Just recently purchased a 1991 245 SE with automatic tranny issues. Transmission slips badly, fluid looks a lot like Hershey's syrup, and there are leaks around the pan gasket surface and cooler lines. Removing the drain plug netted me only a small amount of fluid, dark, but without any metallic residue.

I'd like to drop the pan, not so much to replace the screen, which I have seen here is not really necessary, but to replace the pan gasket and see what might be inside the pan and/or stuck to the magnet. Like many of you, I have found it difficult, if not impossible, to loosen the dipstick tube from the pan. Despite having access to good used parts at the yard, I don't want to risk destroying either.

Several of you remarked that you dropped the pan with the tube still attached by loosening the mounting bolts at the starter. Can any of you tell me how much ground clearance was required to do this, and perhaps pass along any other useful tips? Using the search feature does not tell me how high I have to get the car. I don't have a lift, only a floor jack and a set of jack stands.

As always, any and all help is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Greg
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Greg - '91 245 SE, 160,000 miles, '81 245 DL, 250,000 miles (victim of floor, body, and wiring rot)