I have a 1991 Cadillac Seville v8 . I removed the pan and fluid with out problem .....when attempting to remove the filter ... the plastic arm on the old filter broke ... i tryed removing with needle nose plyers but the plastic kept breaking .... and is now level with opening on the transmission .... ( no plastic coming out of the transmission only stuck inside the filters hole ... any advice on how to remove the piece that is in side the actual hole .... and fluid or grease that will loosen the gasket ? I believe the gasket is what is keeping the piece in place .... how can i go about removing this ????

The best way to get that out would be with a hook tool. just insert the hook into the broken plastic piece, get a hold & pull it out. You can also pull out the little rubber gasket that will probably stay in there that way as well.

The other way would be to use a little pocket screwdriver & carefully break it out but I really don't recommend this just due to the fact that you could possible shoot a little piece up into the valve body if it breaks "just right". If you don't have a hook tool I would go get a cheap one & do it the 1st way..... Don't get the "dentist probe" type, get one with a handle on it so you can use some force to pull the broken piece out....

yes i have needle nose plyers that make a L shape that fit into the hole ..... what i am trying to do is insert the plyer into the hole and pull the piece from the inside straight down but rubber gasket is keeping everything from coming out ... its has most likely been there for a while and i am trying to do as much work as i can so that the vehicle last a long time .... also the pan gasket is steel or metal , not rubber would it be better to re use the steel one that was in there or put the new rubber one that came with the filter ? My thoughts are though that next time i have to replace, i will have to scrape the gasket off and the steel left nothing and made the job much easier ....

Those can be tough, you just have to work it from side to side. A hook with a point would work better.....

Those have a reusable gasket on them, if it wasn't leaking then reuse it.............

dont believe it was leaking ... i am actually having my mechanic come to my house and removing it for me and he is gunna fix the problem .... i am sure he may have run into this problem once or twice ....