How to Change the Oil in a 2008 Edge

A friend of mine has a 2008 Ford Edge with a 3.5-liter V-6 engine, which isn't very noteworthy considering that it's the only engine available in the Edge SE, SEL and Limited. He puts a lot of miles on the car and he likes to keep the maintenance up-to-date, so when he read that Ford recommends oil changes for normal service every six months or 7,500 miles, he wanted to try doing it himself.

Jacking

  • The 2008 Edge only has 8 inches ground clearance and my friend is a big guy, so to get a drain pan and him under the car, he had to jack up the front. He almost put the jack under the front control arms, but I stopped him. Putting the jack under the front control arms or front cross braces would damage the truck, so I showed him the arrows on the rocker panel molding just behind the front wheels. I told him those are the jacking points and he should jack and support the truck on jack stands under the arrows.

Drain Bolt and Filter

  • Finding the drain pan bolt wasn't hard. It's on the passenger side and faces the rear of the truck. He found the oil filter underneath the front of the engine compartment behind the front crossmember. To install the new filter, I told him that Ford recommends tightening it until it is snug and then turning it an additional three-quarters to one full turn. I had him tighten the drain bolt to 20 foot-pounds, using a torque wrench and a 15 mm socket.

OIl Requirements

  • To refill the crankcase, I told my friend to use 5 1/2 quarts of SAE 5W-20 oil for the best performance. The oil doesn't have to be a synthetic or synthetic blend. Any oil meeting Ford specification WSS-M2C930-A and carries the API Certification mark is fine.