2001 Grand Marquis Drain Plug- Pt. 2

Thanks for everyone's help regarding this. I did the oil change on Friday before I read all your horror stories.

I used a floor jack and jack stands. I positioned the jack under the center front jacking point which is pretty far back from the front of the car. I did turn the wheels all the way to the right which was a help. The first problem I ran into, the jack was just about where I had to place the drain trough container. So I had to put one end of it on top of the jack wheels and hold it in place at an angle when I removed the plug. By the way, a 5/8" socket worked fine. The oil poured out when I removed the plug and was not going in the hole fast enough and so it came over the sides and onto the garage floor. Next I tried about 3 different filter gizmos to get the filter off. Apparently "hand tight" was an unknown word to the previous changer. I finally got it off, and again the oil was heading for where the jack was and covered a little more of the garage. The new filter was easy to put on and even had a roughened area on the end to make it easier to tighten. Even putting the oil in was not that easy as you had to hold a funnel at an angle to do so.

The whole job only took me about 2 hours including the clean up and half a bag of kitty litter to get the oil off the floor. Now, two days later, I'm starting to ache from all the gyrations to get under that car. (I also have a batch of oil soaked clothes in the basement.)

So, at age 68, I've done my last oil change on the newer car. I also have a 1991 Grand Marquis with over 108,000 miles on it. Even with two drain plugs, it takes less time to change the oil plus I can slide under it to do the work without having to use a jack.

I think this would be a good topic for Andy Rooney..."Did you ever wonder why people do their own oil changes?"

George Parkville, MD

I just did an oil change on my '92 Grand Marquis and it was no big deal and I'm 62. First off, you need to remove the jack while performing the work as it gets in the way. I use the jack stands to support the car and slide a large piece of old corrugated carton material under the engine and out the front of the car to prevent spills from messing the floor and to make it easier on my old bones to work from. Also makes it easier to slide out the drain pan and tools. Secondly you need to turn the wheels to the left to clear the oil filter and always use an oil wrench to loosen the old one, even if it had been put on hand tight. Thirdly, I use a large diameter pan to catch the draining oil to minimize any mess and to hold the old filter while it drains. Lastly, I try to always use individual quart bottles of oil on the Mercury because they fit the oil filler opening so nice without any spills instead of a funnel. I initially place the bottle, filler hole side up, and rotate the bottle 180 degrees to empty, and reverse it one more time to withdraw. It's possible to quickly add five quarts this way without spilling a drop.

At 62, I admit that I d> Thanks for everyone's help regarding this. I did the oil change on