Engine Oil Pan and Transmission

Vehicles with front wheel drive have transversely mounted engines that put the transmission to the left or right of the engine. This photo was taken under the engine compartment of a front wheel drive vehicle and it shows the oil pan from the engine and the transmission casing along side of one another. It’s easy to tell the difference because the oil pan is a pan that bolts up into the bottom of the engine above, whereas the transmission usually has a split casing. Notice there are bolts holding the split transmission casing together whereas the oil pan is a single piece pan that requires no bolts to hold it together; it has bolts on the upper lip of the pan that connect it to the engine.