Small plastic piece in A750f transmission - now what?

Hi all,

New here but long time lurker (1st gen Sequoia for awhile, now 2006 Tundra limited, 4x4). I wish I were posting for the first time with some kind of mechanical success story, or cool build, etc. but I'm here to seeking some advice after a shameful mistake today.

Today I went to do a drain and fill on my 2006 tundra transmission. I got out and put back ~4 quarts no problem. This truck is new to me (267k) and I bought it knowing it had a bit of a shifting shudder between 2nd and 3rd, so I also attempted to also add some lubegard shudder fix after the refill to see if I could simply eliminate the shudder with new fluid and this conditioner.

Well it seems I turned a bad problem into a new, worse one. When I went to put in the shudder fix, I rigged a small, 1 inch p-tex tubing as a funnel (these sealed transmissions are a pain eh?) to help port in the ~4oz of fluid. While setting up this funnel I pushed a bit too hard and pop, it pushed right through the fill port and into the trans. It sounded like it dropped a short ways down. I was instantly flooded with absolute shock and terror. Damn. A hopeless initial search with my fingers and some elongated needle nose pliers turned up nothing. Seems highly unlikely I will get it out the way it went in...

So how screwed am I? Is this going to disintegrate and ruin the trans? Full trans disassembly? Is there a chance this small plastic piece ended up in some harmless void by the fill port, or will make it's way peacefully down to the pan at some point? I can't seem to find a clear schematic (though I've seen all those posted here for the A750F/E already- helpful, but not quite enough for my situation) that shows how the fluid goes from the port and on into the trans.

Fortunately the truck is parked at home and doesn't have to move- I have a 2nd vehicle to use until I can find a way to deal with this.

Thanks in advance for any advice. Happy to provide more detail if need be. I'll be here finding another wall to hit my head against.

 

Can’t you remove the bottom pan to get at it or am I missing something here? I’ve got an 02 so the fill port is the dipstick hole.

 

Afraid not. 05-06 tundras are 'sealed' transmissions, no dipstick.

 

I see bolts all around to drop the pan and change the filter no?

https://youtu.be/gzwNGLYLBNc

 

Sorry misread that first one- yeah I could drop the pan. Do you all think the piece just fell in there?

 

If the piece of plastic fell down in the trans pan it probably won't cause any problems. The early 2000 to 2006ish F150s I used to drive came with a plastic plug laying in the trans pan. The plug was used to seal the transmission dip stick tube when the transmission was manufactured. Once the transmission was installed. The dip stick was pushed in during assemble and the plastic plug fell down into the pan.

 

Chances are the metal mesh filter in the bottom pan caught it. There are a few threads on here that talk about it’s removal and replacement.

I can’t remember if the last member removing the pan broke a few pan bolts in the process. I could easily be mistaken that’s why I suggest reading up on it to see what’s involved.

 

Op, do you have scope camera? You could take a look using that fill port hole maybe.

 

Chances are it won't hurt anything but I'd probably drop the pan to be safe. Replace the "filter" while you're at it. It's not particularly hard but it's a tedious job.