My days of changing oil myself are over - I'd rather fork over the $30 than get messy and worry about when, where and how to recycle the oil. That said, I do pull the car in and out myself and I watch them like a hawk. When the technician did the first oil change on my car, he made a deflector out of a piece of cardboard and lodged it under the filter before he loosened it - it funneled the oil right into the pan without messing anything up underneath.

Oh, and my dealership also gives a free automatic car wash (I definitely pass on that one!) and a sandwhich (that one I never pass up!).

 

That’s a great tip but what I do is pre-fill the oil filter before I install it and that way it has at least 1/2 qt of oil in it to begin with. The trick to that is to fill it slowly. Once the oil gets to the top let it settle, basically gets the air bubble out. It may take 4 – 6 times of slowly filling and letting it settle. You don’t need to fill it all the way up and thus let some pour out while you put it on but mark your 1qt oil bottle so you know when you’ve used 1/2 qt. 1/2 qt will not bring the oil to the top and therefore you won’t lose any when you put it on unless you tip it to far but the angle needed to install it will not let any of the oil spill out of the filter.

 

Some dealerships give you free oil changes for the life of the car if you buy it from them. I bought a Transam from Carl Black Pontiac a few years ago and had free oil changes. If you wanted synthetic oil instead you paid a minimal fee. Does anyone know of any Ford Dealerships that do the same?

 

I use the poor man's ramp to change oil. I use the street curb.

 

Here in yuppieville, I would be fined by my omnipresent homeowners association if I did that.

 

Wal-Mart has it, but you need 6 quarts for the GT.

 

Wal-mart has 5w20 in the 5qt jugs? havent seen it myself yet. I'll have to look again I guess. If I can find them ill buy a few jugs I always try to have the maintence items I need ahead of time so maintence gets done right on time.

 

More like 6.5

 

Thats an interesting point. Since I live in Canada, and almost everything is sold in metric, I've found my car to take exactly 6 litres of oil. (As most oil is sold in litre bottles.)

However, as of late, I've been using Royal Purple which is imported and in quart bottles. The first time I changed oil with that, I only bought 6 (like I normally would) and it didn't fill it all the way up. I didn't release until that point that it was sold in quarts, and 6 quarts isn't quite enough.

 

Mine didn't. What's sad, is my mom bought a Festiva back in '91, and she got free oil changes for 3 years! For a Festiva! I mentioned that to my dealer, and he looked at me funny. I personally don't care, since I planned on doing my own oil changes.

Speaking of, I gave my Mustang her 3rd oil change today. 15K miles, Motorcraft synth-blend and filter. Stang is pretty easy to change, but not as easy as my 95 Jeep Wrangler though. Having 24" of ground clearance is nice!

 

I've always changed my own oil. I try and do my own maintainence also. I hate going to the dealer for anything. Even warrentee work!!

 

Thanks Rondosa. That Cndn. Tire Channel Lock Oil Filter Wrench (58-4509-2) is great (and it's only $20 Cndn).

The Ford Manual states that the Oil pan drain plug torque is 26 Nm (19 lb-ft). For the engine oil filter it also states, "To install, lubricate the oil filter gasket with clean engine oil and tighten until the seal makes contact. Using an oil filter strap wrench, tighten the filter an additional 270 degrees." That's 3/4 of a turn which will probably collapse it.

Because the K&N Performance Gold Oil Filter HP-2010 comes with a 1" nut welded to the top of the canister, it's much easier to install (not to mention replace). Yes, it's also a high quality filter.

As far as Ford's specs for the oil (Motorcraft SAE 5W-20 Premium Synthetic Blend Motor Oil XO-5W20-QSP [in Canada Motorcraft SAE 5W-20 Super Premium Motor Oil CXO-5W20-LSP12] or equivalent) - I'll be using Mobil 1 5W-50 oil. I simply believe that it's superior for this application.

By the way, it felt like the oil filter on my last car was welded on, when I replaced it after 500 miles. They must really torque them down (without lubricating the oil filter gasket) at the plants . . . I'm sure that it's an inside joke

 

A good (and last resort) way to get those factory-tight oil filters off is to drive a screwdriver through and use that as a handle. I haven't heard of this technique used on these Mustangs however.

 

Old school and messy.
In 30 years of changing oil in old cars I've never done this (heard about it in the '70s).
I know they are really hard to get off from the factory, but a strap wrench is all you need.

 

Factory filter came off normally.

 

5W-50?? Don't you mean 5W-20? 5W-50 would probably do some damage with all the variable valve timing and stuff in these engines...very sensitive to oil weight and pressure.

 

A trick I learned from my Dad for those "welded on" filters is to slide a short length of metal pipe over the handle of the strap wrench for additional leverage and tap it with a hammer or rubber mallet if needed to loosen the filter. Be careful not to crush the filter in the process though.

 

You should have your used oil tested to see when you need to change the oil if your going for extended intervals.

Here is the lab I use to test my oil http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ went 10k on Royal Purple 5w20 and it was pretty worn out.

 

Earlier somebody said that Motorcraft brand oil is made by Texaco/Havoline. Thought I'd chime in since this is not the case. Motorcraft oil is actually made by ConocoPhillips for those who are interested.

 

Could you quote a source on that information?