I have an 06 MCSa and noticed there are couple of places that got chipped on the tranny oil pan, possibly from road debris. The pan itself is painted black, so the matel are now exposed. Does anyone know if the pan is made of regular steal or aluminum? Is it safe to use conventional auto body touch up paint for the grazes?

 

It's aluminum, I'm fairly certain. Stick a magnet to it and see if your's is ferrous.

 

Thanks. I tried it out tonight and verified that the tranny oil pan is ferrous. It should be made of just painted steel. The magnet stuck on real tight. Has anyone been compulsive enough to touch up nicks of the pan? Fire should not be a concern once the paint dries, right? The fluid gets very hot there.

I know, I know. You all might think I am nut. Just want to take care of it before rust develops.

 

Steel you say? I could have sworn my pan was lighter than I thought it would be - I've removed it twice already. Perhaps it is because mine is a natural finish, no paint. It doesn't look like cast steel. I'll try my magnet trick. You think they switched materials part way through production?

Wait a minute, do you mean the oil pan oil pan, or the transmission housing - not an oil pan. I just read the title of the thread more carefully.

 

I am talking about the "transmission fluid pan" for the MCSa, and only the slush box, not the manaul box since it does not have a pan. The magent won't stick to the transmission housing or the engine oil pan. However, it stick on to the tranny fluid pan really well.

Judging from this test, my conclusion is my MCSa has an heavier coated steel unit for the tranny fluid pan and it will probably rust once the paint is scraped or nicked.

Can any scientist prove me wrong? Can magnet not stick onto aluminum?

 

I guess I know nothing about the automatic MCS.

Hey, at least my magnet test helped...