no! not gears in the pan!!,,,,the juice has to be high enuf to lube the gears above the valve body. I don't know exactly how high but I think the filter is in the juice and also the seal. oh well im done...

 

The filter is in the fluid. The seal is not. If the seal is not there the correct volume of fluid will not go through because fluid WILL LEAK back into the pan
And as of running with no filter, good luck with that, thats a good way to cause catastrophic failure to your transmission.

 

you are clearly making stuff up!
I guess the seal is there to be sure the juice don't sneak around the filter. it gets pulled up thru the filter. it leaks back down thru the filter!! seal or not.
if its not there it just lets a tiny amount of tranny "dust" thru and in time will wear faster. not catastrophic. they are amazingly clean inside after years of use. the pan has a little film on the bottom.
I put "snap"bands in c4 fords years ago at high mileage. not real dirty.
oil filters have a bypass and the engine doesn't blow up immediately!!
it cleans the oil and has nothing to do with pressure. same with the tranny filter.
im going to a tranny shop with some questions and a look at a filter. I think ill buy one and change mine to see just what its all about.