There's a plastic catch tray under the oil filter on the 4.6L 4X4. It feels like there's an oil drain outlet on the right rear of the tray. With the front wheels on ramps, will the oil drain neatly out the back of the tray into a catch container when I carefully loosen the filter or am I dreaming? Can I expect a mess of does this tray work?

 

No idea what that's for, but the simple answer is "no" if it's the same one on my 5.4... I saw it AFTER I took the filter off of course, and ummmm...anyway. Oil went all down my skid plate, and I had 2 drips going on that of course wouldn't BOTH get caught by my drain pan...

 

I agree with Fatal- It doesn't catch any oil, so I wouldn't expect it to. I took mine off to change my front axle lube and haven't put it back on!

 

I just set a pan on it to catch the oil when I change mine.

 

Sounds like a plan. Thanks.

 

That tray in theory is supposed to channel the oil towards the front and into your drain pan. However, during my first oil change, I found that when the filter is just about to pop off the oil runs down the back side of that pan and onto your driveway if your pan isn't big enough or positioned to catch the oil from the front AND back of the tray.