As I’m soon to be covered in trans fluid I’m pondering the rationale behind not putting drain plugs on all pans as a standard. Any thoughts?

I lay down a big piece of cardboard and put the drain pan underneath, then you loosen the bolts on the pan some and open on corner for the fluid to drain out of. Then pull the bolts from one side, and finally pull the whole pan down. Then you throw the cardboard away because its covered in fluid a…

The logic is that the design is not geared toward DIY repairs. Professional mechanics have lifts and special transmission drain/support rigs that can be wheeled directly beneath them. They don’t need a drain plug and in fact, since they change the filter or clean the screen during every service, a d…

I agree with @TwinTurbo . It forces you to remove the pan and replace the filter rather than just doing a drain and fill. I’ll add that it saves 50 cents per car and it eliminates one more failure point in the system. As a counterpoint, I have a Saab with an Aisin automatic tranny with a drain plug…

Not installing a plug saves money for the manufacturer. A few pennies add up over millions of cars. And the car companies customers don’t really need a plug. BTW, you are not the customer of the car manufacturer, the dealer is. You are the dealer’s customer. Have you noticed the increase in tra…

“Jiffy Lube can’t mess up trans fluid change anymore!” The hell they can’t! All they need to do is connect the tranny fluid exchange machine and put in the wrong tranny fluid. Tester

The dipstick delete is more of a scandal to me than a lack of a drain plug. Makes it near impossible for most owners just to check the trans fluid. It seems that the manufacturers want to sell more transmissions and transmission service by making it as hard as possible to do for the DIYer.

“a drain plug is superfluous.” I couldn’t disagree more strongly When I am doing a fluid and filter service, I much prefer the pans with a drain plug It’s a lot easier maneuvering a pan that is 85% empty, versus one that is full Because of the exhaust configurations on some vehicles, it’s not al…

I have heard of numerous crap places draining the tranny and overfilling the oil.

@db4690 “a drain plug is superfluous.” I couldn’t disagree more strongly When I am doing a fluid and filter service, I much prefer the pans with a drain plug Right, it’s a preference not a need. The marketing guys call a feature like that a “delighter”. It’s not a CTQ that makes the list i…

Logic of AT Pans with No Drain Plug

Maintenance/Repairs

Cavell July 22, 2014, 5:09pm 3

I got a 3x4 plastic bin at garage sale for 1$. Is about 6" deep. Works great. Get one at Walmart for $5

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Logic of AT Pans with No Drain Plug

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