jreask
Member
- Joined
- April 19, 2010
- Messages
- 32
- Reaction score
- 1
- City, State
- st. louis Mo
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2012 XLT Explorer
I just changed the oil for the first time in the 2012 Explorer. It has nearly 1000 miles on the odometer and I always do the first change around 1000 miles. I am using Mobil 1 5W-20 Full Synthetic with a Motorcraft fl500S filter. This had to be the EASIEST oil change I have ever done on any vehicle. The engineers made it super easy and very clean. The oil filter is under a plastic "plate" that is some sort of cooling component. It really looks like a plastic skid plate but I saw the instructions saying to replace the shield to maintain proper cooling levels? Anyway, after turning just three thumb screws to remove the shield, the filter is staring you right in the face. How nice is that? Remove the filter and no oil goes anywhere on the engine components, it only flows straight down into the drain container. The oil screw/plug is easy to access also. I think the job could be done in about ten minutes next time now that I know where everything is. Kudos to the FORD engineers on this one. Here are some pics, sorry for the poor quality as I was on my back with an Iphone.