So a friend of mine has an 06 F-250 with a 6.0 and needed an oil change. Having done my own numerous times without issue, I said I'd help him.

First problem, we get the oil filter cap off and neither of us can pull the oil filter out of it. We are trying as hard as we can and it will not pop out of the cap, on my truck it always comes right out. Then he decides the only way we're getting it out is to break the filter and chip out the remains of it with a screwdriver piece by piece (stupid I know but it seemed like the only option).

So we do this and find this red circular thing with a spring next to it. I've never seen this on my cap, so I assumed it was part of the inside of the filter and we took it out. Now we can't get the new filter to snap into the cap. Apparently that spring was part of the cap and we needed it. He ended up having to buy a new cap from Ford, but we haven't got it yet so I don't know if the new one will have a spring or not. Also, there was an o-ring inside his cap which mine doesn't have either. Does anyone have an explanation for all of this?

 

Sounds like it was an aftermarket filter and cap? You are right, the OEM is just a cap, big o-ring, and filter.... shouldn't be a red snap, extra o-ring, or anything....

 

Get a new OEM cap and make sure the filter is also OEM.

 

You will probably find that the Ford cap is about an inch shorter than the one you removed. Most aftermarket filters have the filter permanently attached to the cap, and many of them don't fit correctly. It is always best to stick to OEM filters.

 

There are some after market oil filters that need an extra thing inside the cap of the OEM filter cap. IT SNAPS INTO THE OEM CAP.

Look closely at the inside of the cap, you just might find this little goody.

 

If this is true that would explain everything.

Amdriven2liv, you could be right also. Thanks guys

 

The thing that threw me off is that most aftermarket caps I've seen look different than OEM, they are usually way taller. This one looked just like mine (from the outside).