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Iknowtheresalotofinfoonthishere,didntseeaspecificwriteupwithpicsonthisfairlyeasyprocedure,soheregoes.*Thisprocedurewasdoneona1996Ram1500,mayormaynotbesimilaroridenticalforotheryears/models.

Toolsneeded:7/16socket,T-25torxbit,needlenosepliers

Preparations:Youllofcoursewanttohavethepartsonhand.Pricescanvarydrastically,soshoparound.Youcansometimesfindthemonebayreasonablypriced,butyourbestbetiscallaroundtolocaltrannyshops,lookintheyellowpagesundertransmission,nottheautopartssection.Ifoundmineherehttp://tinyurl.com/p7t4vgfor$110forboth[Idoubtiftheydomailorder,callemandseeifyoucan'tfindanythinginyourarea],gladIcalledbecauseIwasconsideringNAPA,theonlypartsstorethatseemedtostockthese,andtheywanted$114forthepressuresensorand$98forthesolenoid.

Ididn'tjackmytruckupatallforpanremoval,asIpreferitsomewhatlevelforthisunavoidablymessyprocedure.AfterIhadthepanout,Ididjackinupontheframerailjustforafewextrainches,afterknockingmyheadonthetrannymountafewtimes.Wheelsnotofftheground,justaliftoffthesuspensionisenough.

Youllneedtodropthepanofcourse,Iletminedripdryforacouplehours,but

ifyoudontmindgettingacoatoftrannyfluidonyourarms,youdontneedtowaitthatlong.Removefilter.

Bothsensorsarecontainedinanaluminumblock,thiswholeblockdropsrightdownwiththesensorsoncetheboltsareremoved.Firstyoullneedtodisconnectthemfromtheharness,theseconnectionsusethetypicalsnapinstyle,whereyouhavetopryupalittleplasticliptofreetheconnection.Takeoutthe2torxscrewsusingtheT25bit[sameonethatdropsthefilterscrews].Thenloosenupall47/16bolts,thenremovethem.Youmayhavetojiggletheblockaroundabittobreakanysuction,butoncetheboltsareremoved,thereisnothingholdingitin.

Thispicsshowsthespacewherethealuminumblockhousingthesensorswas.Iwouldhavesnappedapicwiththehousinginplace,butitdidnotstrikemetodoaDIYwrite-upuntilafterIhaditout.Youcanseethetwohangingconnectors,andthegasketfortheblock.Ioptednottoreplacethegasket,asitlookedperfectlygood,butuseyourdiscretion,anddefinitelyreplaceifyounoticeanycracksorsignsofwear.

Herewehavethesolenoidontop,withaformedhousingthatlocksitinwhenth

eboltsarein.Itisfreetobesetasidewiththeboltsout.

Hereitisagainwithoutthehousing,newpartsreadytoinstall.

Oldontop,newonbottom.Removalissimple,withthesolenoidontop,onceitshousingisremovedtherei

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snothingholdingitinbutsuctionfromtheO-ring,justtwistandpullitupHelpstouseadryrag.Cantakesomedoingtogetitout,forawhileIwasconvincedthattherewassomefiendishlyclever,hiddenlockingdeviceholdingitin.

Onthepressuresensor,thereisanMclipholdingitin,whichyoucansee[afterremoval]justtotheleftoftheoldpartsbelow.Usetheneedlenosedplierstopryinontheexposedarms,whichwillallowyoutoslidethenozzleout.Thiscliphassomewhatofamemory,youwillneedtoputpressurebackonthearmsoppositeofwhichyoupriedinontoclosethemupagain,sothatitsnapsontightinplaceoncethenewoneisinserted.Ifyoudon't,you'llnoticethatitpopsoffwithease,notthebestthingtobefloatingaroundinyourtrannysinnards.Themagnetwouldlikelysnagitrightup,butthenyouareleftwithanonsecuredsensor-Sotightenthatclipupsothatyougetagoodsnapwhenplacedonthenewcomponent!

Newunitsinstalled,topoftheMclipvisiblejusttotheleftofthegoldcoloredsensor.

Thebottomofthesolenoidisprotrudingmorethanitwillbeonceitshousingi

ssnappedbackinplaceandboltedin,don'tworryaboutthatnow,itcanonlyfittogetheroneway,thenitwillbelockedatitscorrectpositionwhenproperlyboltedinwithhousing[nearly,orperhapsactually,flush].

Samewiththesensor,itcanspintoanyposition,butitscorrectfinalpositionwillbetheonlyonewhichallowsmatingbackuptotheharnesswhenboltedin.

Backinplace,readytoboltbackup.Ifyouneedtorquespecs,searcharound.Ijustsnuggedthemallupcrisscross,thentightenedthemupfirmlyonebyone.

Obviously,anythingusingagasketyoudontwanttokillitwithtightness.Isprayedtheharnesscontactswithelectricalcleaningfluid,andsnappedthemrightin.Installfilter,jobdone.

edit:Torxtorque=50inlbs7/16=130inlbsThankstoMonteC

Oncethepanisdropped,youcouldeasilydothisinhalfanhourtoanhour.

IdidnttimeitbecauseIwasdoingotherthings,Iletitdripovernight,IwasdebatingifIwasgoingtomesswiththebandsect.SoIboltedthepanbackupwith3fingertightboltstoprotectthetrannyinnardsovernight,Idadvisethatyoudothesameifitsgoingtobeexposedforanylengthoftime,especiallyourdoors.

Ioptedtoinstalladrainplug,tomakethenextpandropawholeloteasier,sothisisthetimeforyoutoconsiderifyoudliketodothesame.DIYdrainplugisavailablefromjustaboutanypartsstore,from$3to$5.

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Ihaveseenavarietyoflocationsusedfortheplug,takeagoodlookanduseyourbestjudgmenttoplaceitwheretheinnerboltisgoingtobetheleastintrusive.Ioptedforrightnextto,andslightlybehindthemagnet-Justbeforewherethecurvatureofthepanstarts.Diagonalcornerfromthemagnetalsoworthyofconsideration.Havealsoseentheminstalledinthelowerside,toeaseanyworriesaboutthebottomgettingsnaggedbysomethingontheroad.However,thetrannymountisagood2-3incheslower,asisthereardifferential,andpartsoftheexhaust,,,Soyou'dhavelargerproblemsifanyroadobjectgotpastthosetosnagthepanbolt.

Onlyadvicehereisobvious-Withawoodblockunderthepan,startdrillingwithasmallbit,aftermakingapunchmarkinthecenterofyourdesiredlocation,thenworkyourwayupwithsuccessivelylargerbitsuntilthedrainboltthreadsrightin.Ifindoubtaboutwhetherornotabitmightbetoolarge,drillatestholeinsomescrapsheetmetalandcheckthefit,youdon'twanttodrilltoobigwherethedrainboltwon'tthread.

YoucanseethatIhavealittlecleanuptodointhepanandImgoodtogo.IusedalittlehightempredRTVontheedgesofthenut,andsomehightemplocktightonthethreads.Willprobablyputonanotherthinbeadtomorrow,letcureacoupleofhoursthenslapthepanbackin.

Maynotbenecessary,asitthreadedinverytightlyandthereisasealingwasherontheotherside,butI'dratherbesafethansorry.Ifyou'vegot1drip,orifyougototurnthereleaseonthebottomandthewholethingspins,you'vefailedandwillhavetodropthepanagain.

BTW,itsagoodideatocheckandretorquethepanboltsafteraweekorsoofdriving,theyoftenworkthemselvesloseandneedtobesnuggedbackin.Oncewillusuallysuffice.Failuretodosowillresultinablowngasket.