Oil change Process

[Ramcharger90]

If the front axle is anything like the one on the older Rangers with the Dana 35 SLA, it’s gonna get drilled and tapped with a drain plug on the bottom once it’s out of warranty.

I don’t want to be dropping an axle just to do an oil change any more than I have to. Stupid setup.

Isn't it easy to remove the bolts for the cover and reseal? I never worked on that one.

 

[sgtsandman]

Isn't it easy to remove the bolts for the cover and reseal? I never worked on that one.

The differential cover on the Explorers and Rangers is so close to the cross frame member that you can't get the cover off without dropping the axle. Yes, you can get all the bolts out and drain the fluid but getting the mating surface clean is a challenge and is a roll of the dice as to if you will get is sealed right or not. Since there isn't enough room to clear the ring gear.

 

[HenryMac]

The differential cover on the Explorers and Rangers is so close to the cross frame member that you can't get the cover off without dropping the axle. Yes, you can get all the bolts out and drain the fluid but getting the mating surface clean is a challenge and is a roll of the dice as to if you will get is sealed right or not. Since there isn't enough room to clear the ring gear.

This is the 2019 Ranger forum...... The front and rear differentials on 2019 Rangers have a drain plug and a fill plug, see Ford Procedures below.

 

[sgtsandman]

I think we are misunderstanding each other. The older Rangers and Explorers are the ones with the clearance issue that the axle needs dropped. The pdfs are appreciated though, I'll need them in the future. From the quick look I gave the front axle on the 2019 the other day, access seems better, like they had a mechanic in mind when they designed the truck. They even put notches in the "skid plates", where they come together so you don't have to remove the opposite one to get the one you need dropped. Just loosen the two bolts and slide they one you want out, out. The back one needs removed to change the oil, otherwise one will have oil splashing everywhere.

EDIT: Weird they the drain and fill plugs are disposable. I don't think I've ever seen that before.

 

[HenryMac]

I think we are misunderstanding each other. The older Rangers and Explorers are the once with the clearance issue that the axle needs dropped. The pdfs are appreciated though, I'll need them in the future. From the quick look I gave the front axle on the 2019 the other day, access seems better, like they had a mechanic in mind when they designed the truck. They even put notched in the "skid plates", where they come together so you don't have to remove the opposite one to get the one you need dropped. Just loosen the two bolts and slide they one you want out, out. The back one needs removed to change the oil, otherwise one will have oil splashing everywhere.

EDIT: Weird they the drain and fill plugs are disposable. I don't think I've ever seen that before.

No misunderstanding at all.

This is the 2019 Ranger Forum. There are a lot of threads and posts here where folks are assuming the new Ranger is like previous Rangers. It's a brave new world out there.

In regard to throwing plugs away... Ford does that silly shit throughout all their procedures. That way they can charge the customer ridiculous amounts of $ to replace them.

 

[adsm08]

this.

one step forward....10 steps back.


this is a small crime, simply is minor compared to the modification they did to the older style ranger/explorer to fit the cammer 4.0 and pushrod 5.0....

the redesign of the hvac was criminal....treason level. went from the easiest cake walk of a heater core change possible...maybe 15 minutes if you just happened to be too drunk to see at that moment

to like 8 hours by the book....


dont get me wrong.....the second one i did only took about and hour and a half after i applied common sense and left the book on the shelf......but i really would like to choke the air off of the people that came up with that brilliant piece of work.

there was a plus...pulling a dash for those in the know only takes a few minutes with power tools. but it has to be because the heater core is retarded now....

with the plus..the later modular wiring is kind of cool if you have the right tools to work with...and doing hvac repair is actually easier then a gen 1 for resealing all of the components...like now that they are so old. but which happens more often




assuming the pictures here that 85 managed to save (seems i lost all of mine) are close what actually made it to final production...



obviously the ranger was setup bit different due to work cycle demand limits...if you look at the cooling its like the rs as far as flow path..(except egr)

quite a few changes....ability to have manual fan as well on the cover ect.

like the old rangers....the flow area just isnt there with this setup to wring it out all the way with all electric cooling at the max load under 25 mph....even with the generous oil capacity and oil cooling ...and egr cooling... and tuning parameters.

these same issues face swappers of the other eco motors...just gets worse as we move along from the gen 1 motors to now...

my questions about noted cooling based on observations of the unit in these pictures went un-answered several times, so i assumed the guys we were with at the debut deal just did not know.

the oil filter location was due to 4wd...that was a direct answer.

but cooling after i mentioned the transit 350 seems to get along ok with a much bigger load and engine... just never went anywhere.


naturally

i did not think that pulling a tire off would be required for an oil change though. compared to the edge it isnt any harder....you cant even see anything after crawling under the 150's...covers everywhere. and plastic engine oil pans can eat a dik....

clearly...they do not have enough real world people in charge over there...



20 k oil change with good oil might not hurt it....the egr cooler probably will though.

even with the beefed up ring lands on the pistons compared to the 2.0...these i think will benefit from a oil catch can as the first thing a guy does when he gets home to keep them alive...

but the egr cooler will probably offset the good the catch can would do to keep the valves clean. i suspect port injection added to this things future to keep the valves clean..oil changes will be the easy part of diy ownership.

Have you heard about the Megaknock yet?

 

[bobbywalter]

Seen several broken number 5 piston 3.5 gen 1 city trucks and flex/explorer engines that catch cans and hose downs would have prevented.

My daughter's 2.7 is still spooky to me but is less noisy cold now.

i read several white papers on superknock....I am going to assume it is what you are referring to.

The new oils rated for hi comp di were supposed to mitigate it.

I was able to sit in on some Ecoboost tuning and came away with nightmares......

the potentials of just the build up in the drive by wire throttle bodies from pressure and inferred sensor mapping to handle the potential to disaster safely is out of my managing capacity. It can get sticky and vape oil Maki g it more diesel then gas and out of control.


Double edged sword .... Law of unintended consequences and all of that.

 

[cbxer55]

Im surprised it didn't lock up my 98 with the 3.0 used a quart every 2500 miles.

Well, mine has 165,000 miles on it as of Saturday. It does use oil, just not that much. She knew this and did keep the oil level up to snuff. However, that was the logic she used in not getting the oil changed. And I'm like "Sis, the oil filter could plug up. When it does, the oil bypasses the filter altogether. Not good." Oh well, as I said, no harm appears to have been done. I've been driving it since late 2013 when I got it back from her finally.

 

[Ramcharger90]

Well, mine has 165,000 miles on it as of Saturday. It does use oil, just not that much. She knew this and did keep the oil level up to snuff. However, that was the logic she used in not getting the oil changed. And I'm like "Sis, the oil filter could plug up. When it does, the oil bypasses the filter altogether. Not good." Oh well, as I said, no harm appears to have been done. I've been driving it since late 2013 when I got it back from her finally.

I know what you mean that 2.3 that was in my 90 leaked a quart every 110 miles so this wasn't changed in 3 years.

 

[sgtsandman]

Seen several broken number 5 piston 3.5 gen 1 city trucks and flex/explorer engines that catch cans and hose downs would have prevented.

My daughter's 2.7 is still spooky to me but is less noisy cold now.

i read several white papers on superknock....I am going to assume it is what you are referring to.

The new oils rated for hi comp di were supposed to mitigate it.

I was able to sit in on some Ecoboost tuning and came away with nightmares......

the potentials of just the build up in the drive by wire throttle bodies from pressure and inferred sensor mapping to handle the potential to disaster safely is out of my managing capacity. It can get sticky and vape oil Maki g it more diesel then gas and out of control.


Double edged sword .... Law of unintended consequences and all of that.

The problem with the catch can issue is the voiding of the warranty. I fully intend in installing one after warranty has expired.

 

[sgtsandman]

Did an oil change on the FX4 today. Not bad at all. Filter access is better than some vehicles I've worked on. One just pulls four of the plastic holders from the splash shield in the front, left wheel well and there is plenty of room to get a standard filter wrench on the oil filter. The scrape plates are easy enough to remove as well. The aft on is the only one that needs removed. The bolts holding the two plates together just needs to be loosened and the aft ones removed. The front holes are actually slots and the plate slides right out.

 

[HenryMac]

First Oil Change... and Rotated Tires

A lot of this is just a re-hash of what has been previously discussed here in this thread. But having pictures always helps..... and hopefully for you folks that plan to do your own oil changes, you'll find this useful.

Our truck almost has 4,000 miles, and we finally got a day above freezing, so I did the 1st oil change and rotated the tires on our 2019 SuperCab.

The skid plate needs to be removed. It has (4) bolts holding it on. Only the rear (2) bolts need to be removed. The front (2) bolts only need to be loosened since the front holes on the skid plate are slotted.

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The skid plate bolts and the oil drain plug are all removed with a 15mm socket. And the oil drain plug has a built in elastomeric gasket. Well done Ford.

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The oil drains out of the pan without hitting any suspension components or brackets... again...well done Ford.

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I removed the front drivers side tire... since I was rotating the tires anyway. The filter that came from the factory was different than the FL-910S Motorcraft filter. My filter wrench just spun on the factory filter.... shit! My filter wrench fits nice and snug on the FL-910S?

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I tried some different wrenches I had, those didn't work. ended up wedging a small piece of rubber friction tape. between the wrench and the factory filter. That worked. Pictures are after removal, just to show what I'm talking about. The trough Ford supplied to capture and re-rout the oil that runs out of the filter worked great. Well done Ford.

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I then installed the new FL-910S Motorcraft filter, easy peasy.

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The cover in the wheel well needs to be removed down past the brake line to allow cleaning out the oil filter trough. I shot some brake cleaner in the trough and then wiped it out with a paper towel.

Buttoned everything back up and then used 6 quarts of Mobil 1 5W-30 Annual Protection.

The manual says "6.2 Quarts" But if you put in 6 quarts the level on the dipstick is right in the middle.

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Didn't spill a drop of oil on the floor. I'd say Ford gets a 9 out of 10.

Rotated the tires, torqued the lug nuts to 100 ft-lbs.. and we're good for another 4,000 miles.

 

[Dirtman]

I would have figured they would have went with a larger filter. The 910 is pretty tiny.

Another reason I don't believe in extended oil change intervals. What good is oil that last 10,000+ when you have such a tiny little filter that will be worn out before the oil anyway.

 

[HenryMac]

I would have figured they would have went with a larger filter. The 910 is pretty tiny.

Another reason I don't believe in extended oil change intervals. What good is oil that last 10,000+ when you have such a tiny little filter that will be worn out before the oil anyway.

The FL-910S is specified by Ford for the Ranger. Some folks use the larger FL-400S thinking bigger is better.

I'm told the 910 has a higher internal relief valve pressure setting, which, I am told, is better so the filter doesn’t bypass as much oil as the 400.

 

[sgtsandman]

I found that the old fashioned steel band type filter wrench works well but mine has a handle that can be swiveled for clearance issues. Thanks for the pictures to help those who haven't done it yet.