Thanks, Callisto. Are you a mechanic?

 

Sort of I was once years ago. bit more now

 

I'm going to drop the pan tomorrow...in your professional opinion is it okay to do this service this late at 150k when the fluid has never been changed or should I leave well enough alone?

 

Yes.

If you want you can post pictures or pm anytime if you have questions during your service I am home all day .
oh I am in CA so you know if there is a time difference…

I recommend using a gasket not sealer on the pan.

 

Thanks again Callisto...will do. I'm on the east coast and will be starting at 9 am, lol. I only have the car until 3pm just so I can let the RTV sit for 4 hours (hopefully that's long enough even though the cure time is 24 hours). I just did the valve cover and only let the Mazda RTV sit for an hour and it's fine so hopefully 4 hours is enough before I refill.

I don't have a gasket, I have Permatex grey trans RTV. I've done as much research and watched a million videos so I think I can get it done...removing the pan is what worries me the most. Stuck bolts and just getting the pan off is where I'll have problems, if any. I have a new pan in case I damage the old one and so I make sure I get a good seal. I have plastic pry bars, scrapers, etc. so that I don't damage the mating surface. We'll see how it goes.

 

You will do fine. It is really hard to damage the pan and all the bolts should come out easily as well. The important thing is completely clean the pan and spay the valve body and anything that has varnish then wipe with a clean rag. You may need to do this a few times. WD-40 is cheap so spray away! . Don't worry the WD-40 is a solvent and the minor residue of it remaining will in no way harm any automatic transmission..
Depending on what you find you may need to do just a pan drain a fill in about 3k miles or close?
Don't worry about what you find unless it is anything larger than a rice kernel then maybe? Thats when you PM, call or post a picture or all 3.
I am up by 630am everyday so your good timewise.

 

Copy!

 

Didnt get around to dropping the pan but I'll keep you posted. Thanks.

 

No problem!