Mistery object found in tranny pan

[ROBS]

Hey guys,

I'm new to the gen 3 world, just got a 93 V6 LE (3VZ-FE) after my gen 2 got totaled recently.

The car has been doing me good so far. Seems pretty solid. The thing is, I was changing the tranny fluid and filter last night and when I dropped the pan there was an object in it.

Now this obviously has me a bit concerned. I've never seen anything like this while changing tranny fluid. I dont see anything else in there that looks like it or where it could have come from. I'm wondering if anyone can identify this part, if in fact it is a transmission part. I'm hoping its something someone had previously dropped in the pan while they were changing the filter, didn't notice it and bolted the pan back up, but who knows...

Otherwise the tranny seems to run perfect.

Anyways, here is a pic of the object in question :


Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

[360glitch]

That's very interesting... I have no idea what it is, but hopefully it's not from the tranny...

[xtremeskier97]

Is it a magnet? If so..it's supposed to be in there.

[davemac2]

It's the end of a valve plug from the valve body. Sometimes when they assemble the valve body and put in the valve and drive the wedge in that holds it in place, the valve plug for whatever reason is a tight fit and it ends up breaking off this part of it. Ie. it is broken in the valve body but comes off later with vibration. I found one in my wife's 93 transmission and noticed it missing in the valve body when I started working on it. It's actually harmless. That valve is still quite secure in the valve body because of the wedge in place. You would understand this if you have a good picture of a valve body assembly diagram.

dave mc

[Venom_5]

thats a pen on top of a filter box .... but idk what the metal thing next to it is

[xtremeskier97]

^^LoL

[ROBS]

Originally Posted by davemac2

It's the end of a valve plug from the valve body. Sometimes when they assemble the valve body and put in the valve and drive the wedge in that holds it in place, the valve plug for whatever reason is a tight fit and it ends up breaking off this part of it. Ie. it is broken in the valve body but comes off later with vibration. I found one in my wife's 93 transmission and noticed it missing in the valve body when I started working on it. It's actually harmless. That valve is still quite secure in the valve body because of the wedge in place. You would understand this if you have a good picture of a valve body assembly diagram.

dave mc

Well, thanks man...thats a huge relief. So, would this indicate that the tranny filter had never been changed before? The gasket was really baked on there.

[davemac2]

Originally Posted by ROBS

Well, thanks man...thats a huge relief. So, would this indicate that the tranny filter had never been changed before? The gasket was really baked on there.

Yes it likely means you are the first to drop the pan.

dave mc