According to TTAC: https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2019/01/diyers-take-note-the-2019-ford-rangers-oil-change-procedure-contains-a-big-extra-step/
"after removing the left front wheel, a technician or owner must then remove an access panel secured by nine push-pin retainers. From there, one removes the filter with an end cap tool"
If true, how in the world does a 4-cylinder TRUCK end up with that asinine of an oil filter change procedure? Remove the wheel? Epic fail.
I'm hoping that somehow they just got bad information. I can't imagine this poor of a decision on a utilitarian vehicle actually getting greenlighted all the way through production.
Kind of a PITA, that's for sure, but I don't know that I'd call it an 'epic fail.' I wonder if it's the same way on the overseas models - although those have different engines.
Of course I did have to pull the wheel on my '97 V8 explorer to do spark plugs, but that's a little different.
Weren't we just discussing miserable battery procedures in another thread? Sounds familiar...
Aren't you supposed to rotate your tires every oil change? I guess this sorta enforces that...
I dunno, that's the same procedure used on my '94 Nissan P/U.
I thought it was pretty clever, if you want to know the truth. Especially after contemplating the oil filter access from above or below!
After owning vehicles with top access filter cartridges that are stupid easy, and upright so nothing spills, I can't fathom why something like the stated procedure for the Ford would ever be necessary.
the 01 Grand Vitara was easier to jack up the drivers side front a few inches and reach in the wheel well for the oil filter. Otherwise you were on your back with your arm snaked up beside the front diff/shaft, under the mani-cat while barely getting 2 fingers on it.
trucke
SuperDork
1/3/19 3:45 p.m.
Sounds easier than dropping the undertray that always has a gazillion fasteners and is usually broken somewhere.
Sounds similar too the diesel Cruze, except that's right front. Might be a better design then the previous 3.0 rangers were someone changes the starter. Doesn't put the cover back and you get too play try not too short the starter positive too the frame.
2.2 Cavaliers with the filter directly above the braided exhaust flex pipe. Twin I beam Ford trucks with FE engines that drained directly on to the crossmember. Cannister filters on 530i that the housing had to come off the block because the bolt was too long. Subaru with an exhaust pipe almost completely surrounding the filter. 5.4 F150 with the filter above the front diff, inaccessible. 2.4 GM with a filter under a 3 inch screwcap in the oil pan.
And I'm not even trying hard.
bludroptop said:
I dunno, that's the same procedure used on my '94 Nissan P/U.
My 86 Nissan p/u couldn’t be any easier. At least they had it right at the first.
I guess you don't have to but I take a wheel off to get to the filter on a NA/NB Miata
I could change the oil and filter on my K car without even jacking it up. All could be accessed from under the hood.
As an engineer with auto industry experience, I can tell you exactly how this happens. At major automakers all engineering is compartmentalized (drivetrain, frame, body, interior) and so is design. The managers of said departments do not communicate effectively and there is no "maintenance" engineering team or input. There is a team of engineers to fix all major screwups and this is where the access panel and 9 push pins came into play. It was an afterthought. The entire powertrain was designed and packaged for cost and ease of installation on an assembly line. Maintenance was a huge afterthought or not even a concern. Auto makers would be happiest if tools were banned for sale to the public.
I once redesigned an air filter bracket which when installed prevented the quick release clamps from opening allowing the air filter to be serviced on a heavy duty truck. Yes that bracket was a 7 piece weldment that was super strong, but too expensive and stupidly engineered. The redesign was an elegant one piece affair made from one laser cut piece and then bent in a brake press. It cost about 40% of the original part. Management didn't like it (we hired some GM managers right after GM failed; so I didn't think much of them anyway), because they had a pile of crappy parts that didn't fit and wanted them redesigned. I actually wanted to know who all approved the expensive terrible part, and of course got no where on that end. Then I successfully redesigned already made crappy part needing to have the top plate cutoff, legs shorted and flipped upside down and rewelded on the same jig and a gusset added for strength. Management loved this since it was labor only. We can afford to keep bad engineers, bad designs and use them if it means beating up labor and paying OT. I was so bored at that job, I had to leave. Fixing crap stupid people mess up all day isn't for me.
P.S. the classic compartmentalized engineering example is the ford pinto: Fuel tank (energy source), exhaust (heat source), extra long bumper bolts by fuel tank (detonating pin), and the rest is history. If you think these engineers communicate well, you've never joked around with a group of engineers. I do it at work for pay, profit and a side order of entertainment.
P.P.S. I don't care about Harvard or it's silly comma before the and.
trucke said:
Sounds easier than dropping the undertray that always has a gazillion fasteners and is usually broken somewhere.
I was also thinking about the oil change procedure on a Toyota AE9x...
Although with the tubular header it's sort of doable from above now.
Eh an air impact makes that a quick thing. Jacking up the truck is an annoyance.
The real fail here is the plastic push pins holding on the panel. Just keep a 50 pack on hand or change them over to quarter turn de dzus fasteners.
Or get a filter relocation kit.
84FSP
SuperDork
1/3/19 7:30 p.m.
Mrs84FSP’s 4Runner oil change is a nightmare. Multiple trays and covers with bolts and push pins. Once you get the skid plate dropped you find a cartridge filter, upside down... in the most spacious engine bay I’ve seen in some time.
You think Ford gives 2 E36 M3s how hard it is for YOU to change the oil?
I haven't done my own oil change on any of my running vehicles in years. If I bought a 2019 vehicle I certainly wouldn't be doing it on that vehicle either lol.
Ford dealership oil changes + coupon + military discount. Yeah, I'll just keep paying lol.
One time I went to my Ford dealer and bought brakes for our ford fusion. Went home and did them on my own. Checked the mail and the dealer had sent me a brakes special coupon. All pads and rotors + labor was cheaper than I bought the brakes for from the parts department. 
In reply to yupididit :
With some tasks (like oil changes) I don't DIY them because they're cheaper, I DIY them so I know exactly how it was done and what was used. Plus, I don't like other people working on my E36 M3 and this way, if it's convenient for me to change the oil at 9PM on Wednesday, I can just do it then instead of working around someone else's schedule (considering it's no faster to drive somewhere, wait for them to change the oil, drive back than to just do it in the garage).
They are using an engine that was designed long before the truck. No time or budget to re-engineer it for one application.
One size fits most.
The worst part of it for me at work will be using the lift instead of the pits we normally use. Everything else I've found a workaround for and can use the pit so that's a bit sad
Wait. You have to CHANGE the OIL?
what a pile of E36 M3.
Removing a wheel is easy, it's just four nuts. Five if you are uncivilized. BFD.
Try getting to the oil filter on a final-gen pushrod 2.2 Cavalier with an automatic. Or the oil filter on a Jeep... I forget what, Commander? You can see the thing, but the only way to access it is either with reed-thin arms or removal of the washer fluid tank/coolant tank/upper radiator shroud assembly, which manages to be more of a pain in the ass than it sounds.
(Maybe it's the Dodge Nitro?)
