On 5.4 Expeditions you scoot under and loosen the drain plug (5/8”), Done.
EXACTLY!!! Simple, like every other vehicle I have ever owned, and ever piece of heavy equipment that I have ever worked on.
Let's be honest: Ford designed it this way so owners wouldn't want to deal with it, would hopefully bring it to the dealership and pay through the nose for what should be a cheap maintenance. Then, they can go over your vehicle and point out all kinds of other things that "need service" such as:
- "The tires need rotation/balance. That'll be $137.50" Umm, that's OK, Sam's does it for free.
- "Your windshield wipers are compromised. We'll take care of it for "$36.97"
- "Your headlight fluid needs replacing."
- "It's about time to do an injector cleaning. No, the stuff we use is completely different than the stuff you buy at the auto parts store. Yes, and it"ll only set you back $89.95"
- "There is a bit of engine noise. You need to adjust your canooter valves. That'll be $239.78"
- "We noticed that your struts are getting old. You need to replace them soon." But it's only four years old. What the heck are you talking about??? It's never been off road, it is only driven on flat Florida roads and there is no excessive bounce or noise. Here, let me show you. "No, no, it shouldn't move like that."
This actually happened to me at a national tire place. Before I started really questioning the guy, I asked, and how did you determine that? Did you do a load test? Rebound test? Anything? I then popped off one lug cover since they were ******* me off. Lo and behold, the first one had TWO lug nuts missing. I said, "Funny, you "noticed" that my struts were in need of replacement but didn't notice that you neglected to put on two of the five lug nuts of the first tire I checked. Get away from my vehicle and have someone put the missing lugs on right now while I watch, and I want to see your tech put on anti-seize lube and torque all of them to factory specs." They weren't happy with me, but I was far less happy with them.