Hey all-

I just dropped the tranny pan on my '01 Mountaineer (5.0L AWD) and there is a small 1" long half-sphere shaped check valve, with a rubber o-ring, sitting in the pan bottom.

I've looked at the trans for an hour and have no clue where this thing came from. This is the first trans oil change for this car, so I'm not sure what this is, and I have never run into this before on any of my other vehicles (ever!!).

The only places this thing looks like it goes into are the filler tube (not likely because there is nothing to hold it in place) or actually in the filter, but it is such a loose fit, it would serve no real purpose.

I'd love a quick answer, as I'm not going to put this thing back together minus the valve. a new tranny is a little to pricey for me:).

Thanks.

Derek

FYI>>>

It's garbage

"I read your section about the transmission fluid change. I feel that you should add this to it. Its about the small tan plastic plug I found in the pan. It's about 1.5 inches long with a O-ring it and small 1/4 inch rod about 1 inch of the total height. It is used to plug the dipstick hole when building the transmission and gets pushed in the trans when the dipstick is added. I have beat my head on the wall till I found out what it was for. Most people that read your page probably had their first transmission service done by the dealer and the plug was thrown away."

That's kinda what I thought.

Now you know it is a virgin and didn't have to be worked on at the factory or the dealer.