Metal oil pan and drain plug?

[Raptor911]

No worries. Been doing some research and it seems Ford made this change on 2/26 on all F150 with the 3.5L V6.

I recently purchased a 2018 Lariat for my wife and it has the plastic oil pan. I will be visiting a Ford dealership soon to see if the metal oil pan will fit.

Not to be rude, but I think most us know the difference between an oil pan and transmission/transfer case when crawling under our trucks. Those who do not know are the ones who are NOT crawling under theirs to look and snap photos.

You can clearly see the rear of the skid plate in the picture which is directly underneath the engine.

 

[nikhsub1]

Composite oil pans in and of themselves are not the issue here - the issue is WHY the change was made. Bad molding? Bad materials? THAT is the real question here. IDGAF what the pan is made out of, I've had other cars (Audi, VW) with composite oil pans - anything there is a drastic change I would like to know why.

 

[Raptor911]

I don't think we will ever find out the real issue. I bet most owners who don't have an issue with the plastic pan will not care or even know that Ford switched to a metal pan.

My guess is that at some point the composite pan was costing them $$ in repairs and imagine if a plastic pan were to have a catastrophic failure then Ford would owe the customer a new engine. Is it worth it to save some pennies in the short term only to spend 1000% more in possible repairs?

An interesting note .. Ford list the metal pan as a part fitting F150s from 02/26/2018 - 10/22/2018. Why would they list F150s up to 10/22/2018? Is there a new engine design coming after 10/22/2018?

Composite oil pans in and of themselves are not the issue here - the issue is WHY the change was made. Bad molding? Bad materials? THAT is the real question here. IDGAF what the pan is made out of, I've had other cars (Audi, VW) with composite oil pans - anything there is a drastic change I would like to know why.

 

[BurnOut]

Plastic pan on mine, and I haven't had a bit of trouble with it.

I'll say that there ARE engineering reasons to go with a plastic pan over a metal one... decreasing NVH, and you can be certain that you won't end up with a stripped drain plug or drain hole with that design.

That said, there's obviously a reason that they migrated away from the plastic pan, but there's no telling what it is. It could be anything from quality/functionality issues to supplier problems to... who knows.

 

[nikhsub1]

An interesting note .. Ford list the metal pan as a part fitting F150s from 02/26/2018 - 10/22/2018. Why would they list F150s up to 10/22/2018? Is there a new engine design coming after 10/22/2018?

10/22/2018 could be the end of the 2018 production run is all. If the same motor was used in the 2019 with the same new aluminum pan, they would obviously extend that date out.

---------- Post added at 06:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:13 AM ----------

My guess is that at some point the composite pan was costing them $$ in repairs and imagine if a plastic pan were to have a catastrophic failure then Ford would owe the customer a new engine. Is it worth it to save some pennies in the short term only to spend 1000% more in possible repairs?

Then do they issue a recall? If motors are going **** up because of it, you'd think they would.

 

[TXRaptor]

Then do they issue a recall? If motors are going **** up because of it, you'd think they would.

As with most recalls, it is a numbers game. If they only fix the ones that break, it will cost them X. If they issue a recall, it will cost them X + Y, with Y being a MUCH bigger number due to the total number of trucks built before 03/18.

I doubt a leaky oil pan raises to the point of a safety recall and unless someone raises a really big stink, there is not much of a public relations issue for them. I for one, was not even aware there was a plastic pan on the early Gen 2s until I read this thread.

I looked in my door jamb and all it says is MfG Date: 03/18, not a specific day. Either way, mine has the metal oil pan, so I would not be involved in the recall one way or the other.

 

[smurfslayer]

It’s going to be hard to make the case that a weeping oil pan is a safety issue. Anyone who ever owned a 70’s American car or a HD of pretty much any vintage has had this condition.

I do have some exposure and experience to this type of issue. If Ford behaves like other large companies, they have a metric ton of plastic pans. Any warranty claim on a plastic pan will get a replacement plastic pan. You might be able to convince them to put on your -Ford- part, but it will depend on the dealer if they do this. The manufacturer will continue to replace the defective pans with direct replacements until they exhaust their inventory of plastic pans, then begin doing warranty claims with the new design.

unless Ford actually found bad supply of pans, or their cost benefit analysis tipped the favor to the new design, they’re not just going to throw those plastic pans out, even if they know they will only last 10k miles before they leak again.

 

[Raptor911]

A recall can happen beyond a safety issue. I own a 2016 Focus RS and they have all been recall for a possible head-gasket issue. My RS is in the shop now. The recall involves removing the head and the gasket to inspect the deck. If no issues are found then they install a new head-gasket.

BUT ... I seriously doubt Ford will recall the F150 as there are too many to recall. They will just accept the occasional blown engine and replace it.

Though I wonder if any F150s that has an issue, if Ford will replace the plastic pan with the metal one.

 

[17022]

Had my truck at the dealer a month ago (April) for a possible oil leak. They said it WAS leaking and they replaced the pan and filled it with oil.

Just checked... plastic pan with yellow plug.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[boilerup1998]

One thing I think we ought to keep in mind....what if the replacement aluminum oil pan doesn't fix the leak problem??