Back in July, I did my first oil change on my Ecoboost and had a heck of a time.. https://www.f150online.com/forums/20...were-easy.html

Well, I went for it again this weekend and while having much better results as far as the mess goes, I still want to go smack the engineer that thought the oil filter location on the F150 is a good one!

I did get one of those oil filter socket things that fit to the bottom of the filter. Much easier to at least get the dang thing off.

This time, I had the truck sitting naturally in the garage and just crawling under with no creeper. (I put some large cardboard sections down).

I did warm up the engine some, but it was raining, so I didn't drive it.. Let it idle and ran it around 1500 rpms for a few minutes until I felt some heat on the upper rad hose. (normally, I would just drive it, but it was raining and I didn't want to bring it into the garage all dripping wet..)

Draining was no problem this time.. Didn't spill a drop!

The filter on the other hand... Well, reaching thru the bottom to unscrew it once I loosened it with the filter socket and a ratchet from the top (only way I could get it all to work) it proceeded to spill all the oil to the back of the catch tray, so it dribbled all thru that metal cover, most into the pan, but a lot onto the cardboard.. UGGH..

So, swap out the filter, making sure the gasket was still on the old filter, and spend about 5+ minutes trying to get the new one threaded.. That's quite a chore too!

Tighten it from the top side, add 5 qts of oil, start it up, watch for pressure (even pre filling the filter one time, it takes several seconds for the OP gauge to respond...) check for leaks (other than the ones still dripping from the filter removal process) shut it down, have a beer and check the level.

Having only put 5 qts initially, I can verify that it's "one qt low" on the dipstick. I add the 6th qt, wait a minute or so (another couple swigs of beer) and check the stick. It's pretty much to the top of the hatched section.

Crawl under and spray some brake cleaner thru the big square hole of the metal shield after removing the square rubber plug to help wash out the oil residue from the oil filter.

Get that all cleaned up and pull out the cardboard and take it for a test drive.. It has at least stopped raining by now!

All goes well and when I pull into the garage, I notice down the wet driveway all these rainbow spots to the street... Yes, there was still residual oil on the metal shield...

Not enough to leave an actual oil spot, but still....

Anyway, that's my story for the latest oil change.. I learned a lot from the first time and didn't have near the hassle this second time, but I'll figure out that darn filter if it's the last thing I do!!

Mitch

 

You're almost there. Next time look at the rubber closeout piece between the radiator support and the front cross member. There is a series of 1/4 turn fasteners in it that open the seal up and let you easily reach the filter.

 

I opened up the side on that lower cover, because it had the metal twist tab thing.. I didn't think about removing the other fasteners because they weren't the metal twist tab ones...

That would have at least gotten my arm in a better position!

Thanks Wookie!

Mitch

 

The ones I'm talking about are white plastic that turn 90*. The rest of the seal is held on with black Christmas tree type fasteners. This style of quick close fastener is pretty common in aerospace so it stood out to me the first time I crawled under the truck. Other than the angle of the drain plug it really isn't different from the 5.4L in the 2009-2010 trucks.

 

I like the filter location on the new 2.7 eco.....right on top of the engine. Cartridge type. Very easy to access and replace. Too bad the 3.5 doesn't have that.

 

Cartridge on top of the engine? I haven't seen those since the 1950's!

 

There it is :-)

https://www.google.com/search?q=ford...F%3B1280%3B960

 

Mine only has the twist fastener on that front cover on the corner.. The rest of them are the big flat black fasteners and didn't look easily removed?

I got spoiled with my 97 5.4 with the remote filter, so that's why this one is so dang frustrating!

Mitch

 

There's always growing pains learning a new vehicle, glad it sounds like you are starting to streamline your process

 

Those are the right ones; I believe there are 4 of them. Twist them 90* and pull the flap out of the way, the filter is right above and behind the crossmember. The drain for the catch pan is also in this area somewhere in front of the crossmember.

What I do is:
-Open the flap
-Put the catch pan under the opening in the skid plate.
-Turn the oil filter 1-2 turns until the oil starts draining out through the hole in the skid plate.
-Once it stops I remove the filter the rest of the way, rotate it so the opening is pointing up and pull it out.
-A little oil might drip into the catch pan that is bolted to the top of the crossmember but otherwise it should be nice and clean.
-Put everything back together.

 

They are around, Dad's 99 Mercedes and our 04 cavalier has the cartridge filter on top of the engine. Sure is nice for a quick oil change

 

And the $50 I give Ford for an oil change (every 9 months cause I don't drive too much) is well worth it

 

I'm cheap so I do it myself for $32. But I have a lift in my garage so Ecoboost oil changes are easy when you don't have to lay on your back to do it.

 

I went to the dealership today and got "The Works"...oil/filter change, tire rotation, top off fluid levels, multipoint inspection, etc.

They had a special going on. Got it all done for $54 including 8 quarts for the 5.0. I couldn't complain about that.

 

I'm cheap-bastard-20-year-old-broke-college-student and even my time is worth more than that haha. It would cost me about $40 to do, be inconvenient, I'd have to source the filter and oil (which is an extra trip), have to catch and dispose of the oil, take a shower afterwards, put effort towards properly cleaning whatever shirt I had on cause I know there'd be oil on it, etc.

I win the princess award for this one I do everything else, install all my own stuff, etc. but I despise changing oil and probably won't ever do it again until I die. Unless Ford starts charging too much for it, in which case the cheap bastard part of me will take over again.

Exactly It's a way for them to drum up other business, cause there's no money to be made in that.