My 2 cents, I have installed the ford pan/filter and drained the system completely before filling w. Mercon SP appx. 10k miles ago w. no ill effects so far, and the little squak noise is now no more.

 

Just checked and I have the T27, not T40 pan bolts (2005 model built around Nov. 2004). I tried and was able to loosen two. Sprayed all with PB Blaster and hope all will loosen. Also, I haven't located the fill plug yet (want to make sure I can loosen it before I do anything else). Will keep looking.

 

The fill plug is on the right side of the trans, rear, about 2" above the pan. It is right next to the exhaust pipe. I believe a 6mm hex does it.

 

Well, this is a slow process (I'm doing way to many other projects at the same time). First, because I have T27 torx, I had to put PB Blaster on each (bent the little red hose so I could put PB Blaster on the tops of all of the bolts.

The plan was to go back under this evening and make sure I could loosen the fill plug. However, where the plug is, there's no way to get an 8mm hex with socket up in that area. Nor could I get an "L" shaped 8mm hex wrench up there. There's probably only about 2".

I'm going to have to go looking for an 8mm hex stub that fits in the hole but is short enough that I can get it in (what have some of you used?). Then I'll have to use an 8mm wrench over the hex stub to try to loosen it (I'm not going to take the pan off until I know I can refill it). Not sure where I'm going to find that hex stub.

Also, Reverend Sam said to use a 6pt. 8mm wrench when he did it on his XK. I went to two hardware stores and two car parts place and no-one has a 6 point 8mm. So I'm going to have to cross my fingers that a 12 point won't slip off.

The good news is the fill hole is farther away from the exhaust pipe so there is less of a chance for a burn. Also, I have a non-contact temp tester so that part should be fairly easy. I just now have to get the fill plug loose, and then hopefully get all of the T27 off without stripping.....

I'll probably take a number of pictures with a step by step process for anyone that needs it.

 

Just a tip...anytime I am putting steel bolts into an aluminum housing, I always use an anti-seize. It reduces the trouble you are having removing the bolts this time around.

For many years cars were not provided with a tranny drain plug. So if you absolutely can't remove it, you can always just drop the pan full of fluid. You need a large oil pan under it, and it is definitely messy, but may save a lot of time driving around looking for the right 8mm hex. That's the old school way!

 

Actually, the drain plug is not the problem, it is the fill plug that is the 8mm hex with very little clearance in front of it.

Good point about the anti-seize. I've used it on other places on the car but hadn't thought about these.

 

Yep, that was tight on mine too. I re-installed it barely more than finger tight afterward, as it has a seal and does not depend on being gorilla tight. I had a set of Sears metric allen wrenches that I used to remove it.

 

Sanity Check! I want to make sure that I only need a little less than 6 liters of fluid. That's what I ordered and Lagonia said you put about 5.5 liters in (of course following the warming up procedure). I was just about to jack up the car and looked in the service manual to see what it said. It says if you are just draining the fluid, you drain it and then add 8 liters (and go through the warming process).

" Fill the transmission with 8 liters of transmission fluid through the transmission fluid filler plug hole.
2. Carry out a transmission fluid level check."

So, do I need 6 or do I need 8? If I need 8, I'll have to run to the dealer (painful) and pick up two. Please advise ASAP.

Thanks.

 

I have done it twice and never needed more than 6 after pulling pan.
Is so much fun underneath filling with the engine running, not

 

Thanks! The dealer's parts department is closed today. I just got an email back from the guy at CTSC who said he heard it was between 7 and 8 on the Jag (for some reason he thought I had a BMW). But you and one other have said less than 6, so maybe I'll go ahead after all. Just don't want to be without a car for four days if I don't have enough.... The only other reason for waiting would be to order all new T40 bolts just to be on the safe side. Won't know if I'm going to have an issue until I try to take them all off. I've sprayed them all twice with PB Blaster and did try loosening two without too much of a problem. So I'm hopeful.... Since I plan on having this car for a while and expect to do this again later, it would be nice to not have an issue with the bolts. If CTSC can ship the bolts today, I'll wait until Tuesday to do the job. If not, I'll either go ahead with this job or pull the intake manifold off to replace the remaining coolant hose I haven't replaced yet. This car is so much more of a hassle to work on than my '97.

 

One other "quick" question. I know you have to torque the pan bolts in a particular order and I remember seeing it somewhere. But I can't find it for the life of me (I know that Reverend Sam printed it out and taped it to the bottom of the new pan--great idea). I'd like to do what he did, so am looking for the diagram of the torque sequence so I can print it out.

Thanks.

 

It's on the CTSC website.

 

I used 5.5 liters. Make sure that the tranny is at the right temperature and the engine is running when you fill it.

 

Thanks. They just emailed it to me.

 

The total amount of fluid in the system is probably around 11-13 quarts. You have fluid not only in the transmission pan, but also the front valve body, the torque converter, the cooler and the lines. You only get about half (at the most) of the fluid by draining it. What I always did with GM transmissions was drain and fill, then after a thousand miles or so I'd do it again. I figure that got most of the old fluid out. Of course, the fluid for a 700R is a lot cheaper.

 

Yup, a LOT cheaper...

I'm opting to get another liter just in case I let it sit a while although of course there will always be some in the converter). Also the pump I use doesn't quite reach the bottom of the container I use to pump the fluid, so I may not be able to get the last .5 liters pumped in anyway. But the biggest reason is I'm opting to go ahead and get the T40 bolts and I won't get them until probably Tuesday. Since I plan on doing this multiple times, I might as well make it easier on myself in the future. So I'm holding off but will hopefully get to it Tuesday evening. Will update when I get into it again.

Thanks everyone for the quick posts, etc. Greatly appreciated.

 

Okay folks, I did it. For the most part, a fairly straightforward job. I have written up the steps (24 steps) with a list of tools I used, etc. I'll put them in a different post for reference and help for anyone else doing it. Thanks to all of you that posted info, etc. Thanks to Rev. Sam for his great video on his XK, other topics with information, and a good friend of mine with a BMW convertible who did the same thing to his car (he gave me the idea to drive up ramps and then jack up the other end). The parts were somewhere in the $250-$300 range; an independent jag mechanic quoted $900. I also upgraded my T27 pan bolts to the T40s. That will be money well spent. Anyway, thanks again everyone. I'll post the instructions and can provide pictures, etc. if needed.