is this my oil pan drain plug? this the first time i have changed the oil myself since owning the truck. my previous vehicals all had them facing down not to the side. i just wanna make sure before i pull this plug. for some reason i keep thinking it the tranny plug but im probably just wrong. it the bolt with the blue lock tight around it (i think thats what it is)







someone let me know in a hurry im under this thing right now as i type.
and should i use lock tigh when i out it back on?

 

That looks like your transmission pan. It looks like the previous owner put a drain plug in the trans pan. They don't come factory. Look closer to the front of the vehicle for the drain plug.

 

Yeah it's you oil drain plug. I don't think that's lock tite. I've cars that come in that have previously had the oil changed at walmart. They have that junk on there. I do no know why though. No, don't need locktite when you put it back on. In fact I would clean the blue junk off there before I put it back in.

 

That's what the oil pan on my 4.0 looks like. Kinda confuzzled me at first. Look how close the oil filter is in his pic to the drain plug. That is what tells me it was the oil pan.

 

i just looked it up in my haynes manual and it doesnt look like that in the pic. in the pic it shows it pointing down.
im not sayin thats not it... it just doesnt match the pic.

 

there isnt anything closer to the front, but it is inline vwith the oil filter that i need to change too.

this the 4.0, if thats what yours looked like then it gotta be it i dont see anything else.

it doesnt really look like lock tight, but maybe an inspection marker

 

Just find your tranny and go forward, that should be the only pan.

I think the reason it is different from Stryker's is because he has the OHV 4.0 and you have the SOHC 4.0
I'm not sure if the pans are different in the OHvs and SOHCs.
It's been almost 3 years since I've been under a OHV 4.0 and I was 16 and I didn't know what I was doing. :)

EDIT: The pan in front of the tranny will be the oil pan.

 

u has a point... and i just realized its a universal pic and it doesnt say if its the 4 cyl, 3.0, or 4.0.
so i say take it out and see wut happens. lol

 

its in front of the bell housing, the only thing in front of it is the front axle and cross member. im going to pull it and see, if not whats the worst that could happen? id have to change the tranny fluid, which i probbably need to do any ways but the time will come for it soon

 

if it's brown,drain it down,if it's red,you didn't do as we said.

haha

 

yes that is it

 

That's it. I'll take a pic of mine if you want to see.

 

no i got it, i pulled and its it. thanks for yall help

is there a trick to pulling the oil filter or do i just need to finnagle it from under neath

 

oh you'll need a oil filter wrench to loosen it then you can do the rest of it turning by hand

 

should i fill the filter up with oil before i put the new one on?

 

x2 unless you put some *** behind it and can turn it by hand like me

 

i dont have oil filter wrench, but if i could do the serpentine belt tensioner on my wifeys grand am by hand i think i can do an oil filter,

but my last question, should i fill the filter up with oil or just lub the seal with oil

 

just lub the seal with oil when you crank your truck it will fill up

 

i can normally do mine by hand because i dont crank down on them when i put the new one on..

as for filling it, i normally dump some in and around the inner side of the gasket, then use my finger to run some fresh oil along the gasket.

you don't HAVE to fill it.

 

ok thats what i thought just pour some on the seal and not really fill it up, just what i pour on the seals.

it came off by hand, and ill put it back on by hand

thanks alot guys, and my buddys at work make fun of me for being a member to the R/F, ranger enthusiast club

 

Oil filter wrench? Are you serious?

You guys need to hit the gym or start putting your oil filters on properly.

Wrenches are usually never needed unless it's a big filter or the filter is in a location where you cant get and torque on it with just your hand.

The ranger's filter is pretty easy to get to, at least on the 3.0 and 4.0. Either way, jam a screwdriver through the filter if you dont have a wrench and cant get it lose. :)

 

now im haveing problem with the oil dipstick not reading properly, have any of you guys had problem with the dip stick reading all the way up? i havent even put in 4 quarts yet and its reading hella full. i even had someone else come and check it to make sure im not crazy.

so whats up? someone help me out again, plz

 

My friends give me a hassle to its ok lol

 

did you drain all of the oil out? also be sure to stick the dipstick in then take it out and wipe it off then do it again and see what happens

 

yes i drained it all out, and yes i removed it then wiped it off then put it back in, and did it a dozen times and had someone else do it to make sure im not crazy but its still reading hella full, ive been letting it sit for the last 1/2 hour to try and let it settle, im a go check it in a min