Are Dropping Filters a Thing?

1997ThunderbirdLXV6

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Watched another transmission video, just for the fun of it, and saw something disturbing...

Start watching at 4:15, the lowering of the pan. What you'll see is that the filter is loose in the pan, including its o-ring, and that the toy is present, suggesting that this is the factory filter.


That got my obsessive side wound up, and I went to the junkyard where 4r70w transmissions tend to just lay around. I wanted to verify conflicting information online whether or not the pan should hold the filter in place.

After measuring a few times, accounting for the gasket and pan depth, I concluded that there's between 3/16 and 4/16" between pan floor and filter. The filter o-ring is 1/4" wide. So conceivably, yes, the filter could sit somewhat loosely in its bore; it wouldn't be able to move away much, but some fluid could be sucked in through the bore, bypassing the filter (or air if the fluid level is low).

20260409_093343.jpg20260409_093437.jpg
 
I seem to recall the design of the filter was updated to prevent them from dropping. Something about the updated revision is held against the pan with an added part of metal on the bottom.
 

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