Magnet in the Trans Pan?

[joesho_gb]

Well, time for normal maintenance. No clue when it was last done, so I just changed the trans filter on my 95/ATX.
When pulling the pan, I found a dark ring on the pan, covered in what could only be described as sludge. After trying to clean it, I noticed that it moved, and it was a magnet. I pulled it out, cleaned it until nothing else came off of it, then put it back in the original spot.

Is this a normal thing? I've worked on a lot of cars, and have never seen a magnet in the trans pan.:thankyou:

 

[SHOCH]

Normal to me, good idea to have a magnetic drain plug for the oil too, couldn't hurt.

 

[jayro]

Im not sure about the atx, but there is a magnet in the mtx trans.

Jeremy

 

[hawkeye18]

This is normal. Be thankful you didn't find large chunks/slivers stuck to it. All those clutch packs in there are wear items, and all that wear has to go somewhere.

 

[Shoaz]

The magnets are to catch any ferrous metal fragments or shavings that might get loose from damage or wear, and prevent them from getting back into the system and doing more damage. As you discovered, they're easy to inspect during service, and the presence of a lot of metal shavings means something is very unhappy inside the tranny. Lack of shavings means things are good.

 

[joesho_gb]

Yea, there were no shavings or metal bits. Here's an odd question, last night I pulled the gauge cluster to change a light. I knocked the ABS light out of the socket, and it fell back.
I can't find it, but didn't think anything of it anyways, because the ABS is pretty well screwed.
Anywho, now the trans seems to be running high. Yesterday, at about 65 to 70 mph, I was revving about 2100ish RPM. Today, it's at almost 2900/3k rpm. It's not slipping or anything, and when I turn off OD, the tach jumps to almost 4k.
I'm going to the junk yard tomorrow to get a few extra bulbs and holders to see if that fixes it, but has anyone else encountered this?

If I put a bulb back in, and the tach/rpm goes to normal, I'm wiring up a switch to that light. It's snappy when it holds the revs more, and it'd be cool to have that control

 

[VortecGT]

Sometimes changing the fluid can make a transmission problem worse but in your case I would disconnect the battery to reset the computer.

 

[SHOtimer]

When the RPMs were higher was your car cold? The torque converter won't lock up on these cars unless the tranny fluid gets up to the correct temp.....once it heats up it will lock up.

Doug

 

[joesho_gb]

It was normal until the cats collapsed into themselves the other day & water sitting on/in the back bank spark plug wells (the hood that's on it has cowl's by the windshield, and water gets on top of the block when it rains or I wash it, gotta cover those this weekend)

After I got the cats removed, it was still sputtering, but shifting normal. After sucking all the water out of the plug wells, pulling the plugs and cleaning everything in there, that's when I noticed that it was running high. Even before I did anything with the filter/trans fluid change last night, it was still high. Cold, hot, whichever.

To clear the KAM, should I pull the positive or negative cable from the battery? I pulled the positive for about an hour last night, hoping that'd clear it up, but a no go. Thinking of just pulling both positive and negative and let the sucker sit all night with no power, see how it goes tomorrow I guess.

 

[SHOtimer]

Whenever you are disconnecting the battery to reset the ECM or disconnecting it to service an electrical portion of the car.....disconnect the negative, not the positive.

...maybe you have some water in one of the tranny plugs or wires.

Doug

 

[joesho_gb]

Tranny Plugs? Where would I find those?

 

[SHOtimer]

They are underneath the throttle body, it is where the wiring harness plugs into the transmission....maybe moisture got into one of them...or into the harness.

Doug