Metal oil pan and drain plug?

[Frank N]

So Ford realizes that the plastic plan is a liability.
I have a plastic plan.
I was undecided on getting an extended warranty. It's time to get one for my piece of mind, I just cant see me selling this beast at 5/60...

 

[OriginalToken]

I am curious if you actually changed your oil? The pic looks a little bit like the transmission or transfer case and not the oil pan??

Yes, I actually did change my oil. The oil pan was, as one might expect, directly under the engine, bolted to the bottom of the engine block, and pretty easy to identify. And neither the transmission pan nor the transfer case look anything like what is shown in that picture.

If that is indeed the oil pan then it is the weirdest one I have ever seen. The drain plug looks to be in the corner of the pan?

Also, look above the drain plug. It looks like a fill plug?

I have seen many pans similar to this in concept, while not the majority of instances it is not all that unusual for the drain plug to be in or near a rear corner of the pan.

If the pan has a flat bottom, and the engine has a slight angle to it, the rear is slightly lower than the front (not uncommon), it makes sense to put the plug towards the rear of the pan, often a few inches forward of the back corner but I have seen them right at the corner before, or even on the back side of the corner. You see this less in front wheel drive vehicles, as their often transvers mounted motors tend to be level, but the majority of cars I have owned in the past 40+ years have been RWD or 4x4.

For example the oil drain plug on my 1962 Triumph TR4 is in a similar location, but on the drives side of the pan and forward an inch or two from the corner, and the oil drain plug on my 1999 Chevrolet Blazer ZR2 is as close to the rear corner as the physical shape of the pan allows it to be (an external strengthening gusset prevents it from being all the way back in the back corner).

What you seem to be taking as a fill plug is a mounting bolt.

A few comments on this new configuration, for those who do their own oil changes. The access hole in the skid plate is not cut back deep enough, and you WILL spill oil onto the top of the rear skid plate. Even if you jack the vehicle on the drivers side the oil flow, once it slows from its initial stream, will fall on the skid plate, not just a little, but a lot.

I don’t know how big an issue this was with the original pan, but with this configuration the hole needs to be cut back (towards vehicle center line) a lot more.

I used a small offset funnel to reduce this substantially. After removing the plug the oil flow is strong and extends out beyond the cutout in the plate, as the stream starts to weaken the stream starts to work its way back towards the skid plate, so I put the funnel in place, with the edge between the oil pan and the skid plate. End result was only a few drops on the upper side of the skid plate as I removed the funnel and replaced the drain plug.

T!

 

[Raptor911]

A fumoto valve will fix this issue.

A few comments on this new configuration, for those who do their own oil changes. The access hole in the skid plate is not cut back deep enough, and you WILL spill oil onto the top of the rear skid plate. Even if you jack the vehicle on the drivers side the oil flow, once it slows from its initial stream, will fall on the skid plate, not just a little, but a lot.

I used a small offset funnel to reduce this substantially. After removing the plug the oil flow is strong and extends out beyond the cutout in the plate, as the stream starts to weaken the stream starts to work its way back towards the skid plate, so I put the funnel in place, with the edge between the oil pan and the skid plate. End result was only a few drops on the upper side of the skid plate as I removed the funnel and replaced the drain plug.

T!

 

[OriginalToken]

How do I determine the build date on one I bought off of a dealer lot? VIN, date on window sticker, etc.?

As nikhsub1 said, the drivers door jamb, however this will only give you the month and year, not the day, of the build. So if your truck was built in March it should say 03/18. But (if the 2/26/18 date of changeover is correct) since part of the Feb production would have plastic and the last 2 or 3 days of the month would have metal you would find some metal panned vehicles marked 02/18.

Also, the door sticker is printed when construction is supposed to begin, and does not represent the actual date the truck rolled off the line. For a few, admittedly less common, reasons it is possible to have a sticker with one month on it and an actual build date of a different month.

T!

 

[TXRaptor]

As nikhsub1 said, the drivers door jamb, however this will only give you the month and year, not the day, of the build. So if your truck was built in March it should say 03/18. But (if the 2/26/18 date of changeover is correct) since part of the Feb production would have plastic and the last 2 or 3 days of the month would have metal you would find some metal panned vehicles marked 02/18.

Also, the door sticker is printed when construction is supposed to begin, and does not represent the actual date the truck rolled off the line. For a few, admittedly less common, reasons it is possible to have a sticker with one month on it and an actual build date of a different month.

T!

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Mine has the 03/18 date on the door sticker and the window sticker has a date of 02/27/18 at the very bottom. It looks like I was fortunate enough to get one of the first ones with the metal oil pan.

I bought the truck in mid-March, so it was not on the dealer lot for as long as I thought and I knew nothing about checking for the metal/plastic pan at the time I bought it. I would have bought it anyway, since it was VERY close to the one I would have ordered minus the moon roof and Raptor stickers.

 

[HotLap]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Mine has the 03/18 date on the door sticker and the window sticker has a date of 02/27/18 at the very bottom. It looks like I was fortunate enough to get one of the first ones with the metal oil pan.

I bought the truck in mid-March, so it was not on the dealer lot for as long as I thought and I knew nothing about checking for the metal/plastic pan at the time I bought it. I would have bought it anyway, since it was VERY close to the one I would have ordered minus the moon roof and Raptor stickers.

Another way to determine the build day is look in the upper margin of the window sticker and you will see the "blend date" that will refelect your actual build day.

For example here is my "Blend Date" from my window sticker: (220180603
BLEND) it translates into a 06/03/2018 build date...

PS the date at the very bottom of the Window Sticker is generally the last time the sticker was updated/printed...

PSS Quick question, I seem to recall that the Gen 2 Raptors use the Motorcraft FL2062 Oil Filter, getting ready to order more for the GT350 and will include a couple for the Raptor as well (if it's the correct filter)...Thanks!!

 

[TXRaptor]

For example here is my "Blend Date" from my window sticker: (220180603
BLEND) it translates into a 06/03/2018 build date...

PS the date at the very bottom of the Window Sticker is generally the last time the sticker was updated/printed...

I do not see a blend date on the window sticker that came off the truck, but I see one on the website window sticker and it says 220180306. So that means 03/06/2018?

It looks like they printed the window sticker before the truck was built. Not unusual, I guess.

 

[HotLap]

I do not see a blend date on the window sticker that came off the truck, but I see one on the website window sticker and it says 220180306. So that means 03/06/2018?

It looks like they printed the window sticker before the truck was built. Not unusual, I guess.

Yes, correct on both counts the Window Sticker is generally available from 10 days to a week before build (blend) date.

 

[RaptorMaryland]

Yes, correct on both counts the Window Sticker is generally available from 10 days to a week before build (blend) date.

Be sure to download it and save.

Mine went away 2 weeks after delivery, so I was glad I did get a electronic copy.

 

[TXRaptor]

Be sure to download it and save.

Mine went away 2 weeks after delivery, so I was glad I did get a electronic copy.

I have the original sticker from the window and I saved/printed the electronic one from the Ford website before I drove down to pick it up.