Okay, I have never changed the oil in any of my vehicles by myself. I always go to a jiffy lube. Please help me out. I need to know where the drain plug is. Is it located on the oil pan? What does the plug look like? Is it inverted or protruding? What are the torque specifications? I do not want to over tighten or under tighten. How much oil do I need to put into the truck? If anyone is willing to help a simpleton out please give me any information you can. I am an intelligent person but no one has ever showed me how to do this but I am sure with some simple explanations I will be able to do the task on my own. I have a 1999 F-150 4.2 liter V-6 XL 4x4 short bed flareside. I would appreciate any advice you can give me.

 

The drain plug is on the oil pan on the passenger side. Remember that turning a bolt or filter counter clockwise will loosen it, and clockwise tightens it. If it seems pretty juvenile to tell you this, I'm sorry, but there are people out there who don't know these things.

- crawl under the truck with a drain pan that can hold an excess of 7 qrts and a 13mm wrench.

- loosen the drain plug. Make sure you loosen it, and not tighten it. Our oil pans are made of aluminum and to much force will strip the plug out.

- drain oil into your drain pan. Let it drip while you get yourself a cool beverage (required)!

- loosen the oil filter on the front driverside of the engine (it twists on). Sometimes an oil filter wrench is needed, but I've always been able to get mine to turn by hand. Get your drain pan under the filter.

- Let the filter drain out a little before trwisting it all the way off. It will dribble down the front differential and into your drain pan.

- Take the old filter out.

- pour some clean oil into you new filter. try to get it about 3/4 full without spilling to much. Install just like you took the old one off. Get it good and tight by hand only.

- Re-install the drain plug. make sure that its tight enough not to work its way off, but not gorilla tight. You don want to strip the threads.

- open the hood and oil fill cap. Pour in five qrts and start her up.

- look for leaks under the truck.

- shut her down and check the oil. The oil level should be near the add mark. Most V6 F150s will take about 6 qrts total, so you should need to add 1/2 - 1 full qrt.

- Get yourself another cool beverage as a reward for a job well done.

Don't forget that the oil in your drain pan needs to be disposed of properly. Bring it to an auto parts store as they are required to take used oil.

 

Crashz,very well said.But,may I add a couple of things; upon removal of the old oil filter,make sure the gasket did not stay on the filter mounting base.And,use some new oil to lube the new oil filter gasket before installation.

 

Mine takes a 15mm wrench.

 

What year mtucker?

IIRC - my 97 was 15mm (so I went out and bought a set of metric wrenches), but my 2001 is 13mm (or 1/2"). A 1/2" wrench fits nice a snug, so I usually use that rather than a 13mm so that I don't round off the plug. I also like to use a six point box end wrench for added security.

I wonder why ford went to a smaller hex head plug? Maybe there was a bunch of gorillas that stripped the threads out of the aluminum pan with the 15mm hex plug?

 

On my '98 (4X2), the plug is a 15mm wrench, and the filter is on the passenger side. Between my geezerhood and the lack of access, there is no way I can get the filter on and off without a wrench. If you are not stronger than average with a really good grip, go to your favorite parts store, choose a filter you will stay with, then find a wrench that fits it perfectly. (In the good ol' days, Sears filters used to come with a nut welded on the end. Worked like a champ.)
If the store does not have a wrench that fits your chosen filter, try a different filter or a different store. If you are to keep your knuckles, you need a wrench that FITS. Some filters will seem to tighten up during the time they are on the truck; I keep a chain wrench handy for those.
My truck is white, so on day one I took permanent marker and wrote the filter number, crankcase capacity, and pan plug wrench size on the bottom side of the hood. Always handy, and I don't have to haul the entire metric box out - just the right wrench. Often, I do my truck, momma's car, and several others in succession, and just make a morning of it. It's nice to open the hood and see just what I need. I also mark the mileage and date under there - record is easy to find.
The main thing to remember about changing your oil, is to do it early and often!
And don't forget the cool beverages.

Slug

 

BTW - thanks for the addtion BlueOval. I've had a gasket stick before and it was a bear trying to get the filter flange clean and leak free again!


Sluggo - I didn't realize the 4x4 and 4x2 models had the oil filters on different sides. Interesting.

Changed mine this past weekend with some 10w-30 Amsoil ATM. runns smoother now than ever and I seem to have picked up a little mileage. I won't know untill I run through a few tanks of fuel though.