89red4x4yota

i have a 3.0 auto and i thought it was due for a tranny fluid change, however when i looked under i saw that the pan is blocked by the swaybar, can i clear the sway bar or do i have to pull it off, im afraid when i pull it off i might break a bolt in the chassis meaning drill and tap, not fun, can anyone shed some light on this

leebee

had mine done a little while back, the shop dropped the sway bar without issue. just be forewarned, the trans dip stick may stick to the pan and be a bit of a pita to get out. that is, if you are going for the full monty (complete flush & fill). clean up all the mating surfaces of all old gasket material, clean the inside of the pan, put on new gasket material (rtv sealant or similar), reinstall the pan and torque to spec.

check out bamachems write-up on flush & fill, its pretty detailed and effective. good luck and keep us posted.

lee

Schooler

I would not advise using the gasket in a tube stuff. The first time I used that on the pan and then the 2nd time I did it it was really hard to get off. I got a preformed gasket at Advance auto parts that came with the filter. about $15.

If you are really worried about taking the sway bar off, and you haven't taken it in for the recall yet, you could take it to the dealer and have them replace the sway bar before you do the fluid change. Then it would be easy to get off anyway. Mine came right off though.

leebee

ive heard two schools of thought on this, you can get an oem gasket or use a sealant. when i had mine done, they used the sealant and its dry with no leaks. just my .02.

lee

Marc

Does the 89 not have a drain plug for the auto?

My 91 does.

Schooler

Using the RTF: not that it was not sealed but that it was a PITA the next time you had to take the pan off because you have to pry the pan and then clean all the RTF off of both the pan and the transmission. Just took some more time than having a rubber gasket.