"if i am not mistaken that is a magnet to catch metal shavings. Did you have anything on it?"

Just a thick layer of a very fine metallic silt. No chunks or shavings. Now that I know what it is, it looked pretty healthy for a vehicle at 95,000 without having the tranny fluid changed.

"You should have installed a drain plug while you were in there. That would make your next change a walk in the park.

Dam it..., I should have checked here first. that is a great idea. Any specifics for how and where on the pan the procedure should be done? I put to much fluid back in and would like a smarter way to drain some out.

"thats stuff is normal, look closely for brass and chuncks of things. if there is brass or flakes on top of the filter than something is going out in the pump or convertor, the returns dump out on the top side of the filter."

I'll check the filter tommorow, but I didn't notice any brass on the magnet.