My 1989 Cherokee has a pan lip that's been bent by the previous owner/s and some by myself. I decided to replace it and do the dip stick tube cut so it can be installed easier and removed easier later on. My Cherokee has the 4.0 engine with the AW4 automatic in it. I decided to replace the pan instead of trying to true the lip on mine. The pan I found is from a 1995 and looks identical to my old one except for one thing...there's a rubber plug in the center of the pan exactly in between the two flat spots where the transmission magnets go. What is that rubber plug for? The pan has the threaded drain plug on the rear and that rubber plug in the center. I've spent an hour trying to find what it it, but can't find any mention of the rubber plug anywhere. Thanks for your insight!!!

 

Throw it out or weld it up. Someone tried to fix a hole and it's gonna leak.

 

I have been trying to research this plug and haven't found anything. The rubber plug is centered too perfectly to be there to fill a puncture. I didn't look to see if the plug touched the filter of if it left a mark on the filter. It looks like a bumper to be sure the pan bottom doesn't touch the filter. Has anyone seen such a bumper on a AW4 pan bottom?

 

Is the rubber plug sealing up a hole in the pan? If so, there's a reason you aren't finding anything- that isn't stock on any AW4 I've ever seen. Nor is any sort of internal 'bumper'. It seems like a leak waiting to happen to me, I'd pass on it.

 

Limbs and antlers and shopping carts scrape on there. Radi is one of our sharpest tacks! Mine as well has no, "aw4 -death plug". Chuck rightly predicted last year, my not quite round tire was not going to "get over" sitting forever. (it didn't get "rounder"). Unless you are in a real bind, I agree, loose the plug. That is one pace you don't want to be vulnerable.

(Hat's off to Summit Radial for even holding air and getting me home !)

 

You're correct guy's! I feel so stupid! At 3 AM I went out and looked at it closely in my garage. From below it's just a small rubber ring. Not a dead give away of a problem. I was such a greasy mess when I got the pan off at the junk yard I didn't really inspect what I thought was a rubber bumper. It is filling a puncture. The hole was made by something ripping through the pan because the steel is ripped all the way around the hole. The plug is really squeezed in there though. Still like Radi said it's not in a spot where you want a leak to happen. You wouldn't know the fluid had leaked till you have no tranny! I'm embarrassed for even buying it! My local Pick N Pull is really good about returns. I'll get a credit slip, but at least I can get something else. Thanks for your help everyone!