My '04 Hemi QC 1500 is used almost exclusively for short trips around town (usually 9 miles in the AM, 9 miles in the PM on weekdays) and towing my 23' boat (Also mostly short trips). So, engine and transmission barely get up to operating temp on most days then I have to shut her down.

It's got 51k on it and I've only owned it since 47k (July 2010) but have already done 2 ATF changes. Not because I'm that paranoid but because I didn't seal up the pan good enough the 1st time and had to redo it because it was dripping slowly.

Anyway, I'm afraid of automatic transmissions, especially under the above conditions, so I'm trying to figure out the cheapest and easiest way to do quick ATF changes every 15k or so and avoid dropping the pan unless it's due for a filter change.

The first thing I tried when doing the initial change was with a hand pump. I got everything I could but when I dropped the pan there was a significant amount of ATF remaining. I might be able to do better with a vacuum pump that has a small hose that will snake back to the bottom of the pan.

I was thinking about getting a pan with a drain plug but they're pretty expensive. I considered adding a drain plug to the factory pan but didn't want to risk a leak or anything like that.

The last thing I was thinking was to just pull the hose to the cooler, starting her up and letting it pump out. Is there any risk of damaging the transmission this way though? Assuming you don't let it run dry for more than a couple of seconds.

 

Pulling the hose to the cooler and letting it pump itself out is the easiest way and isn't bad for the tranny. There is a lot of guys on here including myself on here that use that method when changing fluids. Dirtydog will probably chime in I know he swears by this method.

 

Go get a drain pan plug from the auto parts store for $5 and take it to any exhaust or welding shop and let the weld it in place if you are scared of it leaking later on