First oil change yesterday - no issues

[coupe11]

Ran it up on a couple 2X6 blocks under each front wheel for a couple more inches of shoulder/arm clearance (2014 4WD Expedition).

I was surprised how tight the oil drain plug was and how many turns it took to get it loose enough to turn by my fingers. I've not seen that on any vehicle I've owned so far. Lots of clearance to get to it, which is nice.

It was warm and the oil was drained enough to drip by the time I got a rag to wipe the oil off the drain plug and wrench (and my hand).

I was initially concerned about how red the oil looked. Honestly, my first thought was "transmission fluid? really?" I got some on my fingers and looked at it and it was just sort of dirty brown/amber, but draining out of the pan it sure looked slightly reddish colored to me.

I put the drain plug back in and tightened it up snug and pushed the drain pan forwards to get it under the oil filter. I was under the passenger side reaching in to get to the drain plug. I'm thinking, next time, I'll just crawl in from the front, I may have more room.

I like that little plastic drain pan Ford put on the frame up there to catch oil leaking from filter as it's removed. Neat idea. Worked well, too. That filter was also pretty tight. Had a little bit of trouble getting the strap wrench on it due to the close proximity of a radiator hose but got that figured out once I twisted around enough to see what was going on.

Installed the new filter after oiling the gasket and tightened it one full turn after contact. Couldn't quite get it there with my hand and used the strap wrench to get that last 1/4 turn.

Filled it with 7 qts. of synthetic oil, fired it up, let it run while watching for any drips/leaks and then reset the oil life. Man, that's easy/simple compared to my wife's outlander and even my truck.

Got out the little black book in the console and wrote down the date and mileage so I can keep track of it for the next oil change a year from now (I'm retired and I'm getting about a year = 6,000 miles = on my vehicles due to my reduced driving time. Not so for my wife's Outlander, she seems to keep it on the road.)

Parked it in the carport again, put my wrenches away, put the used oil container away and went to let the dogs out of the pen for their evening petting/treats.

 

[762mm]

Awesome, well done! Congrats on using synthetic, this particular engine can really benefit from it in the long run.

When I did my first oil change on my (ex-police) 2014 SSV, some idiot had used an impact wrench on the oil drain plug before. There was clear evidence of the plug having been cross-threaded and forced in.

I got it out, cleaned up the threads a bit and it went back in without a problem. I did order a replacement magnetic oil plug for my next oil change from Gold Plug LLC, though. They sell very high quality machined drain plugs with super strong magnets, made in the USA.

On our 5.4L 3-valves and their oil passage clogging problems, any extra protection can help! I'm going to buy another for the transfer case too, as the factory drain & fill plugs have no magnets on them (but they should!).

https://goldplug.com/

 

[Don Hall]

I have found that an oil filter cap tool (fits over end of end of filter, and driven by a socket wrench) works really well. Access is from bottom of filter. Eliminates any obstruction/interference, can be used with an extension, if needed, even a breaker bar, if necessary.

Cost, about $3, at most auto stores.

 

[coupe11]

Somewhere, I have one of the big "sockets" that fits on the end of the bigger oil filters. I couldn't find it. I had no trouble finding a couple of the small ones that fit the filters on the S10 Blazers, Fiero GT, etc., etc.

That would have been easier to use. If I don't find it before long I'll buy another one.

There is a lot of room between the engine and the fans/fan shrouds. Did they ever put the V10's in Expeditions? Looks like there would be enough room.

 

[Jamo]

Nice...

I just changed the oil in my '14 EL Limited too, first one for me. I was surprised at how easy everything was to get to (on blocks as well). My plug was way tighter than I would have expected, and when I pulled the filter, the oil ran between that clever little drain chute and the frame. No biggie as I had oil all over the floor anyway.

I watched a you tube video of some guy doing it just to see what I had under there, and he "highly" recommended an oil catch pan/container which he used in the video. I thought, WTH, I need a bigger thing than my sawed off 5 gallon pail that I use on the Harleys and other smaller stuff.

Well, once the oil gets flowing, it ran right over the sides lips of the foolish container and wouldn't take the stream down the drain...with the vent blow hole open. POS. Can't remember the brand, but if you get one, check for higher sides. I tried slowing the flow with my finger, but I got my oil good and hot before draining. I'm going back to a taller sawed off bucket...

 

[bloodhound]

I use 2 drain pans, one for the plug and one for the filter. After letting the plug drain till it slow drips, I then remove the filter and another flow of oil comes out the plug hole. Overkill? Probably, but I intend to keep this truck for many more years.

 

[Jamo]

Huh...good info. The ****** store bought catch pan should be able to handle the filter flow...and my bucket can stay under the plug hole. Guess I never had both open at the same time...

 

[rjdelp7]

Ran it up on a couple 2X6 blocks under each front wheel for a couple more inches of shoulder/arm clearance (2014 4WD Expedition).

I was surprised how tight the oil drain plug was and how many turns it took to get it loose enough to turn by my fingers. I've not seen that on any vehicle I've owned so far. Lots of clearance to get to it, which is nice.

It was warm and the oil was drained enough to drip by the time I got a rag to wipe the oil off the drain plug and wrench (and my hand).

I was initially concerned about how red the oil looked. Honestly, my first thought was "transmission fluid? really?" I got some on my fingers and looked at it and it was just sort of dirty brown/amber, but draining out of the pan it sure looked slightly reddish colored to me.

I put the drain plug back in and tightened it up snug and pushed the drain pan forwards to get it under the oil filter. I was under the passenger side reaching in to get to the drain plug. I'm thinking, next time, I'll just crawl in from the front, I may have more room.

I like that little plastic drain pan Ford put on the frame up there to catch oil leaking from filter as it's removed. Neat idea. Worked well, too. That filter was also pretty tight. Had a little bit of trouble getting the strap wrench on it due to the close proximity of a radiator hose but got that figured out once I twisted around enough to see what was going on.

Installed the new filter after oiling the gasket and tightened it one full turn after contact. Couldn't quite get it there with my hand and used the strap wrench to get that last 1/4 turn.

Filled it with 7 qts. of synthetic oil, fired it up, let it run while watching for any drips/leaks and then reset the oil life. Man, that's easy/simple compared to my wife's outlander and even my truck.

Got out the little black book in the console and wrote down the date and mileage so I can keep track of it for the next oil change a year from now (I'm retired and I'm getting about a year = 6,000 miles = on my vehicles due to my reduced driving time. Not so for my wife's Outlander, she seems to keep it on the road.)

Parked it in the carport again, put my wrenches away, put the used oil container away and went to let the dogs out of the pen for their evening petting/treats.

That's the War and Peace post, of an oil change. I can't believe I spent 2 minutes reading it. Always change the filter first. Don't tighten the filter, with the wrench. You will regret that next time. I hope you oiled the gasket.

 

[rjdelp7]

Ran it up on a couple 2X6 blocks under each front wheel for a couple more inches of shoulder/arm clearance (2014 4WD Expedition).

I was surprised how tight the oil drain plug was and how many turns it took to get it loose enough to turn by my fingers. I've not seen that on any vehicle I've owned so far. Lots of clearance to get to it, which is nice.

It was warm and the oil was drained enough to drip by the time I got a rag to wipe the oil off the drain plug and wrench (and my hand).

I was initially concerned about how red the oil looked. Honestly, my first thought was "transmission fluid? really?" I got some on my fingers and looked at it and it was just sort of dirty brown/amber, but draining out of the pan it sure looked slightly reddish colored to me.

I put the drain plug back in and tightened it up snug and pushed the drain pan forwards to get it under the oil filter. I was under the passenger side reaching in to get to the drain plug. I'm thinking, next time, I'll just crawl in from the front, I may have more room.

I like that little plastic drain pan Ford put on the frame up there to catch oil leaking from filter as it's removed. Neat idea. Worked well, too. That filter was also pretty tight. Had a little bit of trouble getting the strap wrench on it due to the close proximity of a radiator hose but got that figured out once I twisted around enough to see what was going on.

Installed the new filter after oiling the gasket and tightened it one full turn after contact. Couldn't quite get it there with my hand and used the strap wrench to get that last 1/4 turn.

Filled it with 7 qts. of synthetic oil, fired it up, let it run while watching for any drips/leaks and then reset the oil life. Man, that's easy/simple compared to my wife's outlander and even my truck.

Got out the little black book in the console and wrote down the date and mileage so I can keep track of it for the next oil change a year from now (I'm retired and I'm getting about a year = 6,000 miles = on my vehicles due to my reduced driving time. Not so for my wife's Outlander, she seems to keep it on the road.)

Parked it in the carport again, put my wrenches away, put the used oil container away and went to let the dogs out of the pen for their evening petting/treats.

That's the War and Peace post, of an oil change. I can't believe I spent 2 minutes reading it. Always change the filter first. Don't tighten the filter, with the wrench. You will regret that next time. I hope you oiled the gasket.

 

[coupe11]

So, you're saying disregard the instructions on the oil filter and do not tighten it one full turn after gasket contact with the engine/oil filter mount?

If you read it then you read the sentence "Installed the new filter after oiling the gasket and tightened it one full turn after contact."

It takes two minutes to read that post? Or two minutes to comprehend it? Or two minutes to.....?

Been changing my own oil/filters since 1976 on 14 different makes/models of cars, trucks and SUVs. I always drop the oil first.

What damage do you think it does to the engine if you drain the oil from the pan before removing the old oil filter?

Sorry for the long post in reply to your post.

 

[rjdelp7]

A few reasons to do the filter first. If you are using a regular pan, you could drop it into a full pan of hot oil. If for some reason you can't get it off, you can still drive the car. You can also cause the oil pump to lose its prime. Put your finger over a straw, while sitting in a glass of water. You can lift the straw out of the glass, holding the water. When you remove the filter first, the pan is full and pickup tube is under oil and holds its prime. The benefit is, you are not running your engine with no oil pressure, for up 20secs, while the pump re-primes.

 

[mquick5]

So are you guys putting oil in the new filter before you replace it or not?

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[bobmbx]

So are you guys putting oil in the new filter before you replace it or not?

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

I've never done that.

 

[coupe11]

I've never done that.

I had a buddy, in the Army, that went off on me one day when I screwed the new oil filter on my engine without filling it with oil first. He swore up and down that would destroy the engine, to run till the pump filled the new filter and then pushed oil out through all the passage ways in the block/head to lubricate the moving parts. He believed it, completely. That's what he'd been taught by his dad.

Been doing it (putting new, dry oil filter on the engine) in quite a few cars/trucks/SUVs for hundreds of oil changes over the years. My F150 had 251,000 miles on it when I screwed up and traded it in on a new Fusion for my wife. My 86 IROC has 186,000 miles on it. My 82 K5 Blazer had 185,000 miles on it when I junked it due to body/frame rust. My 05 Silverado and 2000 Cherokee Sport are both up to just over 130,000 miles. All have the original engines in them. No issues with any of them.

I just oil the new oil filter gasket, put it on the engine, tighten it down per the instructions, add the correct amount of the correct oil and then start if up and let it idle till it builds oil pressure. Then I start looking for any oil leaks as I pick stuff up and put it away.

I plan to be able to put another 80,000 miles of more on this Expedition. It should take me 10 to 12 years (if I live that long) or more. It's a really nice vehicle. We're really glad we bought it (so far).

 

[rjdelp7]

I had a buddy, in the Army, that went off on me one day when I screwed the new oil filter on my engine without filling it with oil first. He swore up and down that would destroy the engine, to run till the pump filled the new filter and then pushed oil out through all the passage ways in the block/head to lubricate the moving parts. He believed it, completely. That's what he'd been taught by his dad.

Been doing it (putting new, dry oil filter on the engine) in quite a few cars/trucks/SUVs for hundreds of oil changes over the years. My F150 had 251,000 miles on it when I screwed up and traded it in on a new Fusion for my wife. My 86 IROC has 186,000 miles on it. My 82 K5 Blazer had 185,000 miles on it when I junked it due to body/frame rust. My 05 Silverado and 2000 Cherokee Sport are both up to just over 130,000 miles. All have the original engines in them. No issues with any of them.

I just oil the new oil filter gasket, put it on the engine, tighten it down per the instructions, add the correct amount of the correct oil and then start if up and let it idle till it builds oil pressure. Then I start looking for any oil leaks as I pick stuff up and put it away.

I plan to be able to put another 80,000 miles of more on this Expedition. It should take me 10 to 12 years (if I live that long) or more. It's a really nice vehicle. We're really glad we bought it (so far).

The GM small blocks, have a filter that mount up/down. They can be filled and installed without spillage. Your Army buddy is right. It is better and takes maybe 60sec to do it.