Mikos_89

I've have some areas of light corrosion forming on the outside of my tranny oil pan and I want to remove the corrosion. Problem is, the pan doesn't appear to be just bare metal, it looks like it has some kind of protective coating on it. Is it anodized silver?

ed o

corrosion happens mostly in the snow, obviously not where you live in sunny cali. like me.
What the heck? is it a chrome pan flaking off? no pic, just guessing

Mikos_89

Sorry, I don't have any pics. It's the original pan, but I cleaned it up several years ago and then had it stored in an outdoor shed for a couple years. It's relatively dry here, but it's does get kind of misty and moist during certain nights and in the early mornings. The typical late night and early morning low cloud stuff we have here in the valley.

It's not rust per se, nor is it flaking off. It has these areas of corrosion (little bumps forming on the outside) from what I guess is the (anodized?) silver coating breaking down due to age. Moisture is getting into the metal underneath and corroding it. The corrosion feels like little bumps when you rub your hand over it. Like a bad rash. I tried Naval Jelly, but the corrosion has left marks in the paint, coating, whatever, and they won't come out The marks are slightly darker than the surrounding metal so I guess the metal in those areas is now exposed rather than being protected by the coating.

That's what I'm trying to find out. Is the pan anodized? Powdercoated? Or, just painted? It looks like anodizing to me, but I can't tell for sure. The new ones from GM are even worse (all scratched up). They must be dragging them on the ground before they put them in the boxes. The junkyard may be my only choice, but if I could restore this one that would be good. I'm currently restoring the chassis to showroom condition.

Tmic87TPI

iTrader: (3)

AFAIK they're just painted, I know when I do a tare down on a trans I always re-paint the pan with just rattle can paint, I've only ever seen one pan rust out to the point where you couldn't use it anymore (silly Chrysler, the side covers on the trans were bad too!). if I were you I'd drop the pan, trans could probably use a service anyway, and while there just paint the pan whatever color you want it.