Newb Question About 3.0 injection

[rusty ol ranger]

Hey!!!! That's not nice.

Thats ok, you can make fun of me when i change my oil and drain 5qts of oil and 3qts of coolant.

 

[cbxer55]

Hey man, every rose has its thorn. But i doubt the 2.9 owner will be to upset about his oil filter placement when he drops the clutch on a taurus powered 3rd gen and stomps a mudhole in it.

Besides, since 2.9 owners are real men theyll just grip that sumbitch with their large hands filled with calliouses from all the heavy stuff they load into their truck that can actually move stuff and twist it right off. Ford figured anyone with a 3.0 truck will just go to the quick-lube anyways

Drove my 98 3.0 from California to Oklahoma with the bed loaded and a trailer with two very large heavy street bikes on it, and the front of the trailer loaded with weight to get the tongue weight proper. Not a problem, even in all the uphill from Phoenix to Flagstaff. Just kept the OD off on the uphills.

But anyway, I don't worry about my Ranger being the fastest. I keep it for driving when the weather is crap, so my LIGHTNING can stay in the garage and stay clean.

The Ranger is just a beater for me.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

As much as im not a fan of the 97-03 F150s, (mainly cause they replaced the 92-96), i always thought the lightnings were sharp trucks. My uncle had a black one years ago, it would haul some pretty serious ass.

 

[adsm08]

Agreed. But your post reminds me - The 3.0 has a nice boring side-mounted oil filter that's easy to change with a cheap strap-type wrench (if required). The 2.9, with it's vertical placement and limited side clearance, may force a guy to go shopping for an end-gripper or a vertical style strapwrench, if the PO decided to reef it in there!

Oh screw that. I'd rather change the oil filter on a Cologne engine over a 3.0 ANY day. The 3.0's oil filter placement is stupid enough on the Taurus, but since the engine was designed with being transverse mounted in the first place having it in a longitudinal setup is a real pain. Steering shafts and exhaust manifolds in the way up top, starters and diffs in the way on the bottom, wheels in the way on the side.

And I can't tell you how many 3.0 starters I have replaced and when I took the old one out oil just ran out of them. Who puts the starter right below the oil filter!!!!?! That isn't going to cause a lick of trouble in the long term.

The Cologne engine oil filter is out in the open, nothing in the way of getting it undone, no battery cable posts to weld with if you actually need to put a tool on it.

I have probably changed more oil than most of the people on this board ever will. I have used every tool imaginable on almost every engine Ford ever made. If is not hard to use a strap wrench on the 2.9. You just have to be smarter than the ground you are laying on.

 

[cbxer55]

My 98 still has the original starter. 20 years old and counting. 155,000 miles and counting. Stock alternator and water pump as well. only thing I've had to change was the power steering pump, and probably unnecessarily. Changed it due to a loud squeal, which ended up being the belt.

 

[cbxer55]

As much as im not a fan of the 97-03 F150s, (mainly cause they replaced the 92-96), i always thought the lightnings were sharp trucks. My uncle had a black one years ago, it would haul some pretty serious ass.

Those of us that drive Lightning's think it is the ultimate F-150. We all love the flare side body and how it looks. I don't care for the slab side body's though.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

My 98 still has the original starter. 20 years old and counting. 155,000 miles and counting. Stock alternator and water pump as well. only thing I've had to change was the power steering pump, and probably unnecessarily. Changed it due to a loud squeal, which ended up being the belt.

155k? Thats cute

Rusty #1, my old 87 2.9 powered ranger, i had bought brand new in 87, with .5 mi on the odo, and retired in 09 with well, well, WELL over 300,000 on the odo, had the original starter, alternator, water pump, ps pump, both fuel pumps, everthing. Only thing i changed was a TFI sometime around 99.

It burned no oil, no coolant, fired everytime, still got 21mpg or so, and would eat rubber in the 1st 3 gears (5sp).

You will never convince me the 3.0 has anything over the 2.9 in any department. Hell, the 2,9 even looks cooler.

 

[Rearanger]

Oh screw that. I'd rather change the oil filter on a Cologne engine over a 3.0 ANY day. The 3.0's oil filter placement is stupid enough on the Taurus, but since the engine was designed with being transverse mounted in the first place having it in a longitudinal setup is a real pain. Steering shafts and exhaust manifolds in the way up top, starters and diffs in the way on the bottom, wheels in the way on the side.

Agree totally. Just bad design. For the first several years on my truck's life I used a remote mount filter, but now I'm back to the factory location and the struggle of the oil filter.

I've contemplated disconnecting the steering shaft as it looks like it might telescope off and on. Anyone tried that?

 

[adsm08]

Agree totally. Just bad design. For the first several years on my truck's life I used a remote mount filter, but now I'm back to the factory location and the struggle of the oil filter.

I've contemplated disconnecting the steering shaft as it looks like it might telescope off and on. Anyone tried that?

Even if it had been a few inches forward, closer to where the 302 filter is, it would have been much better, but like I said, the 3.0 was designed to go in the Taurus. It was put in the Ranger as an after though because marketing thought there should be a second small V6, and pencil-pushing and bean-counting said "hey, we already have one"

 

[Curious Hound]

I admit I find the oil filter a little bit inconvenient. But, until now, never thought it bad enough to complain about. Worst part is that I always have a small mess where everything drips and runs during the filter change process.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Rearanger]

Ford installed a funnel on my truck to divert the filter oil away from the starter.

I unscrew the filter and let it drain while it hangs on an angle resting against the steering shaft.

So again, has anyone tried uncoupling the steering shaft? That would free up a lot of access.

 

[adsm08]

Ford installed a funnel on my truck to divert the filter oil away from the starter.

I unscrew the filter and let it drain while it hangs on an angle resting against the steering shaft.

So again, has anyone tried uncoupling the steering shaft? That would free up a lot of access.

I have not tried the steering shaft thing. I usually unscrew them from the top and then pull the filter out through the wheel well, or try to knock it off that funnel.

That funnel would have been a nice idea on the Taurus, that's the reason Ranger 3.0s don't have the same starter issues the Tauruses do even though it is the same starter.

 

[Rearanger]

I have not tried the steering shaft thing.

I'll let you know as I'm going to investigate. There is only one bolt that connects the two shafts and I doubt, even for Ford engineers, that they'll make me pull the steering column or steering box to separate the shafts.

Getting that shaft out of the way will create a lot of access and clearance.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I'll let you know as I'm going to investigate. There is only one bolt that connects the two shafts and I doubt, even for Ford engineers, that they'll make me pull the steering column or steering box to separate the shafts.

Getting that shaft out of the way will create a lot of access and clearance.

It should telescope. Never yanked a ranger column but i know F/E series ones did. Athough it might be a bitch to get it to slide the first time or two.

 

[fastpakr]

I disconnected the shaft on the '99 Explorer when I was getting to the engine mount bolts. No big deal, just yank the bolt and they popped apart easily.