Corksailor
New Member
I did my first Ranger oil change today, something I'm used to doing on vehicles after they exceed the warranty time/distance. Driveway mechanic version, on ramps. Have to say that the oil filter location and access on the 3.0 V6 was a surprise to me. Oil filter locations vary from great spots (my F-150) to "where the devil is it??" My Ranger turned out to be a "Where the devil is it?" initially, after I had already drained the main oil.... might have taken it to the service station had I known. Didn't spot it underneath... looked from the top (which was tricky since it was up on ramps and the bumper was 3' in the air) and finally located it on the engine side toward the driver's side wheel. Didn't look like great access from below (at least when on your back on the ground), nor easy access from the top. Finally saw there was decent access through the left wheel fender area.... backed it (coasting) down the ramp (realizing I would not be getting it back up (with no oil) until the job was done), got out the jack and removed the left front wheel... access not too bad from there, so got the job done.
We learn by doing... I think with the considerable road clearance with the large tires, next time I won't bother with the ramps, since I can fairly easily slide under the engine for the main drain, and plan on a wheel removal for the filter change. Could probably be done over the tire if you jacked on a frame member and let the wheel hang, but the normal jacking point is the tang on the lower control arm.
A learning experience.... but now good to go.
We learn by doing... I think with the considerable road clearance with the large tires, next time I won't bother with the ramps, since I can fairly easily slide under the engine for the main drain, and plan on a wheel removal for the filter change. Could probably be done over the tire if you jacked on a frame member and let the wheel hang, but the normal jacking point is the tang on the lower control arm.
A learning experience.... but now good to go.
