96 3.0L trans fluid pans

98v70dad · Jul 8, 2018

Is there a pan that is commonly available that has a drain plug? I tried to use a vacuum tool to remove some fluid from the dipstick tube but the hose won't go all the way down. I've done this on every other car I own but I guess that it wont work on the ranger.

If I have to drop the pan I'm thinking bthat I'll replace it with one that has a drain plug. I haven't been able to find one though.

adsm08 · Jul 8, 2018

It will work, but it works best if you have a stiff section about 3-3.5 feet long.

98v70dad · Jul 8, 2018

adsm08 said:
It will work, but it works best if you have a stiff section about 3-3.5 feet long.

Thanks. Ive got what I call the suck tool which is for a marine engine. The tube sections are stiff plastic and about 3 feet long. I put the smallest one in the transmission dipstick tube and it went down to a point and stopped. It would not go down to the fluid level. After spinning it and reinserting it about 10 times I got tired of messing around with it and gave up figuring it wouldn't work on the ranger.

Never had a problem on any of my other cars....is there something special that I have to do to get it all the way in?

My trans fluid looks Ok but it's 22 years old and I thought changing it out a few quarts at a time would be a good idea.

adsm08 · Jul 9, 2018

I know it works because I have done it. Some of them are a pain though. Sometimes you gotta really ram it through.

98v70dad · Jul 13, 2018

adsm08 said:
I know it works because I have done it. Some of them are a pain though. Sometimes you gotta really ram it through.

So today I did what you said and you're right it works! I really yad to ram in in there as you said.

I was only able to get 2 quarts out at a time but I guess that's OK. I did 2 quarts drove a bunch of miles and ran it through the gear during that driving and then did 2 more quarts. How many times will I have to do this. I'm thinking if I run 2.5 gallons through that's good enough. When I've done this in the past I've done about a gallon and the drove for a week before doing it again.

One thing that really surprised me was the fluid wasn't that dirty on the first 2 quarts - kinda of brownish pink. The second 2 quarts was really dirty - deep chocolate brown with a lot of suspended crude in it. On other cars I've done the fluid looks cleaner each time I changed some out.

98v70dad · Jul 14, 2018

I've put 2 gallons of fluid through the transmission and it still looks pretty dirty (better but dirty) when I take some out. This surprised me because the other cars I've done 98 volvo wagon and 04 Honda odyssey both cleaned up beautifully. Both of those cars had about 140,000 miles on them. The Ranger only has 60,000 miles on it. I may have to drop the pan and change the filter after all - something I was hoping to avoid.

adsm08 · Jul 14, 2018

Most Ford RWD transmissions hold 9 qts or more. I never did a trans flush with less than 12 qts of fresh fluid to run through.

98v70dad · Jul 15, 2018

adsm08 said:
Most Ford RWD transmissions hold 9 qts or more. I never did a trans flush with less than 12 qts of fresh fluid to run through.

Thanks. I'll drive it a week and run another gallon through it next weekend. The fluid still has a lot of stuff suspended in it after putting 8 quarts through - not like my other cars. The honda held 9 quarts and the volvo held at least that much.

mikkelstuff · Jul 15, 2018

The transmission oil pan with a drain plug is probably a Dorman 265-831. I got mine from Amazon for about $46.

98v70dad · Jul 16, 2018

mikkelstuff said:
The transmission oil pan with a drain plug is probably a Dorman 265-831. I got mine from Amazon for about $46.

Thanks. I'll check it out.

98v70dad · Jul 17, 2018

Anybody know how to get more than about 2 quarts out each time using a vacuum tool? I'm wondering if putting the front end up on ramps would help with that.

The more you can suck out and replace each time the fewer times it will take to get the fluid clean. Getting more out translates to using way less fluid and spending way less money.

98v70dad · Jul 22, 2018

My piece of tubing had a kink in it so I turned in around. Now instead of just under 2 quarts I'm getting just over 3 quarts out. I think 3 quarts is about the maximum you can get out at one time. The more you can get out each time, the less fluid you'll use to get the fluid clean. Probably more math than most people want to think about but think about it like this. When the amount you get out is smaller its being diluted by more dirty fluid. If you can get a lot out there is less crud left in what remains to mix with the clean fluid.

96 3.0L trans fluid pans

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