Too old to change oil ?

[Big Blue]

IMHO, the filter access on the Ranger is one of the easiest and with the little drainage shoot one of the least messy vehicles I have had over the past 50 years. All of the 4x4 pickups I have owned with a skid plate restricted access to the drain plug. The Ranger skid plate is by far the easiest to remove, loosen two bolts and remove two bolts and off it comes in about 10 seconds.

Who still takes the skid plate off to change oil? Put a Valvomax or Fumato valve on with a hose and do it with the plate in place. No need for cardboard deflectors either. Just put the hose in your pan and open valve.

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[ROBERTECOX]

It's not that I'm too old to change the oil myself...
Its just that:
1. I'm a firm believer in supporting the local economy by taking it to a shop to get it done
2. OKAY...I'm Lazy too.

Every time I get the urge to change the oil and rotate the tires, I lay down on the couch until that urge goes away.

 

[TJC]

I'm 75 and would still do oil changes on the Ranger and Bronco Sport if Ford hadn't made them so darn complicated. Like removing the skid plate to get to the drain plug and the left tire to remove the oil filter on the Ranger. Our new Bronco Sport has fiber board/cloth all across the under carriage so I don't even know where the drain plug and filter are located yet without pulling all that dumb fabric off. I still rotate tires but it gets harder to left them up to put on the wheel hub, especially on the F-150. However, I try to stay in shape by riding my mountain bike at least several times a week. Lately, it's been so hot (over 90) every day that I do the exercise bike inside in the AC. I figure that exercise is the fountain of youth.

I installed the valvomax so It wouldn't be necessary to remove the skid plate! No wrenches or tools required and oil flows through the clear hose straight into whatever you wish. Very little cleanup.

Installation is fast, simply remove the drain bolt and install the Valvomax. To use, you simply remove the captured stainless steel cap and screw on the drain knob with hose. I route the hose through a hole in the skid plate and tighten the drain knob. Oil will not begin flowing until the knob is fully seated and sealed. It takes a little longer to drain the oil, but I move to the filter as soon as the flow starts.

By the time I have the filter primed with oil and installed, it's time to remove the drain knob/hose and put the captured cap back on. All done.

I don't remove the tire to change the filter, just turn the tire fully to the right for easy access.

I liked this product so much I have added them to my 2005 Ranger, my 93 Miata LE, and my CX-5.

 

[Crow_of_judgement]

I feel super young, I'll be 35 in a few weeks and I stopped changing my oil a few months ago, my local shop charges $40 for 6 quarts of motorcraft 5w30 and a motorcraft filter and they dispose of the old oil for me.

I'll still change oil on my small fleet of farm tractors.

 

[REDWM]

Who still takes the skid plate off to change oil? Put a Valvomax or Fumato valve on with a hose and do it with the plate in place. No need for cardboard deflectors either. Just put the hose in your pan and open valve.

You still need to take off the skid plate first to drain oil and install the valve, correct?

 

[Big Blue]

You still need to take off the skid plate first to drain oil and install the valve, correct?

True! But, that's the last time for an oil change. Be prepared that first time can be a messy one. 6 quarts of oil comes spraying out pretty fast, definitely need a deflector of some kind.

 

[Blue Streak]

Who still takes the skid plate off to change oil? Put a Valvomax or Fumato valve on with a hose and do it with the plate in place. No need for cardboard deflectors either. Just put the hose in your pan and open valve.

Call me what ever I need to be called, but I just see something that can fail. When I install the drain plug & washer I am pretty confident it will not leak. Paranoid will work I guess. Just me.

 

[Msfitoy]

Did another oil change today...100 muddy degrees ugh...then I must've slightly over tightened my filter last time...wrench was never the right size so this time it failed...got a new filter wrench and all good...

 

[JohnnyO]

I like the way Subaru does it...

My son has a Subaru and yeah, they're pretty easy. OTOH they call for a spark plug change every 60k and you have to loosen the motor mounts and jack up the motor to reach all of them.

Who still takes the skid plate off to change oil? Put a Valvomax or Fumato valve on with a hose and do it with the plate in place. No need for cardboard deflectors either. Just put the hose in your pan and open valve.

Meh, just loosen the two front bolts and only remove the two rears and they're all 15mm like the drain plug. No big deal. I replaced the stupid plastic plugs on the splash guard with magnets. Just peel it back easy peezy.
I use two 6" extensions and a claw-type filter wrench but one of these days I'll remember to get a K&N oil filter with the nut welded on the end.

 

[Big Blue]

My son has a Subaru and yeah, they're pretty easy. OTOH they call for a spark plug change every 60k and you have to loosen the motor mounts and jack up the motor to reach all of them.


Meh, just loosen the two front bolts and only remove the two rears and they're all 15mm like the drain plug. No big deal.

Seems to me, it's loosen the back two bolts and remove the front two on mine. Unless they changed it after MY2019. It has been While since I've had to remove mine though. ?

 

[emesel]

62 here. Knees hurt but overall still in good shape. (I just ignore the knees for the most part. Well, other than squatting. That gets my attention!)

Basically I am an anal son of a bitch about my vehicles. The mechanical stuff. Not cleanliness. (Not a huge fan of washing cars. It's a necessity as needed, NOT a weekly enjoyable event.)

Anyway, I just do not trust shops. Period. When I change the oil, I know it's done right. Ditto tire rotation. Ditto brakes and other minor things. More involved stuff and I suck it up and go to the shop. Just too hard to get to stuff on new vehicles. But on those "shop" occasions when I pick it up, I go over it with a fine tooth comb.

I plan to continue handling it myself until I just flat cannot do it anymore. And with a little luck that'll be a good long while yet. I need the piece of mind knowing it was done the way I expect it to be done.

My feelings EXACTLY!

Where in TN are you? Just curious ... I was born in Chattanooga ... a long time ago!

Mark

 

[ppfd]

I’m 55
I like boosting the economy, so I pay ford to do it.
I live in an apt, GF lives in a condo. Time I drive to my storage unit, round up jack, oil gear, etc.
I can be at the dealer and done. No carting used oil, filters, laying in the gravel, no worries about the weather.

 

[Dean]

I feel super young, I'll be 35 in a few weeks and I stopped changing my oil a few months ago, my local shop charges $40 for 6 quarts of motorcraft 5w30 and a motorcraft filter and they dispose of the old oil for me.

I'll still change oil on my small fleet of farm tractors.

You're in the wrong thread pal. This is the 50 and over group.

I'm 59 and I still change the oil in two cars, a truck, the tractor, the push mower, the snow blower, the rototiller, the generator, the chipper, and the pressure washer.

Talk to us in 25 years, if any of us are still around.

They'll have to peel my cold, dead fingers off of the drain plug of something...

 

[Cmar]

74 this Dec. Still change oil/filters/rotate tires, wash/wax two vehicles and maintain our travel trailer. Mow/trim/weed-eat yard every 5 days or so.
Usual aches n pains, but I consider myself "vintage" and not ready to be put up.

I'm only 65 but this is me too. Used to have 4 cars to do, but now my wife's gone electric, only 3 now.
I do now look at some jobs on a cost / worth basis however, like timing belt changes on east-west engines that's just plain a PITA, and we have a good mechanic up the road for these.
Likewise some suspension stuff that involves big, nasty, usually rusted in, hard to remove, nuts and bolts.
However we live on 7.5 acres of bush, to look after, and I still have a ride on, and a couple of chainsaws, whipper snippers etc to maintain, although I also have electric ones of these now, and admit I rarely use the old two stroke ones much anymore. I can't remember when I last made up some 25:1 fuel. I used to go through gallons of the stuff.

But the electric tools are quiet, always start, use the same batteries as my workshop tools, and are for most purposes, powerful enough.
The electric chainsaw particularly is MUCH safer to use in the bush where you might trip over branches and stuff because it's only running when you are actually using it. Once you take your finger off the trigger and safety, it stops dead.

 

[Fordup]

You're in the wrong thread pal. This is the 50 and over group.

I'm 59 and I still change the oil in two cars, a truck, the tractor, the push mower, the snow blower, the rototiller, the generator, the chipper, and the pressure washer.

Talk to us in 25 years, if any of us are still around.

They'll have to peel my cold, dead fingers off of the drain plug of something...

I thought this was the 60 plus group .

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