99 with 60k and 4R70W.

Trans gave up and spewed all the fluid- it originally appeared to be from the tail housing back but now seems its from the front of the tranny.

I dropped the pan today to take a look. Lots of fine gunk and the little plastic value- what is it?

 

It plugged the dipstick hole in the trans during shipment. Then at the factory Ford rammed the dipstick tube into the trans and that falls into the trans pan.

Very normal, and lets you know the trans pan has never been off before

 

I bet I have pushed over 25,000 of these into the pans over my career with Ford. They don't hurt anything, just discard the plug and install new gasket with pan.

 

No, reuse the factory gasket!!!! Unless you cut or tear it, the factory gasket used is much better then the cork gasket that comes with the new filter

 

Thanks guys. Any ideas on the tranny? Maybe overheated and blew out the front pump seal?

Fluid was burnt bad- what little was left in the trans.

 

WOW,that is the nastiest trans fluid i've ever seen!And,all that junk in the pan too......no wonder your tranny went south!

BTW,take that plastic part to your local Ford dealer to have the secret code on the o-ring scanned to see if you won a 1974 Pinto!

 

rofl 1974 pinto

 

I am changing my trans oil and the yellow thing fell into the pan where does it go back?

 

it doesn't just throw it away...

 

Can we please get a sticky? The yellow plug in your tranny pan is normal. Do not panic. Toss the darn thing and continue. That is all.

 

Just throw it away? Someone told me it was a butt plug. That's what I've been doing with it ever since. You mean I was lied to?

 

I changed my tranny fluid yesterday on my 04 F150 and also found the yellow plug lying in the pan. Thankfully i've seen a couple thread's like this one so I wasn't worried when I found it. My truck has almost 89,000 mile's on the odometer so the tranny fluid was still red but I have an added sense of security knowing it has fresh fluid installed.

 

The yellow plastic thing is normal at first ATF change.

What's that round thing in the upper left of the pan? I don't remember that when I first changed my ATF.

 

The other thing is a magnet for collecting any loose ferrous material that is in the tranny as a result of normal wear and tear. It needs to stay there. I would try really hard to remember if it was there.