2016 Ford F-150 2wd SuperCrew 3.5L Ecoboost - 1st Oil Change
The following is what worked for me. Like those investment commercials you sometimes hear, ‘past
performance is no guarantee of future results’, so if you find a better way, go for it.
Tools/materials I used:
*8mm socket & ratchet wrench
*15mm socket
*ring-clamp style oil filter wrench
*6 quarts of new synthetic 5w-30 oil
*New Motorcraft FL-500S oil filter
*long and short plastic funnels (for the oil filter catchment tray), wide-mouth funnel (for engine oil filler
opening)
*large used oil plastic catch pan (actually a concrete mixing tub), smaller conventional used oil catch pan
(for the oil filter)
*shop towels & rags
1) First, watch the following recent UTube video on a similar oil change on a 2016 F-150. I followed
many (but not all) the steps this guy took (used 5w-30 oil not 10w-30, didn’t spray brake cleaner on
the filter housing, etc.). What I liked about this simple procedure is that by raising the truck slightly on
the driver’s side it does allow the oil to more readily flow from the drain plug which is located on the
front passenger side. Also, it is a procedure that does not use ramps. I will eventually build some
proper ramps from wood (other posters have details on how they did that) and try a future oil change
that way, but I do not like most of the plastic resin or thin metal ramps I see sold by auto parts stores
or Amazon or Wallyworld.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahmSF_hOQEU
2) With the truck on a level surface, set the parking brake. Then using a floor jack, position it on the
drivers side under the truck frame just to the rear of the “arrow” in the frame (the arrow denotes the
jacking point on the front drivers side for changing a tire). After you have jacked the drivers side up to
desired height, put a jack stand under the frame at the “arrow” location, then lower the floor jack. With
my truck (2wd SuperCrew), when parked it is 10” from the ground to the truck frame at the “arrow”
location. For this 1st oil change, I wanted to see if a minimal amount of extra clearance would allow
me (6’4”, 230 lb. old guy) enough room for necessary under-truck work on both sides of the truck, so
I adjusted the jack stand such that it was only ~12.5” from base to jacking point. That extra 2.5” was
enough for me to get the job done, but for future changes I’ll probably adjust the jack stand to
between 13”-14” and see how that goes. I also thought about removing the front air dam, but I didn’t
need to for what I ended up doing, so I left it as is.
3) Open the hood, let some light in where you’ll be working. Look down between the radiator and engine
and you’ll see the oil filter location, it will be sticking out from the engine parallel with the ground.
4) Then remove the felt cover to access the oil drain plug. On my 2wd F-150, there are 2 x felt “covers”
under the truck. The forward one is under the engine area, the rearward one is mainly under the
transmission area. Using an 8mm socket & ratchet or wrench, remove the 4 x bolts that hold the
rearward felt cover in place (I crawled under the truck on both driver and passenger sides to get the
bolts out). Before watching the UTube video, I had assumed I’d be removing the forward cover –
wrong. The truck in the video I think is a 4wd as it has a forward metal skid plate, and that is left in
place while the rearward felt cover is the one to be removed to allow access to the oil drain plug.
What’s nice about the rearward felt cover is that the 8mm bolts stay attached to the cover with
retainers once the cover is removed.
5) Then mark the oil drain plug for future tightening. The drain plug is on the passenger side and is
parallel with the ground. Take a permanent marker and mark the drain plug/oil pan such that when
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you go to tighten it after the old oil is drained, you’ll know for sure that it is at least as tight as it was to
begin with. Is this a necessary step? Probably not. I’m sure there is a ft-lbs of torque recommended
Ford value for tightening the drain plug but I don’t know what that value is, and frankly don’t care as
long as I know I have it as tight as it needs to be.
6) Start the engine and let the oil warm up a little before draining it. I let it run a few minutes until the
temp gauge moves off cold but not so long that it’s at full operating temperature (don’t want to get
really hot oil burning me when I remove the plug, and in case I graze the exhaust pipe with my arm
don’t want to leave a nasty scar either).
7) Then after positioning your oil catch pan under the drain plug from the passenger side, remove the
drain plug with a 15mm socket & ratchet or wrench and drain the oil. I personally use a black plastic
concrete mixing tub from Home Depot as a catch pan. Once the oil starts draining and I know my
catch pan is positioned correctly, THEN I go under the hood and remove the oil filler cap on the
engine and the oil dipstick to enable the oil to drain faster.
8) Then go to the front of the truck and prepare to remove the oil filter. I had read a lot of posts about
people who had a problem with oil spilling everywhere after the filter was removed, and I was
determined to avoid that if at all possible. I spent a lot of time looking at the plastic ‘catchment tray”
that is located under the oil filter; it has both rearward and forward drain slots. In the video, the filter
oil nicely drained through the rectangular cutout in the skid pan (i.e. out the rearward drain slot in the
catchment tray). I didn’t trust my luck that this would happen, so I did the following:
-threaded a long narrow funnel from the rear into the rearward cutout in the front felt “cover” such
that the catchment tray rear drain slot would empty directly into the funnel.
-wedged another shorter funnel between the forward catchment tray drain slot and cross-member
such that it would drain directly into this funnel.
-used a standard plastic oil catch pan under the funnels to catch the filter oil.
Now, no matter if the filter oil drained to the front or rear I felt my chances of having it go anywhere
other than into the funnel and smaller catch pan was nil.
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9) Then remove the old oil filter (making sure the rubber gasket on the old filter comes off with the filter).
Some people like to remove it from the top, some people like to tackle it from the bottom. I removed it
from the bottom, which was easier for me. As other people have noted, the original FoMoCo filter put
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on at the factory is NOT a Motorcraft FL-500S, and if you use a filter wrench to remove the original
FoMoCo filter, that wrench will NOT fit a replacement FL-500S, the O.D. and number of flutes on the
filters are different. I used a filter wrench I had that fit the original filter to remove it, and used a ringclamp type filter wrench to install the new FL-500S filter.
10) I let the crankcase oil drain for about 10 minutes and finished a bottle of beer before removing the old
oil filter, by that time the oil from the crankcase was only a few drips. Happily, after removing the oil
filter, it only drained from the rearward catchment tray drain slot into the long funnel and then into the
smaller catch pan. At about the 15 minute mark, I lightly oiled the new FL-500S filter gasket, wiped
the oil filter receiver surface clean with a shop towel, and then screwed the new filter back on.
Coincidentally (?) at the same time I was screwing the new filter on, the drain rate from the crankcase
picked up a little speed, and drained about another ½ quart or so. My takeaway was – make sure you
allow enough time for the oil to completely drain from the crankcase. For me that means at least 15
minutes.
11) After tightening up the oil filter (drivers side), I used shop towels to wipe the oil filter catchment tray
clean of the slight amount of oil in it (I hate getting even a few oil drops on my garage concrete floor).
Then I removed the short and long funnels from the catchment tray, and pulled the smaller plastic
catch pan out from under the front of the truck. Then go around to the passenger side and re-install
the oil drain plug in the crankcase, and then pull the crankcase oil catch pan out from under the truck.
12) Then fill the crankcase with the oil of your choice. I won’t get into the “oil wars” or “filters wars” about
what oil or filter is best, that is for you to decide. I have my own reasons for using a Motorcraft FL500S filter and good quality Group IV true synthetic oil with low (less than 10%) Noack volatility and
reasonable (3 cP or higher) high temp/high shear viscosity, you will have your own reasons for the oil
and filter you choose. Important thing is, I use the recommended Ford viscosity range oil (5w-30 for
3.5 liter Ecoboost from the owners manual), and use oil that is known to “meet or exceed” Ford spec
WSS-M2C946-A (also from the owners manual). I use the Motorcraft FL-500S filter because there
should be no comebacks warranty-wise by using them, and because I choose to change my oil and
filter at least every 5000 miles or so regardless of what the “oil life monitor” says.
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13) My method for filling with new oil/finishing the change procedure is – put 5 quarts in over a 10-15
minute period, while doing this I put shop rags under the filter and crankcase drain plug areas. Then I
check the oil level with the dipstick (it should show somewhere between about ¼ and ¾ quart ‘low’).
Then I put the oil filler cap back on, start the engine, make sure the oil pressure gauge rises, and
then while the engine is idling I check to make sure oil is not leaking from the filter or drain plug area.
If all looks good, then I kill the engine, remove the oil filler cap and put the final 1 quart of oil in. Then
after a few minutes, check the dipstick again, it should be at the “full” mark.
14) Then re-install the rearward felt “cover” with your 8mm socket & ratchet or wrench. Then raise the
driver side of the truck with the floor jack, remove the jack stand, lower the truck and put the floor jack
away.
15) My final step is a CYA another forum poster mentioned; I take my dated receipt for new oil and filter
and put it on the instrument display screen showing mileage and the “oil life monitor” values and take
a picture. Thought being, if there are any engine warranty issues later on, I’ll have something other
than my word that I changed my oil at an interval within or before the owners manual said it should
be changed.
I know what you’re thinking – why did he change the oil at only 1378.6 miles?? Because in a few
days I’m going on a 1000+ mile trip towing a trailer and it is hot in the south right now and I didn’t
want the factory syn-blend oil to put up with that quite yet…
16) Put the used oil into a suitable container for taking to your auto parts store for recycling, and then you
are done. Have another couple of beers and enjoy the next 5000 miles or so.
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