Transmission filter & gasket kit

[MountainManJoe]

Here you go.

Well thank you, but I just did mine so I'm good for a while. I think you should do it.

Does the pump actually "suck" or just "blow"? I wonder if you could just stick that hose in a 5 gallon bucket of ATF and see if it would suck it out. Would it?

The pump sucks it up out of the pan and then blows it into the torque converter and valve body. The pump probably has enough suction to pull it out of the bucket, but then you're "lifting" the fluid instead of "dropping" it. Plus, I think the hose would collapse. Unless you prime the pump, it's going to be sucking a lot of air first. Try it

[Meterpig]

WEll, what if you disconnected the two hoses at the cooler and used the inlet for sucking and the outlet for discharge? A lot less lifting for sure.

[MountainManJoe]

The pump only sucks from the pan. There's no suction at the cooler. It's basically a sump pump.

[Meterpig]

Ah-ok then.

[MountainManJoe]

NEVER EVER EVER go to a quick lube place for ANYTHING.
I finally serviced my transmission over the weekend, and when I took the deep pan off, there was a shallow pan filter on there. And it's not like their services are cheap either.

What kind of damage could result from having the wrong filter on there?
I plan to go over there and give thme hell for this, and at least get my money back.

[astrozam]

Providing you had the proper amount of ATF then the filter should still have been submerged in fluid and therefore it shouldn't have caused any problems.

[MountainManJoe]

That's not the answer I was looking for, Zam. I'm pretty sure when I looked, the dipstick went BELOW the bottom of the filter, meaning that when going uphill the torque converter would be starved of fluid causing slippage. Right???

[Kabey's Van]

I was going to try to explain this to him too Zam, but instead, I decided I would wait to hear about TB trying to get his money back.
Now, I'll never know.

[astrozam]

Just so we are both on the same track here I'll explain what I meant. The position of the tranny filter stays constant regardless of depth of pan, correct? and we know that the fluid is being sucked up thru the filter thus the filter needs to be submerged in ATF to be able to do this, whether you run an oem pan or a deep dish, as long as you have the correct amount of ATF then the filter would be submerged and sucking ATF, I can't see why there would be a deep pan filter, the deeper pan only holds extra ATF, the filter doesn't need to be able to reach down into the ATF, the fluid should always be in the same place in relation to the filter, theres just more of it below in a deep pan.

If this lube place did not put in the correct amount, or when you serviced it later on you did not put back in the correct amount then yes it could be low on ATF and causing problems. Its been yrs since I rebuilt my tranny but I think I am remembering things correctly then again maybe not

As to the T.C beeing starved of ATF, I'm not exactly sure if this could be a problem because of going up the hill, a T.C holds a couple quarts ( i think ) of fluid and it doesn't drain out easily, if the whole system is low then the lack of fluid ( pressure ) will cause problems.

Put the van on level ground and get it up to operating temps, run the gear selector thru the gears and then check the ATF level, if its where it should be on the stick then the problem lies elsewhere.

[MountainManJoe]

I wasn't sure about the part numbers, so I grabbed both kits and took photos. I'll post them here to benefit those planning to do this job...

4L60-E (years?)

with deep pan


Shallow pan


These are both factory GM pans, just from different year vans.

Transmission filter for deep pan (WIX#58847)

It has an all plastic shell. The feet are there so the filter doesn't get sucked against the bottom surface of the pan and restrict the flow (evidently this was a problem in the past)

for shallow pan (WIX#58904)

Metal shell. Filter is not as thick as the deep version, and it's missing the feet.

Also notice the overall shapes of the two are different, and the crooked necks (?).

Here is the transmission pan gasket. It is the same for both.

This one was made of rubber. The holes are smaller than the bolts to make installation easier. I did not use any RTV.

Here is the kit I ended up using. It cost about $18


So what happens if you put a shallow filter in a deep pan? Well, the van drives. I'll let you know if I notice a difference. If you compare the filter photos, you can see they would sit at different heights.

[crash]

i think the single post above showing the diff between the pans and filters shallow vs deep should be a single post made in to a sticky in this section, including the single pan gasket pic.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Just so we are both on the same track here I'll explain what I meant. The position of the tranny filter stays constant regardless of depth of pan, correct? and we know that the fluid is being sucked up thru the filter thus the filter needs to be submerged in ATF to be able to do this, whether you run an oem pan or a deep dish, as long as you have the correct amount of ATF then the filter would be submerged and sucking ATF, I can't see why there would be a deep pan filter, the deeper pan only holds extra ATF, the filter doesn't need to be able to reach down into the ATF, the fluid should always be in the same place in relation to the filter, theres just more of it below in a deep pan.

Zam is 100% correct. When I added a deeper pan to the SPB, I did not change the length of the dipstick. I just had to add extra fluid. I am pretty sure the dipstick is the same for a shallow pan or deep pan application or there would be NO reason to make the pan deeper if the fluid level is lower.

[MountainManJoe]

Interesting. So why the different filters?

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Not really sure why except that there is no way to anchor the shorter filter up. Would not be good if it fell out!

[Meterpig]

I would think that the deep filter would draw father into the reservoir to allow cooler fluid to be pulled into the transmission. Just speculation on my part.