5R55e Where to Put Drain Plug

[alekee]

Feeling lazy and thinking of draining the transmission by drilling the hole for the drain plug. I don't have a large transmission tray to catch all the fluid and I really don't want to make a mess so I figured since Im not too worried about the metal shavings because i'm rebuilding the damn thing anyways, I'll just put a plastic bag around my drill, put the hole now and tap it later. Only thing is I've never opened one of these, or any automatic for that matter, so I don't know where it would be safe, if at all, to drill while it's on the housing. Anyone that's put a plug on their pan have any insight?

Recently got a Offroad with a bad engine, lots of coolant in the oil I drained the radiator and there wasn't even half a gallon that came out and it was water at that so its safe to assume he had to limp it home while it was eating coolant. So, I'm rebuilding the 5r55e and about to pull the engine to see if my 4.0 is worth rebuilding or not.

 

[franklin2]

Will this fit your transmission? It already has a plug it looks like.

Amazon.com

It's difficult to add a drain plug to a sheetmetal pan that is not designed for it. All you have is the thin sheetmetal, you really can't tap threads into it, and then it's hard to keep them from leaking.

 

[ericbphoto]

Maybe use a big, heavy-duty garbage bag to catch the oil as you remove the pan.

 

[sgtsandman]

The only way I know to add a drain plug to a sheet metal cover or pan is to have a bung welded to them. Just drilling a hole and tapping threads into the pan is not going to provide enough surface area for the plug threads to engage and get a good seal. If it works at all, it will only be a time or two before the hole gets stripped out.

 

[Mister G]

Feeling lazy and thinking of draining the transmission by drilling the hole for the drain plug. I don't have a large transmission tray to catch all the fluid and I really don't want to make a mess so I figured since Im not too worried about the metal shavings because i'm rebuilding the damn thing anyways, I'll just put a plastic bag around my drill, put the hole now and tap it later. Only thing is I've never opened one of these, or any automatic for that matter, so I don't know where it would be safe, if at all, to drill while it's on the housing. Anyone that's put a plug on their pan have any insight?

Recently got a Offroad with a bad engine, lots of coolant in the oil I drained the radiator and there wasn't even half a gallon that came out and it was water at that so its safe to assume he had to limp it home while it was eating coolant. So, I'm rebuilding the 5r55e and about to pull the engine to see if my 4.0 is worth rebuilding or not.

I purchased a drain plug kit from Amazon for $17.72

Universal Drain Plug, Model Number: K032 SUP

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