When I worked in autobody, I treated every car as if it was my own. You woulnt see me leaning on them . putting my lunch on them, like a picknick table and so forth and so on. and most of them were over 20 year old vehicles. Its makes me sick to watch techs drag a dirty airline across someones hood without a care in the world. I made the service manager aware of the rags left under my hood , and programmer that had been played with. but unfortunately this type of work is commonplace around here. Id expect it from some greasy Towmater type garage , but not a dealership.

 

just do it yourself then. Why stress it. I change all my oil but its super easy on my truck. Takes me 10 minutes max.

 

exactly, I hit wally world for oil and motorcraft filters. The 5 qt jug of sytech runs me $25. the additional 2 qts. arnt cheap if you buy them individually. but if you buy another 5qt. jug Im good for the next oil change. with the purchase of another jug. filters are under $4. so my labor is minimal. and I can get other stuff done around the house as the oil drains out. I give my waste oil to someone with a waste oil heater in their garage once I get about 20 gals of the stuff. If something gets F'd up its my own fault. No stress less mess.

 

Nice stang btw , one of my best friends growin up had one like that. ( the rat rod version) We would tear up the town in that thing. Good Times, but scary !

 

Well p00p - I was gonna suggest you check out Harr Ford in Worcester, but I see they closed the doors a couple years ago! It would be a bit of a haul, but they were a top notch dealer.

 

On my generation, 2002 5.4s, if you turn the steering wheel to the far left before you begin, it gets the steering out of the way and you have much more room to work. I've used the old drive the screwdriver through the filter technique to get it off many times on many different cars over the years. I haven't had to resort to the screwdriver on my truck though. The worst offender was my son's 06 Mazda Miata. The filter was in shreds when I finally got it off. There isn't any room to work on that tiny car either.

 

Yes Harr ford was where I bought the truck. I bought it with 20k on the ticker. The Manager of the dealership was the one driving it. he had to remove all his personal belongings from it so I could get it. He was a decent guy to talk with . A family man with kids graduating from college. Smart kids. When I tried to get in touch with him a couple weeks after the sale. He was gone. Harr Ford was also a Roush Dealer. And how I got interested in Roush vehicles.

 

Or filter pliers. I find it easier to crush a flat spot in the can, then use the pliers to turn it about 1/8 of a turn at a time till it's loose enough to unscrew by hand.

On my '99, I could barely get a cap-type filter wrench on the end of the oil filter...the left frame rail was in the way, and the steering linkages and sway bar made it nearly impossible to get even one click out of the ratchet handle.

That's when I got the filter pliers and haven't looked back. Still use the cap wrench on my Mazda3 (since it needs one...cartridge filter) and my sister's Mustang. Oh yeah, and I ripped off the sway bar when I put my lift on. There's a little more room to move around with that darn thing out of the way.

 

I tried the old fashion oil wrench, no room to turn.
I used the pliers, it only bent the filter.

Stealership did the oil change when I bought the truck last month.
I'll see them first thing in morning.

I'll search I am sure some company makes a filter relocation kit. Moved the one on my bird,

As far as service... I'ld rather use a private garage then Dealer

 

My dealer's service department has a private garage atmosphere. A benefit of a small town dealership.

 

THE PROBLEM IS THE DEALER PAYS THERE MECHAMICS BY AN HOURLY SCALE FOR EACH JOB. IF THE BOOK SAYS 6 HOURS FOR A FUEL PUMP REPLACEMENT AND THEY GET IT DONE IN 3 HOURS THEY STILL GET PAID FOR 6 HOURS. THIS SYSTEM ENCOURAGES THE TECKS TO TAKE ALL THE SHORT CUTS THEY CAN. AND EVEN NOT DOING SOME WORK AT ALL IF THEY THINK THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH IT. I AM IN NO WAY SAYING ALL MACHAMICS ARE DOING THIS. HOWEVER I KNOW A FEW THAT DO. REMEMBER ALWAYS ASK FOR YOUR USED PARTS BACK THAT WILL HELP ENSURE THEY ARE DOING WHAT THEY ARE CHARGEING YOU FOR.

 

ALL SHOPS OPERATE THAT WAY. Oh sorry... Didn't mean to yell...

Every regular mom and pop auto shop I've seen use the same book to estimate their time as well.

 

Been using this type filter wrench for years.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/WES...r-Wrench-1EKJ8

No idea where I got them originally, think the one size I have is K-D.

When the rivets holding them together bend/break, they get replaced with bolts and self-locking nuts.

Just used one of 'em on my 05 a couple weeks ago.

 

no chit!!!!!!!! the point i am trying to make here is the system is geared to ripping off the public and how we can help avoid that. are you one of them?

 

Dan, You're making this too complicated. I have owned 4 new F-150's in 9 years and always change my own oil. Large green men did install the factory filter, but it's still not bad to get off.
I take the intake tube off and get it from the top. (1-10 MM bolt and yank it out) Then I use a K-D metal strap wrench and exert CONTINUALLY INCREASING STEADY PRESSURE. IT WILL COME! When it starts to get a little loose I slip a double quart or gallon size bag over the end of the filter and continue to spin it off through the bag. Pull it up past the fan shroud and WALLA, no oily mess! The oil is all contained in the bag. You can even zip it shut down there before you pull it up for added protection. I never see problems, only challenges!