And if so, have you actually changed the oil in one of these trucks? I did the inaugural oil change on my newly-acquired 2011 F-150 with a 3.5 Ecoboost. Good grief! After one removes those aggravating cardboard and plastic covers, removal and replacement of the oil filter is quite an adventure. It's like trying to reach up into a blind hole through an 8 inch opening from below and changing a filter that's at least 12 or 15 inches farther up in there. OR a person has the other privilege of standing on a bucket or step ladder and reaching WAY down in the engine bay and removing it from above. The gift of sight just barely makes this job any easier than it would be for a blind man. And apparently the Ford engineer who designed the location of the dipstick was seven feet tall. I have said this for years--if the designers of these vehicles had to drive and maintain them for one year before production, our lives as customers would be a lot easier.

 

Yeppers, lots of fun! my filter goes on by braile, seems an attempt to make you go to the dealer, an engineer that gets stuff under his nail, Ha!

 

Just curious, how much better/easier is the filter location on a 5.0 V8 ? ( 2011-2014 models)

I keep my rigs a long time, and this might tip the scale ......... though I was leaning towards the 5.0 anyway.

 

I have a 5.0 and the filter is on the front left side of the engine. It's not too hard to get to but the little catch plate that is below it will not direct the oil forward like it looks like it is supposed to. Next oil change I'm going to try jacking up the back of the truck. Otherwise I might remove the plate and weld it back on at a proper angle.

 

Did I mention the lovely plastic cover under the front of that catch plate on my truck? You have to turn about 5 little latches and fold that thing out of the way in order to have access to the filter with your blind hand. Did I mention it flops down into your catch can that you have positioned so well, but destined to not catch the oil as it drips down from 2 or 3 locations? I had to take a pair of vice grips and clamp it to the skid plate in order to get it out of my way and the used oil.

 

The 5.4 in my moms expedition is just about as aggravating.

 

Amen brother!

 

I found it easier if you take the skid plate off.

 

What year? Mine is fairly simple to get to, but it's a '10 F150

 

The 5.0 is a breeze.

 

As crazy and unnecessary as that sounds, I will probably do that next time. Thanks!


I agree. My wife has a 2011 Expedition with the 5.4. It's kindergarten work compared to this truck.

 

Reminds me of my first impression of my Ecoboost oil change. LOL!

But you forgot to mention how the dam explodes when you pull the pan plug. The thin oil gushes.... and splashes.... and gushes..... and splashes.... and gushes.... The pan just can't contain it and the mess is immense. I had a pool of oil running down the driveway, oil splatter on the truck, on the tire, on the ramp stand, on tools. It was a freaking nightmare. Had to throw a pile of cat litter on the driveway to stop the river of oil going to the street.

 

That is exactly the point ...they don't want you to do it, they want you to bring it to them and they make $. It will only get worse as each model year goes on... My '14 STX with the 3.7 filter is easy to get to...but the dipstick location is ridiculous , and I'm considering taking the little plastic drain tray off entirely, as it is as much trouble as it is help.

 

At least the oil change interval is 10,000 miles so you don't have to get under the truck often.

 

That's a good point. How are they justifying such a long recommended interval between oil changes? 10K miles is a long time.