MoparGuy68
Well-Known Member
This is a review of the TCI 727 Transmission pan (part# 128000).
When looking at the pictures online, I had doubts that the supplied lock washers for the pan bolts would work, at ALL.. I called TCI and questioned these lock washers. They assured me they are correct for the application and that when the bolts are torqued to spec (13 ft lbs), the lock washers will flatten.. So I went ahead and ordered the pan.
I now have the pan and those lock washers are too large in diameter for the machined space provided for them around the pan holes. After inspecting the lockwashers themselves I seriously doubt they will flatten when the bolts are tightened to only 13 foot pounds. I do NOT believe those lockwashers will flatten unless torqued to much more than 13 foot pounds..
The filter extension comes with one gasket to go between it and the valve body. The extension itself is cast and has no flat machined surface on either side of it. It just has the rough cast finish where it mates to the valve body on top, and where the filter attaches to it on the bottom.
You can see right through the supplied filter. It is made of some sort of mesh screen. Completely different than the filter that was in the transmission and one that I bought with the court gasket said about a month ago. Whether this transparent mesh filter is better or worse than the standard filter I don’t know..
The casting surface of the pan has some areas, on the outside where there are dents in it, little defects in the casted surface.
The provided screws to secure the filter are flat head and have no washers. In contrast those same screws that were in my transmission are also flat head but have built-in washers permanently attached under the bolt heads (you cannot slide the washers off the threaded end of the bolt). Bottom line is the filter securing screws that were in the transmission look better quality than what came with the TCI pan.
The supplied pan gasket is thin and solid black. The TCI guy on the phone couldn’t tell me exactly what it was made of.
The gasket that was on the stock pan is cork but it has metal eyelet reinforcements around the bolt holes. The cork gasket I got with the standard style filter, a month ago, does not have these metal eyelets around the holes.
I’m not sure why the stock pan was leaking in the first place, because the gasket is completely intact the old gasket is not damaged and has no chunks missing from it at all. In addition, none of the 14 pan bolts felt loose when I checked them before removing them.
I’ve checked the shifter selector shaft, the cooling line connections, the neutral safety switch where the dipstick tube penetrates the transmission. None of those locations look to me like they are leaking.. The pan gasket was always wet and saturated all around the perimeter and all 14 of the bolts were always moist with fluid, and the whole bottom of the pan was always wet..
I also don’t notice any dimpling around the holes or warping of the stock stamped steel pan.
So at this point I’m trying to decide what to do.
1. Reinstall the stock pan with a new gasket and filter and return the TCI pan for a refund.
2. Attempt to install the TCI pan if I can obtain washers that fit the pan properly, or maybe put Loctite on the supplied bolts and not use washers at all.
When looking at the pictures online, I had doubts that the supplied lock washers for the pan bolts would work, at ALL.. I called TCI and questioned these lock washers. They assured me they are correct for the application and that when the bolts are torqued to spec (13 ft lbs), the lock washers will flatten.. So I went ahead and ordered the pan.
I now have the pan and those lock washers are too large in diameter for the machined space provided for them around the pan holes. After inspecting the lockwashers themselves I seriously doubt they will flatten when the bolts are tightened to only 13 foot pounds. I do NOT believe those lockwashers will flatten unless torqued to much more than 13 foot pounds..
The filter extension comes with one gasket to go between it and the valve body. The extension itself is cast and has no flat machined surface on either side of it. It just has the rough cast finish where it mates to the valve body on top, and where the filter attaches to it on the bottom.
You can see right through the supplied filter. It is made of some sort of mesh screen. Completely different than the filter that was in the transmission and one that I bought with the court gasket said about a month ago. Whether this transparent mesh filter is better or worse than the standard filter I don’t know..
The casting surface of the pan has some areas, on the outside where there are dents in it, little defects in the casted surface.
The provided screws to secure the filter are flat head and have no washers. In contrast those same screws that were in my transmission are also flat head but have built-in washers permanently attached under the bolt heads (you cannot slide the washers off the threaded end of the bolt). Bottom line is the filter securing screws that were in the transmission look better quality than what came with the TCI pan.
The supplied pan gasket is thin and solid black. The TCI guy on the phone couldn’t tell me exactly what it was made of.
The gasket that was on the stock pan is cork but it has metal eyelet reinforcements around the bolt holes. The cork gasket I got with the standard style filter, a month ago, does not have these metal eyelets around the holes.
I’m not sure why the stock pan was leaking in the first place, because the gasket is completely intact the old gasket is not damaged and has no chunks missing from it at all. In addition, none of the 14 pan bolts felt loose when I checked them before removing them.
I’ve checked the shifter selector shaft, the cooling line connections, the neutral safety switch where the dipstick tube penetrates the transmission. None of those locations look to me like they are leaking.. The pan gasket was always wet and saturated all around the perimeter and all 14 of the bolts were always moist with fluid, and the whole bottom of the pan was always wet..
I also don’t notice any dimpling around the holes or warping of the stock stamped steel pan.
So at this point I’m trying to decide what to do.
1. Reinstall the stock pan with a new gasket and filter and return the TCI pan for a refund.
2. Attempt to install the TCI pan if I can obtain washers that fit the pan properly, or maybe put Loctite on the supplied bolts and not use washers at all.