Now that was a big pain in the butt

[2003_MM_FYRE49]

Well I have 3,040 on my MM. I changed the oil and rotated the tires today. I'd like to meet the engineer that designed the placement of the oil filter. I'd beeoch slap him just for the principle of the matter. What a pain, and then the oil clean up from the filter :confused: Has anyone come up with an easy and cleaner way to get the filter off other than from the bottom of the car? Let me know, I'm curious as to how you've handled it.

Thanks,

Tim

[RF Overlord]

Tim:

A mechanic friend of mine suggests taking one of those plastic supermarket bags and putting it over the filter while you unscrew it, then letting the filter fall into the bag...haven't tried it yet, but my next oil change is coming up shortly...

[2003_MM_FYRE49]

That's an idea, deffinately worth a try. :banana2: :banana2: :banana2:

Thanks,

Tim

[jgc61sr2002]

RF - Sounds like a good idea. I'll try that. Thanks:coolman:

[jrzygrl]

Yeah, same complaint here on my end.....hard as hell to get off.
Ok, so my hubby bi-ched the whole time about it.........

[Jeff]

I just pull up to my trusted Quick Lube ( the one who stocks Motocraft 5W20 as I asked ) and in 10 minutes I'm outta there!
No muss; no fuss. :)

[TAF]

My Tech proudly took my $60 for all of my changes and never complained once :help:

[Marauderman]

what Jeff says or if your the Dealer friend--call them and get $ cost if you bring your own oil --usually is about $10 that way--and they put a catch plate under to drain oil over to the drum..no mess ..no fuss..except from the tech who has to do it....they do the whole mess for 1/2 price each time.....and your right--the engineers must have all gone to the same beer party the night before .....

[FordNut]

There was a discussion awhile back about installing a remote oil filter. I don't think anybody has done it yet, though. Whoever goes first, please post pics, etc.

[Bigdogjim]

In and out at the Ford dealer 15 minutes, $19.95 & free coffee!

[Paul T. Casey]

I got free oil changes for life from my dealer, so it looks like they get to deal with that hassle.

[Warpath]

Its similar on a Cobra and my F150. I create a little catch pan/funnel with aluminum foil. Basically, I create a little scoop under the filter that drains in front of the K member and allows the oil to drain without getting everywhere. I throw it out when I'm done. It works fairly well.

[jerrym3]

On my 94 TBird 4.6, there's actually a small what looks like a spout in the chassis member under the motor to funnel the oil that spills out of the filter.

Once you get the filter off, it's just about impossible (when hot) to maneuver the oil filter and get it out.

So, I just let it sit there and cool off, and, if I'm lucky, it's in the correct position to drain. Otherwise, when it's cool and I try to get it out, the oil comes gushing out again.

(On my old cars, bith 352 V8s, you can almost get the filter out without lifting the car. My 89 Towncar's 302 has two drain plugs in the oilpan.)

[jefferson-mo]

What warpath sez but different.................my service guys fashion a funnel out of the box that the filter comes in...........but I don't let 'em at my car............I do it myself......:uzi:

[2003_MM_FYRE49]

Jefferson it sounds like your the same way as me, I worked in the dealers for 17 years and they always had the rug rats doing the oil changes. some of my favorite memories were the time the kid filled the crank case with oil...and I mean filled it. But the best was when he tried to crank it over and bent the rods. then there was the time the kid looked at the air pressure which said 45 lbs. max ... well gues what, they had 45 lbs. I think that customer almost killed him after he was able to bounce the car back around the block. needless to say he got canned, and what did they replace him with, you got it another rug rat. They never learn.

Tim

[Dr Caleb]

Originally posted by 2003_MM_FYRE49
Jefferson it sounds like your the same way as me, I worked in the dealers for 17 years and they always had the rug rats doing the oil changes. ... They never learn.

Tim

:lol:
My Favorite memory is a work experience student (had 1 'class' in school where he'd come over and work for us - mostly mopping floors) when he tried to change the oil in a Kenworth. Had it up in the air, didn't drain the pan first, but stood under the filter while unscrewing it....*glug* *glug* *glug*..all over him. Luckily the truck wasn't too hot, so he didn't get burned. But was it funny!

[engine23ccvfd]

My first car was a Mitsubuishi (SP) Tredia...had to remove the oil pan to get the filter on and off... 70.00 per oil change

[jerrym3]

Yeah, but we all do stupid things when we're young.

I can remember when working as a helper in a bodyshop, I was told to get the tow truck and do AAA towing during a bad snowstorm. (The regular driver didn't make it in.)

The first car I towed in, I accidentally attached the"hook" (this was 1962; no flatbeds) to the radiator support. When I got the car to the shop, the radiator was, well...., not in an upright position.

The second car I towed had to be towed from the rear, and I attached the hook to the rear bumper, which resulted in a pretty badly bent bumper.

One afternoon, they told me to pick up one of the town policecars (1959 Ford) and bring it in for some work.

Again, it was snowing, and I came upon a car that was stuck on the side of the road.

So, for about ten minutes, I got out of the police car and proceeded to direct traffic while wearing my teenage "club" jacket.

Amazing; everbody followed my instructiuons all because the police car was parked behind me.

I also remember towing a car (before padded dashes) from an accident that had teeth marks imprinted in the metal dash and spending an afternoon hacksawing the A pillar out of a 56 Ford in a cold junkyard for replacement on a 55 that had been damaged in an accident.

Ah, the good old days.

[Fourth Horseman]

Originally posted by jerrym3
On my 94 TBird 4.6, there's actually a small what looks like a spout in the chassis member under the motor to funnel the oil that spills out of the filter.

Once you get the filter off, it's just about impossible (when hot) to maneuver the oil filter and get it out.

Indeed. Every time I hear somebody complain about getting the filter off of the MM I just laugh. It was _MUCH_ more difficult on my '97 Thunderbird V8. I have this filter off and the new one on in no time and I'm grinning the whole time.

[jerrym3]

This is the first time I've ever heard this.

Talking to a friend of mine about car maintenance last night, and he tells me that his high school auto shop teacher told him to do the following:

Whenever changing oil, after the oil has drained, start the car for 10-15 seconds to get the "old" oil out of the oil pump.

He says he's always done this, his cars run great even with high mileage, and his oil keeps that "fresh new" look longer because the dirty oil in the pump was drained.

Anybody ever heard this before?

[RF Overlord]

Originally posted by jerrym3

high school auto shop teacher told him to do the following:

Whenever changing oil, after the oil has drained, start the car for 10-15 seconds to get the "old" oil out of the oil pump.



Your friend WAS joking, right? :eek:

I think starting the motor without oil is only safe if you use a specific combination of Dura-Lube, Slick 50, Pro-Long, and Z-MAX (now with MORE Linkite!)...
and sacrifice a chicken to the Warranty Gods...

[TAF]

Originally posted by jerrym3
Talking to a friend of mine about car maintenance last night, and he tells me that his high school auto shop teacher told him to do the following:

Whenever changing oil, after the oil has drained, start the car for 10-15 seconds to get the "old" oil out of the oil pump.


^^^That's because high school auto shop teachers usually drive the biggest "beaters" in the world...I would NOT recommend this!

[cyclone03]

When I was in High School I worked at a Service station(remember those?).
We had a customer that would come in about every six weeks and have us put 5 quarts of oil in his engine.

Over time I left that job but I still went over to talk with the owner from time to time.

5 years later the same guy was still coming in with the same car.

[Warpath]

Originally posted by jerrym3
This is the first time I've ever heard this.

Talking to a friend of mine about car maintenance last night, and he tells me that his high school auto shop teacher told him to do the following:

Whenever changing oil, after the oil has drained, start the car for 10-15 seconds to get the "old" oil out of the oil pump.

He says he's always done this, his cars run great even with high mileage, and his oil keeps that "fresh new" look longer because the dirty oil in the pump was drained.

Anybody ever heard this before?

eep. How many fingers was the auto shop teacher missing?

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by jerrym3

Whenever changing oil, after the oil has drained, start the car for 10-15 seconds to get the "old" oil out of the oil pump.

He says he's always done this, his cars run great even with high mileage, and his oil keeps that "fresh new" look longer because the dirty oil in the pump was drained.


Sounds like an old wives' tale... no offense intended to any old wives on this site, whether or not they have any tales to tell.

Would you really want to run your engine without oil pressure for a few seconds just to get that intsy tintsy itsy bitsy bit of old oil out of your pump??? What about all the oil that accumulates in standing pools around the various horizontal surfaces inside the engine? Wouldn't you want to go around and scrape these areas dry as well, just to make sure there is no evil old oil left behind?

Unless your buddy's pistons are SO TIGHT in their bores that the engine reaches operating temperature within 30 seconds of initial fire up due to extreme internal friction, there will always be blow-by. It's this blow-by that dirties the oil, and the oil is most likely going to look dirty within 1000 miles. No way a tiny amount of left-over oil is going to make the engine oil look any dirtier.

[jgc61sr2002]

Originally posted by jerrym3
This is the first time I've ever heard this.

Talking to a friend of mine about car maintenance last night, and he tells me that his high school auto shop teacher told him to do the following:

Whenever changing oil, after the oil has drained, start the car for 10-15 seconds to get the "old" oil out of the oil pump.

He says he's always done this, his cars run great even with high mileage, and his oil keeps that "fresh new" look longer because the dirty oil in the pump was drained.

Anybody ever heard this before? A good way to damage the engine. The life of any engine is oil changes, every 3 months or every 3,000 miles. I have driven several cars over 200,000 miles with no major engine work, using that method.

[RF Overlord]

Wait a minute...I think we all missed the bigger point here...an auto shop TEACHER was feeding this malarkey to STUDENTS...who will perpetuate the nonsense to others, ad nauseum...that guy should be retired...

[RCSignals]

When did this auto shop teacher recommend this silliness?
I suspect what he was, or is, is a TEACHER put in the Autoshop, not necessarily a real Autoshop TEACHER.
Unfortunately, and especially these days, many unqualified TEACHERS are allowed to teach shop, because there is a belief amongst academics that all you have you have to do is read a book about the subject.

[cyclone03]

I forgot to mention above that the guy would drain his oil at home change the filter then Drive the car about 1/4mile to the station then have us put new oil in it.
Same thing for years with the same car!

We allways asked why he didn't just buy the oil when he bought the filter?
"I like Shell oil".