Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Oil change question

Hey everyone, I am now to start doing the oil changes myself on my ride (especially seeing how I finally got the new tools to do the job). Anyway, I put the car up on ramps to access the drain plug & filter and drain the oil. Then I need to lower the car & fill w/ oil, right? How are you supposed to get the car down and parked seeing how you can't start the car now? Does anyone have a trick I am just not seeing?

If I drive the car up the ramps and then put a floor jack beneath so I could just lower the car, where do I place the jack? Floor jacks don't really seem to work well with SVTs because the car is so low (I don't know about the SEs).

You don't have to lower the car to fill the oil. Just make sure the plug and the new filter are securely in place first. If you wanted to lower, gravity helps out.

Hi Danny,

I am sure the car "aces" will respond soon, but my input is to not worry about adding oil with your car on the ramp induced incline. The motor has to work going up hills anyway, right?

One perhaps could argue that since the filter has not yet been charged with oil , the oil level will be artificially high in the pan, but this is true anyway and the new filter will fill very rapidly once the motor is started, ie, a few second after starting your rig, your car engine thinks all is fine and its just going up a hill.

Regarding use of a car jack, the car has jacking points on the frame rails under the car (at least my 95 does). It is important to use these locations to avoid potential damage to the underside of your car. I would advise having your Ford dealer point these out to you if you are not sure.

Good Luck

Jab