Stymied by bad oil change

Thanks for the clarification db4690. Seems best practice, esp for diy’ers, to make it simple, use M-V for M-V applications, and Mercon-V for Mercon-V applications.

I love parts stores sometimes. Shouldn’t the computer have pointed out what fluid was in stock that would work in this car? Some of these people are trained robots and go by the computer and nothing else. I have a 1997 Ford F250 Light Duty and never would never have bought the truck had I known about the model year transition. I now make a point to drive something different and take the old part in to the store so I can show them when they take out the incorrect part to sell me. The truck is my winter beater and firewood hauler so doesn’t get too many miles. Now that I fought and got all the problems fixed it is a pretty good truck.

I have never understood why every car maker has to have a different coolant spec, transmission fluid, and the like. Each one is a different color of course and incompatible with another.

A guy in high school decided to change his own oil. It was a 4WD truck of some sort. Apparently he drained the transfer case and then put a full fill of oil in what he thought was an “empty” crankcase. I showed up right when he was done and will never forget the amount of smoke that came out when he tried to drive it. Luckily he stopped and had it towed in where the problem was resolved. No harm done.

When you remove the filter, you remove the amount of oil in the filter and a slight bit more that is held withing the passages to and from the oil pump. This won’t drain the entire oil pan.

@cwatkin writes …

I have never understood why every car maker has to have a different coolant spec, transmission fluid, and the like.

Oh my, sounding a wee bit democratic-socialist! Are you from Vermont? … lol …

Seriously, I have to agree with you cwatkin, I’ve never understood all that either. Same with body parts that break all the time, like headlights and tail lights, why is every car, not just model to model but year to year, they all have different lights. Why is that? It makes it much more difficult to find a replacement when you drop a rake against the taillight and it cracks. Ask me how I know this … lol …

@GeorgeSanJose

they all have different lights. Why is that?"

Do you miss the days when all cars had sealed beams?

There are tail lights available for cheap skates;

Yes @db4690 , I do like those sealed beam headlights. Last time I bought one of those for my truck, just 2-3 years ago, it cost less than $5. And readily available, in stock. I don’t even recall how long the prior unit lasted, probably 15 years or more.