1996 Ranger - Need an oil pan drain plug - what is part number?

[98v70dad]

My oil pan drain plug is worn out and I need a new one. 1996 Ranger XLT 3.0L automatic. I'd rather have a ford one than the junk I saw at the auto parts store. Does anyone know the part number? I found F75Z6730BA on Amazon and it claims to be the OEM part but Amazon isn't great with getting the p/n's right. All the actual auto parts sellers online don't claim that this part fits my car ... any info will be helpful.

 

[adsm08]

According to RockAuto's Dorman interchange numbers these are all the appropriate OEM part numbers:

D1FZ6730B, E5AZ6730A, E9DZ6730B, F3DZ6730A, F3DZ6730B, ZZL010404A

Might be worth just going down to the dealer. Even there drain plugs are usually pretty cheap, and often in stock.

 

[Curious Hound]

I've usually had good luck with the ones from the parts stores. Of course, the only time I ever needed them was when I got in a hurry and used Jiffy Lube or somebody like them that stripped or cross-threaded the threads so I needed an over-sized plug.

 

[G8orFord]

Another option.
https://www.fumotooildrainvalve.com/?target=model_product&modelId=580516

 

[98v70dad]

My dealer is an idiot. Last time I went there looking for a part I had to wait in line forever and then wait again as the the parts person fumbled through endless computer screens only to be told at the end that there is no such thing as a 1996 ranger with a 3.0L V-6 engine. When I said come out to the parking lot and I'll show you one I was told "too busy, you are mistaken - sorry can't help you". Decided not to go back - ever. Unfortunately its the only one I can get to before it closes in the afternoon.

 

[98v70dad]

They would work - but I don't want to screw around with having to keep track of the gasket. The OEM part has the gasket built in and the parts stores don't carry a part like that in stock. The one you can order looked cheap to me (especially the seal) - don't like special ordering stuff if I don't know if I will be happy with the quality - waste of time.

 

[98v70dad]

Thanks. Aware of that option. 1) too expensive 2) Those can and will fail. They are very popular on my second car 2016 subaru forester. A few people have had them fail open and trashed their cars.

 

[pjtoledo]

do an internet search of the part #, lots of responses

 

[98v70dad]

Thanks for the suggestion. Amazingly I am smart enough to have done that befere I posted this - its in my original post in this thread. I googled it and I checked several online sellers. I checked rockauto, tasca, autozone and at least half a dozen others. its an insignificant part (price wise) on a 23 year old car. Most people don't carry it.

 

[G8orFord]

Thanks. Aware of that option. 1) too expensive 2) Those can and will fail. They are very popular on my second car 2016 subaru forester. A few people have had them fail open and trashed their cars.

I'm not sure how it can fail open, but I guess anything is possible. It's certainly possible a limb or something could hit the lever while off-roading, but it would be a pretty rare occurrence I'd think. They have the little locking clip now, so that would almost completely alleviate that possibility. I've had one on my 6.0 diesel for about 100k miles and it's still as solid as it was when I put it on. The beauty of these little valves is that you never have to worry about those threads wearing out again and you never need to remember what size wrench to take under the vehicle when you go to change the oil.

I'm not pushing the Fumoto by any means. Everyone has their opinions and they are entitled to them. They are a little pricey though.

 

[98v70dad]

I'm not sure how it can fail open, but I guess anything is possible. It's certainly possible a limb or something could hit the lever while off-roading, but it would be a pretty rare occurrence I'd think. They have the little locking clip now, so that would almost completely alleviate that possibility. I've had one on my 6.0 diesel for about 100k miles and it's still as solid as it was when I put it on. The beauty of these little valves is that you never have to worry about those threads wearing out again and you never need to remember what size wrench to take under the vehicle when you go to change the oil.

I'm not pushing the Fumoto by any means. Everyone has their opinions and they are entitled to them. They are a little pricey though.

There are a couple of failure modes - 1) the internal spring breaks (I think there is an internal spring - I've never seen one) 2) a piece of crud keeps it from sealing 3) it gets knocked open off roading 4) it fails to completely drain the oil pan and people who just measure the oil instead of reading the dipstick overfill by a lot. Number 4 happens quite a bit on the subaru forester because the dipstick is very difficult to read and a lot of people just measure out the oil to put in. the subaru also has a problem with sludging so even though an incomplete empty wouldn't matter on most cars the extra oil turns to goo and stays in the bottom of the pan and plugs the valve making it worse and worse each oil change. I believe that the instructions with the vaslve tell you to take the valve off every few oil changes to make sure everything is clear. Nobody does this.

Anyhow, almost everyone has good luck with these valves but the few who don't trash their engines. The ease of draining isn't worth the small risk for me.

 

[G8orFord]

Of the 4 things you listed, I don't really see a major issue. At least not one that I would lose sleep over.

1) Yes, the lever is spring loaded. The spring holds it in the locked position when closed, but even without the spring, the valve would still have to be turned to the open position. If the spring were to fail, the valve "could" theoretically open by some strange rift in the time space continuum (or a limb). Also, if you use the snap on lock, the a broken spring would have no effect.

2) Crud is a possibility, but if there was sufficient crud to foul the valve, I'd think there's more problems inside the engine than a slight oil leak is going to cause. This scenario also would need to be blamed on the individual using the valve and not verifying a proper seal. People leave the drain plugs out all of the time and end up with a floor full of oil. Is that the plugs fault?

3) A definite possibility. Again the lock should keep this from happening, but you should always check things like that periodically too.

4) I've heard the argument about incomplete oil drains too. Depending on the thickness of the oil pan, it's likely that the threads could protrude into the pan a bit and allow some oil to remain. I can't speak for every pan, but in the case of most of those I'm familiar with, that amount of oil would be pretty minute. Maybe a pint at the absolute most. That's roughly an 11" x 11" x 0.25" volume, not many pans have that kind of surface area at the bottom. I doubt the threads would protrude 1/4" into the pan in most cases. As you said, this can be rectified by removing the valve after a few changes or by trimming the threads of the plug back to the depth of the threads in the pan at installation.

 

[98v70dad]

Its up to each person - I'm not saying don't do it or even that it was a bad decision - you just have to be comfortable with the risk. I'm an engineer and I see failed parts frequently that weren't supposed to fail because the probability was remote. When there are thousands (maybe millions) of parts out there in service even a remote failure rate results in a few.

It probably won't happen on the ranger but for me it wasn't worth the very very small risk coupled with the relatively expensive part on an easy to drain oil pan. The subaru is a guaranteed mess because of how the drain plug is oriented and I still didn't go ahead and buy one. I put a fram easy drain contraption on my 96 crown victoria back around 1998 and it only took a few oild changes for it to start plugging up so I took it off.

 

[sgtsandman]

Another option.
https://www.fumotooildrainvalve.com/?target=model_product&modelId=580516

I have something similar on my 2011 and love it. No more dropped oil plugs to fish out and I've never had a problem with one leaking.