MngreLMatt

Stopping by for another check in.

Finished a pretty grueling job today. Changed out the transmission mount which was in two pieces. As well as dropping the pan and cleaning the trans filter and magnets etc. Anyway unbeknownst to me I had a heck of a time dropping the pan all the way off as well as putting it back up with the FIPG and getting the upper and lower tubes to fit into each other.

Hope some new people will be able to see this and maybe think about it before they jump in. I hadn't seen anywhere that stated it would be that much of a pain.

Anyway it's all over with now and the results kind of feel like you're driving on a cloud the accel is super quite and the shifts are silky smooth. So happy it is all back together and the car is running. Needless to say I'll be avoiding this repair again at all costs. Who knows, maybe I missed a trick somewhere but it wasn't as simple as stated on the net.

Best regards,


Matt

LScowboyLS

the trick is, use a Fel-Pro gasket rather than FIPG and reassembly of the pan is easy as pie (and much safer for the tranny, no FIPG can seep inside) - it even holds all the bolts in place for you! (I have advised this more times on this forum than I can count!)

the tranny mount should have been a 5-10 minute job or else something was amiss!

MngreLMatt

Cowboy,

Have you ever had trouble reattaching the pan? First off, it took me about 30 minutes to finally get the thing off of the car. Then, once cleaned took me hours to reattach. Plus the lip of the pan got slightly bent from all the wiggling and trying to get it off/on. Granted I need a new jack that can jack up the car higher so I have a little bit more room to work and use the jack stands to full potential. I was ecstatic that I was able to reattach it and got everything good to go. It was a half assed job unfortunately and will need to be redone. Ugh!

This really bothered me, I was under the impression it would not be a big deal, although brackets that attached to the beginning of the exhaust and the oil pan dipstick tube portion made it really hard to do. Looks like I'll have to either figure out what I did wrong so I can right it. Or bring it to our faithful Lexus mechanic.
Thanks for any ideas and help

Matt

MngreLMatt

Yes, the transmission mount was a breeze. Once the car was jacked up and all the tools were under the car the actual removsl and reinstall of the new one was probably about 20 minutes tops

johnnyg66

I did what cowboy did too. Went smooth sorry you had a fight with it.

MngreLMatt

Thanks for the post johnny.

The car is a 99LS if that makes any difference

The mount was indeed a breeze although the pan was far from it.

Maybe the 98-00 pan removal requires something different that I missed. Just trying to get to the bottom of this as everywhere I read stated it was an easy job and what I experienced was not

LScowboyLS

what part of pan removal/installation did you have trouble with and perhaps we can tell you some of the tricks!

MngreLMatt

I hate to say this but just the regular install and removal the pan kept hitting these brackets attached to the beginning of the exhuast and the oil pan dipstick tube portion kept scraping against what looked like heat shields and other items next to the opening on the upper dipstick tube. Even getting it off was trouble as it didn't just drop down after it was completely loose it was stuck up there. I may have bent the dipstick tube(bottom) when getting it off and that very well could have been the trouble getting it back up there. Anyhow I don't think I'll be doing this again if I can help it. Just didn't pan out and it is too important for an amateur like me to mess up

LScowboyLS

there are often advanced tools with weird angles that you don't even realize exist, and if I showed them to you, you would say "OMG - if I had only known there was a crazy wrench that was bent like that" etc.

get on a Snap-On or Mac or Matco tool truck sometime and just browse for half an hour!

MngreLMatt

Haha, Will do cowboy I appreciate all the help.
Hopefully it will go smoother next time, if I ever chose to try it again

Tuha

Well done for not giving up and carrying it through until you got it right in the end. A small write up next time please so we can see the issues you went through. I have a feeling that your biggest issue was not having the car jacked up enough. I hate not having the right tools.

valex

What tools are needed to drop and re-install the transmission pan? Anyone wants to give a list?

LScowboyLS

sometimes repair jobs can even require something simple that many people do not have, such as several 1" long 3/8" extensions, to get the perfect length or a ratchet that pivots in strange ways to get around corners, so to speak.