C5 pan options

[85_Ranger4x4]

The pan continues to leak on my case fill C5 transmission, will a deep case fill C4 pan fit it? If so how deep does it have to be?

 

[rednine4]

I have read some do not fit on 4x4 applications but I am not 100% sure about the different pan fitment options available. I experienced similar leaking that seems to be impossible to fix. For what it's worth here is what I did to fix it.

First if you are using the stock pan, it is likely that the bolt holes have dimpled which can cause leaks. I tried pounding mine out but could never really get it back to normal so I just bought a chrome pan off amazon. The first thing to do with the new pan is grind off all the chrome on the mating surface.

I used a rubber gasket with permatex the "right stuff" sealer lightly coated on both sides.

Torque it evenly and allow 24hrs to cure just to be on the safe side..

After this I still had no leaks from the pan, however I had a leak from my dipstick which made it look as if my pan was leaking (fluid would run down the pan/trans mating point) and drip from below the vac modulator.

Once I changed the dipstick to the lokar locking dipstick, I can happily say I have no leaks!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The pan appears stock, it looks old and has the dimple in the the center (or thereabouts) for the filter pickup. I was guessing the holes were buggered up too much to seal and that is why I was wondering about a new one.

I have the Lokar dipstick... which I despise. It is very hard to read, basically as long as the "Low" is red I have enough fluid. If the "Full" is red I have too much. Anything between is a crapshoot because I can't see it.

I was searching for pan interchangablity and saw "the right stuff" mentioned there as well, what is it?

 

[rednine4]

Yeah my dipstick does not read all that great either, and for what lokar charges I would expect more. I was just happy it sealed better than the pos stick i had tried to use before.


The right stuff is an rtv like sealant that is resistant to transmission fluid, so unlike normal rtv it wont break down and cause problems or leaks etc.. You can get it pretty much any auto store. I got mine at advanced about $10 bucks.


here is the pan I used (had to grind chrome off to get a good seal) I like this because it's cheap and it has a drain plug so future pan removal is a lot less messy when you can drain the fluid out of it.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=c4+transmission+pan&hl=en&prmd=imvns&resnum=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=927&bih=695&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=7374417954533594380&sa=X&ei=JHTXTpGqL4n1ggfhmKSDDw&ved=0CJoBEPMCMAg


The other pan options available were much nicer i will admit, however as mentioned I was not sure about the fitment issues on 4x4 applications. It would be very nice to know if a higher capacity aluminum pan would work.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

2-3/8" deep isn't going to do it though. That is probably similar to the base shape of the pan, but the C5 has the extended pickup made into the filter.

 

[rednine4]

Ahh, I see. I am using a TCI valve body with a C4 filter, which would explain why it works on mine.


Maybe you can measure the depth of the c5 pan to the deepest part of the hump and see how it compares to the depth of one of the deeper after market pans available. I would think that if the hump clears the cross member an entire pan should probably clear.

The other option is to see if you can put a c4 filter on your existing valve body, however I have heard that there are issues with the pickup running dry while offroading on steep inclines etc... I have yet to really take mine on any serious hills that would slosh the fluid to one side, but so far i have had it on mild inclines with no issues..

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Anybody else ran into this?

I tried to reseal it while I had the exhaust unhooked but I am going to have remove the exhaust to get the stock pan down which complicated things beyond what I could do where the truck was.

Sooo now I would love to find for sure one way or another which pan if any will fit and work without making a mess wherever I park the truck.