My opinion, you should always drop the pan. Siphoning will just get most of the oil out. You still need to change the filter and check on how much crud is on the magnet as it is kind of a condition indicator. Then again, maybe your plan was to get enuff oil out to prevent the mess and then continue with dropping the pan. That's ok. An instant advantage is now you can add a temp sensor instead of the plain plug. It's not a perfect indicator of temp, as the best way is an in line sensor, but it sure beats nothing. I don't think it's really that big of a difference anyway. And then when you change it again next time, just disconnect the wire and remove the sensor to drain it.

 

Well, I suppose I should give my update. Yep, I planned on dropping the pan and checking things out. I ended up installing a dorman pan ($44) that had a built in drain plug. I connected a long section of aprox 3/8" maybe 5/16 OD hard plastic tube to a cheap rubber siphon bulb pump down the tube. It wouldn't drain, so I ended up pumping just shy of 3 quarts out. Only took maybe a minute or two of pumping, not bad. I did time each pump with my thumb plugging the end of the tube so it wouldn't suck any air back. I dropped the pan and only spilled three drops when I wasn't paying attention. Avoiding lots of splatter was my goal, I'd say mission accomplished.

I adjusted the rear band and it was either that, or the 6.5 quarts of new fluid that really made the shifting better. The next night I adjusted the front band and that really didn't seam to do much. After adjusting the rear band, I thought I should have counted how many rotations it took to get to 72 in-lbs. Wish I would have. So on the front band, I counted and it was almost 3 rotations to tighten it down, vs. the 1 3/4 that the factory book says to reverse it.

Feels pretty good getting some new fluid and filter in there. Now with the drain, I might just swap in another 6-7 quarts in a month or two just to get some more fresh stuff in there since I think my truck has 50k miles on it.

 

Wher'd you pick up the Dorman pan?

 

Summit Racing.

 

Does the Dorman pan use its own pan gasket or can You reuse the factory Mopar gasket?Does the Dorman pan seem like decent quality? Thanks.

 

It seemed to be of factory quality, its painted though, I believe I read it was powder coated. The filter I bought came with two gaskets, which I didn't use, I re-used the factory gasket. It fit fine, really no complaints. Not really a complaint, the drain plug is on the bottom, and I believe it is a metric fine thread bolt. I kept my old pan if for some reason I need a new plug and can't find one if I get in a pinch. I'd buy the pan again in a heartbeat. Not fancy with heat fins or anything, just a basic pan.

 

Awesome,Thank You.I'll be ordering 1 then myself, as I need to change mine b4 it snows.