DavidR
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- David
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2019
- Threads
- 4
- Messages
- 388
- Reaction score
- 323
- Location
- Eastern CA
- Vehicle(s)
- 2019 Ranger XLT Supercab Saber FX4
- Occupation
- Engineer
I took a different, non-approved approach as mentioned earlier in the thread. I don't have an aftermarket drain pan or dipstick yet. The main problem with the official procedure is that the exhaust system is very close to the right side of the transmission where the fill plug/dipstick is, and things are fairly tight. Maybe with the truck on a lift and a professional power filler/evacuator, you can add or remove oil easily without getting burned by the exhaust with the driveline warmed up to operating temperature, but I don't have those things.Someone must've done this already...
Instead, I did everything cold. I raised the truck and leveled it with jack stands to give a bit of working room, measured the existing oil level before starting, evacuated the old oil using a manual evacuator, and refilled to the same level that I measured at the start, resulting in the same amount of oil that the transmission had at the beginning. I did leave the new oil out overnight so that it was at the same temperature as the truck. Of course, this will only work if there aren't any oil leaks, and it required me to trust that the oil was filled to the correct level at the factory, but our truck only had 12,000 miles at the time so I decided those assumptions were reasonable. It has run perfectly since.
An aftermarket dipstick/fill tube and an oil pan with a drain plug would make it easier to follow the official procedure at home. It might be worth getting those at some point despite them being fairly expensive.
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