill it on myself. Once you commit to do doing that, you'll be fine.




Open up a big cardboard box and put it under the truck. Use a siphon thingy but instead of going through the dipstick tube, you just loosen and drop the pan just enough to squeeze in the siphon tube. Might take a few minutes to get the fluid level low enough, but once you do you can drop the pan much easier. And there's much less to spill and subsequently clean up. I used the jack stands and a board to help support the pan so all the weight wasn't sitting on the bolt holes at an angle on partially unscrewed bolts.


I got a plug kit too in order to avoid welding on such thin sheet. I tried to put it on the side of the pan to avoid it hanging down and risking being a snag hazard. But still low enough on the side to drain enough next time and that it was still sitting on the flat and not the curved part of the pan. So I drilled my hole. I put it high enough on the side so it would interfere with the valve body and other important stuff with the bolt on plug in place.






To fix my mod I had to weld the nut on the outside, just like I planned on from the beginning. I also had no choice at that point. I had no spare vehicle as my husband was leaving out of town that hour. Oh double cherry on top, my truck was parked half in half out of the garage in which it won't fit with the garage door down even if it were all the way in. Ahh, awesome.

Oh, here's the whip cream with those two cherries on top, unless I drive the left side of the truck up on a ramp I won't drain much out of the pan. Good job

{There's suppose to be a pic of the welded nut in all it's glory but I can't find it on my computer right now. Will keep looking because it is truly nice}

The weld is holding just fine and I'm pretty proud of it if I say so myself. Welding gauge without pinholes is no easy task for the hobbyist. Oh, exposure to welding galvanized anything especially if you just cleaned it with brake cleaner to get the surface clean of contaminants is kind of like a great game of Russian Roulette. Wear a respirator or risk getting incredibly poisoned.


Yes, refill through the dipstick hole. Use a funnel with a real long skinny tube. You can't just dump the bottle and walk off. You have to hold and pour, enough it keeps flowing, not so much you spill it all over the AC system, turbo and downpipe. It won't kill you to hold it, unless the truck is running and you fall into the spinning fan blades. So don't do that.



Lessons I learned. Just spend money on a new tranny pan with a built in drain plug. Will be totally worth doing a quality job just for the pain in the butt factor. Tranny fluid spills. It is in it's nature no matter what anyone tells you, no matter how careful you are. Just be prepared to clean it up.

Ok, and that's how you change the tranny fluid

 

I use a syphon gun and 5/16 clear plastic hose (sold at any Hardware store) works but takes time to do. I only use it if trans was overfilled slightly but you can syphon all trans fluid out of pan if needed.

 

You fear to much. You can drill without causing damage. Just take it easy and as soon as it starts dripping you'll know you're about to reach inside. Basically, don't push too hard and you're good to go and you have plenty of space on the inside anyways. If it makes you feel better, you can use a drill bit depth guide which lets you set how deep you want to go this way you won't touch anything inside. Another way is to use a very short drill bit. I drilled mine in about 30 seconds and left the fluid drain until it stopped, then I just removed the pan and replaced it with a Mag-Hytec DD. I drilled forward, center, not to close to the bend radius of the pan. About refilling, that's the only way and you can use any funnel as long as it fits in that tube, is long and has a large opening. I would never bother to syphon the fluid. Do not overfill.

 

First, thanks for everyone's replies.

I bought a pan that has a welded in bung and plug that is on the underside of the pan. I also have a raw steel bung and plug that I am considering welding in my stock pan after it's removed. I also bought one of those threaded bungs/plug kits that has the nylon washer that compresses against the pan after drilling a 1/2" hole. So I have some options, easiest would be to just pull my pan and put in the new pan with the welded bung/plug. Mostly because I don't know how to weld all that great and I kind of don't trust the screw down plug kit.

 

Thanks a lot for that detail. I think you just made up my mind, I'm going to install the pan I bought with the welded in plug. Only reason I didn't like that Idea is the plug being on the bottom and maybe catching on something. I wanted to drill on the side and add the plug like you show just so I could dump some fluid before dropping the pan. If I get what your saying, the pan isn't topped off when full?? I just kind of expected a plug have way up the side would drop a fair amount of fluid?

Funny, I've been thinking about the oil running down the drill and my arm too. Also, have been trying to find some time so I wouldn't have to sleep one night with the truck half out my open garage door. Funny those concerns sound legit. Haha.

 

Thanks. I like your approach for sure. I wanted to drill the hole on the side and really didn't even look yet to see if a drill can fit up in there from the side. Also, figured if I installed a drain I'd put the magnetic plug in it I have. Figured it would stick into the tank at least 1/2-3/4", am still not sure where is a good spot with that much clearance + some. Doesn't matter now I suppose, I'm going to install the pan I bought with the plug already installed.

 

Sorry for the barrage of replies, I don't know how to multi-quote. Sounds like I might not be able to siphon the fluid and just let it run. Maybe I'll buy one of those hand pumps. Just don't feel like pumping for 30 minutes when I could just let it drip out for a couple hours if the fluid could just be siphoned and flow on it's own. I do have one of those little in line pumps that runs on a drill motor. I used to use it to change the oil in my boat where you cant get a pan under it, just about killed one of my drills letting it spin that pump for 20 minutes getting 5 quarts out my boat. Funny, I just remembered I had that pump tonight. hmmm..

Thanks again for all the insight and comments from everyone. I really do appreciate it, hopefully someone else will somewhere down the road if they stumble on this info.
Have a good one.

edit. oh yeah if I got my fact right from reading around on the web, re-using the OEM pan gasket is okay?

 

No problem. When it comes down to it, do it how you feel comfortable. There are several different ways to skin this cat as you've seen here. Some better executed than others At the end of the day the important thing is you get the job done - new filter, new fluid, pan bolts torqued down properly and fluid level is good.

You mentioned the magnet. In the stock pan is a big flat round magnet that sits on the bottom of the pan. Works pretty well.

 

The OEM pan gasket is reusable and works very well as long you use the correct torque value on the pan screws when reinstall, which I believe is about 15ft/lbs but double check on that. Let us know what worked best for you

 

The pan is very full when topped off. I think the location of my drain plug would drain an ok amount of fluid. At the very least give me room to get the pan down without spilling right away. I've got a siphon pump that I figured if I wanted to be really clean, I'll stick into the plug hole after it stops draining out and suck the rest of the fluid out that remains below the hole. Dropping the pan typically drains about 7 or 8qts of fluid if I recall correctly. If you can drain into a pan you can measure, it makes it easier to refill to the right level right right off the bat.


Just snapped a pic. As you can see the bare metal got a little surface rust. I didn't spray with primer or anything after I welded. I was just glad to be done (I'll wipe ATF on it, it's a good rust inhibitor). Anyway, I've got seepage all around the pan gasket. That's about 5 or 6k miles. I haven't retorqued yet. That'll probably/hopefully solve that. Don't remember the torque spec. I'll have to look it up.

 

I had a mortar tub left over from building a shower stall that worked great for draining. Its like 24x40x9" and the only oil I got on the driveway was what dripped off my hand when I was changing the filters.
Best $7 I ever spent.
Now I gotta figure out what else to use it for. Washing parts maybe?