2.7L Oil Change Tips + Replacement Drain Plugs

[Sgm]

Just put some scrap 2x4. bricks on the drivers side and drive it up.

You know, like an obstacle on the trail!

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[Fmuguira]

Use 2 large boulders under each front tire…. Also gets Lo range some useage and the lockers !!. (Plus easier to crawl under and get last bit of oil out; don’t forget to block back tires and set emergency brake)

 

[Sgm]

Update to dipstick issue: Parked my rig on a level concrete slab after a bit of a drive through the mountains and up our trashed by floods back road... 15 minutes after parked, it read the exact same as when it had been parked for several days - all the way up to the twist. This rig is a week old or so to me direct from the dealer, so assume (yea I know) it has the prescribed 7 gts from the factory fill in it. Conclusion - same as most, the dipstick is an issue. So, now to call my contact in the service department and see what she knows and recommends...

 

[David-AK]

So I'm getting the point of doing my first oil change and decided to check YouTube to see what skid plate I'll need to remove. A good video, probably already posted. I didn't know I could cycle the engine without starting, good on Ford for that. The surprising part of the video for me is learning that Ford uses a cheesy plastic drain plug. When I got done laughing I came here to see what other owners are using to replace them. I've been changing my oil for years, even in between paid-by-factory changes on my over-engineered German cars. I've always installed a new crush washer and hand torqued, never had a leak. I want to replace the plastic plug on the bronco mostly because of the mess it looks to cause. Yep, I get why they are using a plastic plug on a plastic oil pan

Ronin looks great but for those of you that are using them are you worried that it will come loose? No tabs on the plugs leads me to believe there isn't a positive lock-in there. I think that might OCD me to go crazy

FEMCO is plastic except for the valve etc. Replacing plastic with plastic?

UPR appears to have changed their design and it now screws out to close. There must be a reason they went with this design change. Thoughts?

I have a Schwaben oil extractor, so I'm tempted to just leave the factory plug in for good but now that I know there's a plastic plug holding all the oil in...

 

[AMTRV]

There is no way that the Ronin will come loose. Just follow the instructions

 

[Razorbak86]

So I'm getting the point of doing my first oil change and decided to check YouTube to see what skid plate I'll need to remove. A good video, probably already posted. I didn't know I could cycle the engine without starting, good on Ford for that. The surprising part of the video for me is learning that Ford uses a cheesy plastic drain plug. When I got done laughing I came here to see what other owners are using to replace them. I've been changing my oil for years, even in between paid-by-factory changes on my over-engineered German cars. I've always installed a new crush washer and hand torqued, never had a leak. I want to replace the plastic plug on the bronco mostly because of the mess it looks to cause. Yep, I get why they are using a plastic plug on a plastic oil pan

Ronin looks great but for those of you that are using them are you worried that it will come loose? No tabs on the plugs leads me to believe there isn't a positive lock-in there. I think that might OCD me to go crazy

FEMCO is plastic except for the valve etc. Replacing plastic with plastic?

UPR appears to have changed their design and it now screws out to close. There must be a reason they went with this design change. Thoughts?

I have a Schwaben oil extractor, so I'm tempted to just leave the factory plug in for good but now that I know there's a plastic plug holding all the oil in...

Your constant use of the world “plastic” suggests that you are ignorant of the numerous design advantages of composite materials over steel in oil pan applications. I have addressed this in a prior post, but I won’t bore you by repeating it, since your mind appears to have been made up already.

I will, however, save you some time by informing you that using a Schwaben oil extractor on the Bronco 2.7L engine will not be effective because it will not reach the oil pan through the dipstick tube.

 

[David-AK]

Your constant use of the world “plastic” suggests that you are ignorant of the numerous design advantages of composite materials over steel in oil pan applications. I have addressed this in a prior post, but I won’t bore you by repeating it, since your mind appears to have been made up already.

I will, however, save you some time by informing you that using a Schwaben oil extractor on the Bronco 2.7L engine will not be effective because it will not reach the oil pan through the dipstick tube.

Thank you for reminding me of the many reasons I dislike forums. You could have passed over this post but instead replied to boast your knowledge of plastic. If you read the post again, you'll see that I'm crowdsourcing an opinion on replacement plugs, note this statement "I want to replace the plastic plug on the bronco mostly because of the mess it looks to cause." That implies the mess is my primary concern.

Now convince me that the black plastic fender flares on my Badlands will never fade and I'll believe we've made progress engineering plastics.

 

[Razorbak86]

Thank you for reminding me of the many reasons I dislike forums. You could have passed over this post but instead replied to boast your knowledge of plastic. If you read the post again, you'll see that I'm crowdsourcing an opinion on replacement plugs, note this statement "I want to replace the plastic plug on the bronco mostly because of the mess it looks to cause." That implies the mess is my primary concern.

Now convince me that the black plastic fender flares on my Badlands will never fade and I'll believe we've made progress engineering plastics.

Cool. Now you know how I felt reading your post, so… mission accomplished?

For the record, I replied mostly to let you know that the Schwaben would not work on this engine. The added snark was tossed in for free to counter the rest of your rambling, uninformed, and irrelevant commentary.

Pro-tip: When truly seeking help, eliminate the BS, don’t bury the lede, and you’ll get better responses. Otherwise, continue doing what you’re doing, and good luck with your Scwaben oil extraction efforts.

 

[nwGTS]

Your constant use of the world “plastic” suggests that you are ignorant of the numerous design advantages of composite materials over steel in oil pan applications. I have addressed this in a prior post, but I won’t bore you by repeating it, since your mind appears to have been made up already.

I will, however, save you some time by informing you that using a Schwaben oil extractor on the Bronco 2.7L engine will not be effective because it will not reach the oil pan through the dipstick tube.

Throw me a life ring. I'm drowning in a sea of passive aggression.

 

[David-AK]

Cool. Now you know how I felt reading your post, so… mission accomplished?

For the record, I replied mostly to let you know that the Schwaben would not work on this engine. The added snark was tossed in for free to counter the rest of your rambling, uninformed, and irrelevant commentary.

Pro-tip: When truly seeking help, eliminate the BS, don’t bury the lede, and you’ll get better responses. Otherwise, continue doing what you’re doing, and good luck with your Scwaben oil extraction efforts.

Pro-tips: Avoid referring to others on forums as "ignorant." Only respond if you have helpful non-sarcastic advice. The option to skip a post and not respond is an option. You do not set the rules, if the poster decides to include a narrative, that is their prerogative; you have the choice to ignore the post.

The total word count on my post was 265 words, I'm sorry that was a challenge for you.
Hope your post accomplished what ever venting you needed to get out and that you have a great weekend.

viva la vida plastic!

Life ring thrown, dropping out of this thread.

 

[FstFrd00]

Let's play nice, no chair throwing and get back on subject of the 2.7 oil change.

My first change, although it did gush out, didn't make a huge mess because i was ready for it to gush out. I didn't see a reason for a better plug.

 

[Bellime]

Updated 10/23: Now that I’ve fooled with this for the last few days I wanted to share some tips to hopefully save you the time that I’ve wasted changing the oil on my 2.7L for the first time. I thought I was prepared for everything but this engine is really different compared to others I’ve owned as far as the oil change and check procedure. If you’ve owned one before I’m sure this is obvious, but many of us are first time Ford owners so the eco boost is a new learning process.

First off reference this bulletin from right after the 2.7L came out in 2015:



The manual calls for 7 quarts. I was prepared to not use all of it due to previous reports. I bought 7 anyway just in case. I knew I needed to let it drain extra time and wait to check the oil level. But that still didn’t help me do it correctly.

First mistake: I didn’t open the filter housing before draining the oil. I made sure to wait for drainback prior to opening the plug, but apparently you need to do the filter first to allow the oil to drain from that area. Perhaps this contributed to my later issue.

Second mistake: After waiting 20-30 min for the pan to drain, I closed everything up and added 6 quarts. I waited 20 more min for the oil to reach the pan. (This is not a quick process when done correctly, more reason not to use a quick lane service.) I checked the dipstick and it was about halfway between the dots. Half quart low right? So I add a half quart. That’s a total of 6.5qts on a 7qt capacity engine. Figured I was safe and went about my business.

Fast forward a couple days and I check the level after it had been sitting in the parking lot at work all day. Had to check it about 3 times because the oil was still clean and the dipstick is different than I’m used to. It was definitely overfull. This is where I discovered the 2nd mistake that I didn’t realize I had made at the time. There is a crosshatched area on the dipstick and the normal “add” and ”full” dots. Well it turns out the top of the crosshatch is what you’re aiming for. The top dot is the “max” level.

So when I thought I was a half quart short while filling, it was probably good or already over even though I added less than engine capacity.

As you can see here if you go much past the top dot and near the twist in the dipstick, you’re almost completely filling the pan. This could cause the oil to foam and cause PCV issues and push oil past places you don’t want it to go. Would it be fine? Maybe, but long term I wouldn’t want to deal with an engine overfilled on oil.

So I drained oil back out this evening until it reached proper level. I don’t have an extractor so I slowly did it from the crappy yellow plug. Would have been much easier with one of the below replacement plugs that I plan to swap out in 4700 more miles. Hope this helps.

Original post:
I've been looking for a replacement for the plastic drain plug on the 2.7L oil pan. Wanted to share my findings in case others are looking as well.

RONIN

https://roninfactory.com/products/ford-f150-raptor-oil-drain-ronin-factory
$80 - free shipping
Billet aluminum
Single o-ring
Magnet
Barbed for Drain Tube
also available on Amazon

UPR

https://www.uprproducts.com/upr-ford-easy-oil-drain-valve-for-mustang-f150-raptor-edge-explorer/
$60 + shipping
Billet aluminum
Double o-ring
Magnet
Barbed for Drain Tube
Also on Amazon

Also another version with no drain valve, just a replacement plug for $50
https://www.uprproducts.com/upr-ford-easy-oil-drain-plug-for-mustang-f150-raptor-edge-explorer/

FEMCO

https://www.femco.com/product/ford-oil-plug/
$50 + shipping
Plastic
Single O ring
Magnet
barbed for Drain Tube
also on Amazon

FUMOTO

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...-drain-valve-for-fords-plastic-oil-pan.17923/
Update: Apparently dead/not put in production

DORMAN

https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-133445-097-826hpcd.aspx
$10 + shipping on RockAuto
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=12646765&jsn=1481&jsn=1481
OEM replacement but features a downward drain hole that loosens with a flathead screwdriver
Plastic
Single O ring
No magnet or barbed hose fitting

Looks like there are a couple Ronin knockoffs on Amazon. One review said don't buy because it wouldn't lock into place. I wouldn't recommend them but wanted to share the info for anyone brave enough to try:
TZUTOGETHER
Amazon.com: TZUTOGETHER Oil Drain Plug Valve for 2015-2021 Ford F150 Raptor Mustang, Black

ISSYAUTO

$74 on Amazon.com
Member review below:

Nicely done, thanks for your time and energy.

FIRST QUESTION:
Any news from Ford?

SECOND QUESTION:
I am favoring two designs; Ronin and UPR.
The UPR has the benefit of an all-in-one solution. Maybe leave a tube attached with a cap on the end.
For the Ronin, it seems like a lot more people have it installed.

So what is the majority vote???

 

[da_jokker]

I did my first oil change on the 2.7. found it to be extremely easy and literally didn't spill a drop.

The only tips that made the real difference was...

1) press in slightly when you start to unscrew the oil plug. It helps take the tension off the little locking tabs inside.

2) only pull the plug partially out (and slightly tilted upwards) .. The oil will come out in a nice steady but slow stream without going everywhere.

Afterwards, I installed the RONIN and loved how secure it snapped in place.

As a matter of fact, the only difficult part of the whole oil change was replacing that small damn o-ring on the tip of the filter housing. That was a big PITA.

 

[bigphaty]

Went to the UPR website and found it for a little less there than the Amazon offer. Am using ValvoMax on my other rigs, however, they don't have one for this yellow plug in the plastic oil pan set up; though their website does show one... am in discussion about that with them. The convenience of guiding the drain with a hose and having the ability to start/stop it at will is great - much less mess potential in my garage! On my 21 Ranger, I no longer have to remove the skid plate, just the right front tire for the filter change.

Good call, they had a 10% coupon as well. Just ordered one.

 

[Gtrekker]

Nicely done, thanks for your time and energy.

FIRST QUESTION:
Any news from Ford?

SECOND QUESTION:
I am favoring two designs; Ronin and UPR.
The UPR has the benefit of an all-in-one solution. Maybe leave a tube attached with a cap on the end.
For the Ronin, it seems like a lot more people have it installed.

So what is the majority vote???

I use Ronin. Simple, quality product an on Amazon. One and done....

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