GT350 DIY Oil Change

[Lurker_350]

For those looking for a new torque wrench for the filter, I bought this 3/8" drive torque wrench and really like it. Came with a calibration certificate documenting accuracy from 10 - 80 ft-lbs.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I1O94Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$150 isn't too bad, considering a normal craftsman wrench is $100. I think CDI is related to Snap On, but this is the first tool I have purchased from them. Pleased so far.

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[shelbyman]

Just make sure you torque your oil filter to spec. I always recheck mine before Willow. It usually loosens up some over time. Have you added oil separators? These cars aren't that bad to work on.

Hey Gordon its Sandy...:lol: How are ya? I have never experienced any issues with oil filter loosening up over time...but thats just been my experience. I do have the JLT separator on the passenger side...that where most of not all the oil is coming from...again my personal experience with this car and my 04 Terminator. And I'll have to take HUGE issue with you saying not that hard to work on. I'm going to explain in detail my experience with changing my oil yesterday in another post. Good to see you on here. :clap2:

 

[shelbyman]

I see that Ford requires a 7* approach angle for towing. Race ramps are 10+ degrees. Need a way to get under the car. Will Race Ramps work ?

In one word YES if you get the 2 piece set designed for these cars.

 

[torque124]

In one word YES if you get the 2 piece set designed for these cars.

so the 67" one piece design from previous post with 10 degree approach angle is no go ?

 

[shelbyman]

Having just completed my first oil change, I figured I'd add my own experience to this thread:

-I bought a pair of the 72" 2-stage Race Ramps for this car, which have an 8" lift height. While I was able to fit underneath and finish the job, I found myself really wishing that I had sprung the extra money for one of the 10" lift sets, instead.

-I actually have the same drain pan as the OP, but didn't have any issues with overflowing. It got within about 1/2" of the top of the "pan", but never went any higher.

-My Craftsman 3/8" ratchet, which is about 7.5" long, required me to reach my hand inside of the filter access hole, severely limiting my range of motion. A slightly longer wrench would likely make things a little easier/quicker, so I'm probably going to pick up a 1/2-to-3/8 adapter to allow the use of my longer 1/2" drive ratchet.

-When removing the filter, I tried using the "plastic grocery bag" method that I use on other cars with bottom-mount filters. I'm not sure if I just messed it up due to not being able to see what I was doing, but it, quite simply, didn't work, and I still dripped oil all over the place (including the entirety of my left forearm). For some god-forsaken reason, Ford thought it was a good idea to run wiring through this area, which got absolutely soaked in oil; I think I spent more time cleaning up the mess from the filter than it took me to do the rest of the oil change. Next time I'm definitely going to try the "punch a hole and let it drain" method, instead.

This is a very good post by Variance and should be very helpful to those trying it in their garage. I'll share my experience which is very similar to his.

I used Race Ramps...not sure how high they are but they are NOT high enough...very limited room to move around under the car and have to do most of the filter removal through the trap door blindly...a total PIA. IF you are going to do it on the ground you need to be 5'9" and weigh 150lbs to get decent access. IF I was to do it again on the ground I would opt for jack stands on the pinch welds to get it up a lot higher. Ok enough said about that aspect.

On to the filter removal, which is the toughest part of this job and took me a long time...should have taken 5 mins but ohhhhhhh no it didn't.:headbonk: I have read most all the posts on here and mustang6g so I'm appreciative to everyone for all the great tips. The one tip that helped me the most was to jam as many old rags in the area around the filter as you can. And as mentioned above Ford put freeking wiring right under the filter...whats that all about:shrug: If you DON'T put the rags these will get covered in oil...luckily I had the rags and only 1 drop of oil was on the wiring.

In the future I might put saran wrap around those wires or something like that. Ok I punched a hole in the filter and let it drain for 15-20 mins. Very slow stream..and then dripping. Maybe I didn't punch a large enough hole in the filter...I don't know. But I can say I'm not sure punching the hole did any good at all. I mean the oil inside the filter isn't going to come up and out the top. Its the oil that's vacuum trapped that spills out. So one of the engineers on the site needs to say where to put the hole in the filter to get the vacuum bled down before removing the filter. I put my hole on the outside rim of the filter...maybe it should have been in the middle to break the vacuum from the anti drain back valve????:shrug: I don't know about it. Anyway without breaking the vacuum its pointless to put a hole in the filter in my opinion. Then I put a small piece of clay over the hole so wouldn't have oil dripping as I was trying to loosen the filter. Now I might have had that sequence wrong as some loosen the filter a bit before putting the hole in it... and you can chime in with comments on that if you like.

Anyway I got the filter a to where I could turn it by hand but the vacuum seal wasn't broken yet and then put the plastic bag with shop towel inside over the filter as best I could having limited access to tell how well it was up there. I was able to grip the filter and was able to turn it till the vacuum seal broke and YES oil everywhere...some went in the bag...and some didn't but the rags got almost all of it. Man what a movie it was turning out to be. :frusty: So filter now off and set about installing the new one to spec. I only pre filled it about 1/3 full because of the angle it attaches to the adapter.

Then on to draining the pan...thats simple compared to all the rest of it. Unusual plastic drain plug. 3/8" stubby ratchet and 120 degrees of rotation and it clicks in place sealed by an O ring...interesting part for sure and cheap at $2.88 ea from the dealer. I just used a new one but the old one looked good to go again. Oh since the hole in the pan is about 3/4" in diameter be ready for a lot of oil coming out. As stated all over the forum make sure your pan can accommodate it all...some have had to clean up messes due to that issue.:doh:

I've had 2 friends of mine with this car have the dealer do the change and the dealer pulled the belly pan off both times....a very good procedure. From reading on here some dealers don't. I asked my local dealer about cost and the service writer said $130...but I didn't ask if that included the oil and filter...if it does thats a steal if they pull the belly pan.

My conclusions so far.

I will change my oil again....but not with the car on the ground. Luckily I have a friend with a rack and I can use that anytime I need to. Just wanted to see how tough it is for me to do on the ground....its TOUGH for me.

I will stuff rags all over in there before pulling the filter...unless someone chimes in with how to break the vacuum.

Did I mention I won't be doing this on the ground anymore???:headbonk:

 

[shelbyman]

so the 67" one piece design from previous post with 10 degree approach angle is no go ?

No I don't think they will work....has to be 2 piece and they are long. Race Ramps explains it on their site.

 

[torque124]

No I don't think they will work....has to be 2 piece and they are long. Race Ramps explains it on their site.

so I am confused which one will work. I see they have 56" , 67, 72 and a 80" ramp style... none are mentioned for each vehicle. I don't want to shell out money and return them..
Thing is none of them have a 7 degree angle, as per Ford's recommendation on these cars.

Can someone please point me to one that works

Thanks

 

[torque124]

This is a very good post by Variance and should be very helpful to those trying it in their garage. I'll share my experience which is very similar to his.

I used Race Ramps...not sure how high they are but they are NOT high enough...very limited room to move around under the car and have to do most of the filter removal through the trap door blindly...a total PIA. IF you are going to do it on the ground you need to be 5'9" and weigh 150lbs to get decent access. IF I was to do it again on the ground I would opt for jack stands on the pinch welds to get it up a lot higher. Ok enough said about that aspect.

On to the filter removal, which is the toughest part of this job and took me a long time...should have taken 5 mins but ohhhhhhh no it didn't.:headbonk: I have read most all the posts on here and mustang6g so I'm appreciative to everyone for all the great tips. The one tip that helped me the most was to jam as many old rags in the area around the filter as you can. And as mentioned above Ford put freeking wiring right under the filter...whats that all about:shrug: If you DON'T put the rags these will get covered in oil...luckily I had the rags and only 1 drop of oil was on the wiring.

In the future I might put saran wrap around those wires or something like that. Ok I punched a hole in the filter and let it drain for 15-20 mins. Very slow stream..and then dripping. Maybe I didn't punch a large enough hole in the filter...I don't know. But I can say I'm not sure punching the hole did any good at all. I mean the oil inside the filter isn't going to come up and out the top. Its the oil that's vacuum trapped that spills out. So one of the engineers on the site needs to say where to put the hole in the filter to get the vacuum bled down before removing the filter. I put my hole on the outside rim of the filter...maybe it should have been in the middle to break the vacuum from the anti drain back valve????:shrug: I don't know about it. Anyway without breaking the vacuum its pointless to put a hole in the filter in my opinion. Then I put a small piece of clay over the hole so wouldn't have oil dripping as I was trying to loosen the filter. Now I might have had that sequence wrong as some loosen the filter a bit before putting the hole in it... and you can chime in with comments on that if you like.

Anyway I got the filter a to where I could turn it by hand but the vacuum seal wasn't broken yet and then put the plastic bag with shop towel inside over the filter as best I could having limited access to tell how well it was up there. I was able to grip the filter and was able to turn it till the vacuum seal broke and YES oil everywhere...some went in the bag...and some didn't but the rags got almost all of it. Man what a movie it was turning out to be. :frusty: So filter now off and set about installing the new one to spec. I only pre filled it about 1/3 full because of the angle it attaches to the adapter.

Then on to draining the pan...thats simple compared to all the rest of it. Unusual plastic drain plug. 3/8" stubby ratchet and 120 degrees of rotation and it clicks in place sealed by an O ring...interesting part for sure and cheap at $2.88 ea from the dealer. I just used a new one but the old one looked good to go again. Oh since the hole in the pan is about 3/4" in diameter be ready for a lot of oil coming out. As stated all over the forum make sure your pan can accommodate it all...some have had to clean up messes due to that issue.:doh:

I've had 2 friends of mine with this car have the dealer do the change and the dealer pulled the belly pan off both times....a very good procedure. From reading on here some dealers don't. I asked my local dealer about cost and the service writer said $130...but I didn't ask if that included the oil and filter...if it does thats a steal if they pull the belly pan.

My conclusions so far.

I will change my oil again....but not with the car on the ground. Luckily I have a friend with a rack and I can use that anytime I need to. Just wanted to see how tough it is for me to do on the ground....its TOUGH for me.

I will stuff rags all over in there before pulling the filter...unless someone chimes in with how to break the vacuum.

Did I mention I won't be doing this on the ground anymore???:headbonk:

I am not sure why it feels so difficult... I changed my oil on the ground in 20 min.... Sure, some oil will go around on the pan, but nothing you can't clean afterwards.
I didn't have race ramps and I lifted the car on one side only, and lowered back to horizontal for the oil to seep out.

Waiting for the oil to finish leaking out was the longest part of the process....

But I am 160 Pounds and 5.8

 

[barstowpo]

Hey Gordon its Sandy...:lol: How are ya? I have never experienced any issues with oil filter loosening up over time...but thats just been my experience. I do have the JLT separator on the passenger side...that where most of not all the oil is coming from...again my personal experience with this car and my 04 Terminator. And I'll have to take HUGE issue with you saying not that hard to work on. I'm going to explain in detail my experience with changing my oil yesterday in another post. Good to see you on here. :clap2:

Hi Sandy. I thought it was you. My filter has needed a little tightening a couple of times. I talked to the technicians at the Ford Racing School last week. They said the only real issues they were having with the Track Attack cars are that all the accessory pullies and bolts tend to loosen over time. I haven't had any issues changing my oil except getting my car in the air. I put BMR jacking rails on and that helps alot.

 

[shelbyman]

I am not sure why it feels so difficult... I changed my oil on the ground in 20 min.... Sure, some oil will go around on the pan, but nothing you can't clean afterwards.
I didn't have race ramps and I lifted the car on one side only, and lowered back to horizontal for the oil to seep out.

Waiting for the oil to finish leaking out was the longest part of the process....

But I am 160 Pounds and 5.8

Everyone's experience is different. Yours is one I have not heard expressed here before. Maybe your last sentence explains it. I would never just pull the filter and let the oil drain all over the belly pan and the wiring under the filter.

 

[shelbyman]

Hi Sandy. I thought it was you. My filter has needed a little tightening a couple of times. I talked to the technicians at the Ford Racing School last week. They said the only real issues they were having with the Track Attack cars are that all the accessory pullies and bolts tend to loosen over time. I haven't had any issues changing my oil except getting my car in the air. I put BMR jacking rails on and that helps alot.

I hear you on getting the car in the air. Using my friends lift next time will solve that problem. Do you just pull the filter and let the oil above the anti drain back valve just spill out on the inside of the belly pan? God I don't know how you would get in there to clean that out without pulling the belly pan off...which some dealers do when they do the oil change. Apparently from reading on here not all dealers do it that way. The one guy have a 4" puddle under his car from overnight dripping of oil out of the belly pan...god what a mess that had to be. This oil filter arrangement is NOT one of Ford's better ideas.:headbonk:

 

[barstowpo]

I just stuffed a bunch of paper towels around the filter when I removed it. It was pretty messy. I then put more towels in through the inspection hole and mopped up the residue. I think I will try the hole method next time which is just around the corner.

 

[shelbyman]

Hi Sandy. I thought it was you. My filter has needed a little tightening a couple of times. I talked to the technicians at the Ford Racing School last week. They said the only real issues they were having with the Track Attack cars are that all the accessory pullies and bolts tend to loosen over time. I haven't had any issues changing my oil except getting my car in the air. I put BMR jacking rails on and that helps alot.

Hey Gordon I think I've figured out along with help from Les Nimmo and Brett at Nimmo Machine why oil still comes out when you break the seal of the filter gasket EVEN if you've drained the filter by puncturing it. Draining the filter while a nice "idea" does NOT get the oil out above the anti drain back valve at the top of the filter. And thats the oil thats making the mess when the seal is broken. Actually you can leave the filter alone as the oil down in the filter isn't making the mess. Seems there is just no good way to get around there being some mess when breaking the seal...least not that I've discovered.

I have ordered one of those flexible funnels that might help direct it away from everything located in that area and into the oil pan...we'll see how that goes next time. And I'll have the car on a lift so that will make it much easier for me. I'm also thinking I'll still be stuffing a lot of rags all round up there as well and as that was the saving grace this time. I have pic of the top of the filter and you can see the orange color anti drain back valve through the slotted holes. Geeeze could I have posted a bigger picture????:eyebulge::lol:

Are the BMR jacking rails a weld on item?

 

[Lurker_350]

.........

Are the BMR jacking rails a weld on item?

No, you bolt them on. I had a couple problems installing mine:

One of the rear bolts (on each side) would not thread into the pre-threaded hole. I had to chase the threads with an M10X1.5 tap to clean them up.

I also broke the front bolt on the driver side. The BMR instructions spec 63 ft-lbs, but as I was torquing up to 50 ft-lbs, the front driver side bolt snapped. Then I got to have the fun of drilling/left hand tapping/extracting the remainder in the hole. After looking, I think the OEM bolt had a manufacturing issue (porosity).

With that said, I really like the rails and none of the problems above are due to BMR. It is nice to be able to spread the jack stands so far apart so that you can easily move yourself/tools between them as needed, rather than having to access from the front or rear only.

 

[barstowpo]

No, you bolt them on. I had a couple problems installing mine:

One of the rear bolts (on each side) would not thread into the pre-threaded hole. I had to chase the threads with an M10X1.5 tap to clean them up.

I also broke the front bolt on the driver side. The BMR instructions spec 63 ft-lbs, but as I was torquing up to 50 ft-lbs, the front driver side bolt snapped. Then I got to have the fun of drilling/left hand tapping/extracting the remainder in the hole. After looking, I think the OEM bolt had a manufacturing issue (porosity).

With that said, I really like the rails and none of the problems above are due to BMR. It is nice to be able to spread the jack stands so far apart so that you can easily move yourself/tools between them as needed, rather than having to access from the front or rear only.

I had a similar experience to Lurker's. The threads were binding dur to the factory sealant applied. I chased the threads and had no other issues.

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