[tenascious D]

Is the tranny pan cast aluminum ?

 

[UberRam]

No, it's the factory steel one.

 

[snrusnak]

If I were you, I'd look up some aftermarket ones that have the sensor, and copy their location....sort of steal their placement.

 

[UberRam]

If I were you, I'd look up some aftermarket ones that have the sensor, and copy their location....sort of steal their placement.

Yeah, I thought about that but since their pans are so much deeper I thought it might be misleading.

 

[snrusnak]

You could always do it in about the same spot, but on the bottom of the pan. Only thing with that is some "stuff" might settle there.

You could take two pans, cut them both horizontally, one near the gasket flange, one near the bottom of the pan, then weld the two longer "halves" back together for a deeper pan. Then weld in the bung, and have more fluid capacity for a cooler trans. I've done this to the valve cover on my old ford 300 straight six to make clearance for the roller rockers, worked great.

 

[snrusnak]

Come to think of it, your trans might already have a sensor for the temp in it somewhere as it is the same trans as the 4th gens, and the 4th gens display trans temp on the EVIC on the dash... I'd bet it's already there, and then you could just tap into that wire(s) for your gauge.

 

[FrostKing]

I have my drain plug in the lowest dip in the centre of the pan where the filter sucks the fluid up.

 

[TransEngineer]

Best bet would be to put your temp sensor on the side of the pan (to protect it from damage). The area on the driver's side of the trans, near the rear of the pan, is open. There are four (4) pan screws along the driver's side of the pan (not counting the ones just "around the corner" at the very front and back). The area from the 3rd screw back (between the 3rd and 4th pan screws, and beyond the 4th pan screw) should be free and clear.

But Sean is correct - there is already a thermistor for trans sump temperature (it's inside the solenoid assy). Might be easier (and better) to buy a scan tool that can be programmed to read specific PIDs. You can read the measured sump temp using PID B011. This will return a signed 2-byte value, that must be multiplied by 0.015625 to get the actual reading in °F.

 

[UberRam]

Best bet would be to put your temp sensor on the side of the pan (to protect it from damage). The area on the driver's side of the trans, near the rear of the pan, is open. There are four (4) pan screws along the driver's side of the pan (not counting the ones just "around the corner" at the very front and back). The area from the 3rd screw back (between the 3rd and 4th pan screws, and beyond the 4th pan screw) should be free and clear.

But Sean is correct - there is already a thermistor for trans sump temperature (it's inside the solenoid assy). Might be easier (and better) to buy a scan tool that can be programmed to read specific PIDs. You can read the measured sump temp using PID B011. This will return a signed 2-byte value, that must be multiplied by 0.015625 to get the actual reading in °F.

Thanks for the info and the PID. I'll have to look into that one.