Dealer torque on GT350 specific oil filter

[Darkane]

So,

I took my car in for the front splitter reinstall. I have 1000miles on her now so I asked for the oil to be changed as well.

Before I picked up the car I asked my advisor to see the tech before he went home and get the final torque spec on my filter.

His answer was: 44"/lbs + 180 degrees.

What??

So I happen to catch the shop foreman and we chatted for a bit. He was confident this is just fine and assured me there is no issue. He wasn't aware of the torque specs personally (16-18 ft/lbs), but assured me again his SVT techs deal with the performance fords a lot (they are one of the largest dealers for SVT in western Canada).

Opinions? Who the hell knows in the end how much it's torqued on. I could redo it myself - but it's been logged in their system and if anything happens, well I feel comfortable enough they'd take care of it. They're not a bad dealership, just like other places, not neccisarily as "passionate" as we are being enthusiast.

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[montreal ponies]

So,

I took my car in for the front splitter reinstall. I have 1000miles on her now so I asked for the oil to be changed as well.

Before I picked up the car I asked my advisor to see the tech before he went home and get the final torque spec on my filter.

His answer was: 44"/lbs + 180 degrees.

What??

So I happen to catch the shop foreman and we chatted for a bit. He was confident this is just fine and assured me there is no issue. He wasn't aware of the torque specs personally (16-18 ft/lbs), but assured me again his SVT techs deal with the performance fords a lot (they are one of the largest dealers for SVT in western Canada).

Opinions? Who the hell knows in the end how much it's torqued on. I could redo it myself - but it's been logged in their system and if anything happens, well I feel comfortable enough they'd take care of it. They're not a bad dealership, just like other places, not neccisarily as "passionate" as we are being enthusiast.

I'd like to know this as well. Maybe give FP a call tomorrow.

 

[Darkane]

I'd like to know this as well. Maybe give FP a call tomorrow.

Yeah I'll see what they recommend. Overall I'm not too worried about it being on there, but ford recommends such a specific number I'm hesitant to drop it quite so easy. I'll report back what FP says.

 

[GT_Dave]

So,

His answer was: 44"/lbs + 180 degrees.

What??

That sounds about right . . .get it to touch @ 3.5 ft/lbs and a half turn to seal it. So whats the question ??

 

[krt22]

The only real question is if they used a torque wrench for 44 in-lbs why couldnt they just use a higher rated one and torqued to spec?

 

[Darkane]

The only real question is if they used a torque wrench for 44 in-lbs why couldnt they just use a higher rated one and torqued to spec?

Yes. That's my question - why not just torque it to fords spec?

 

[krt22]

My only guess would be is they have a preassembled torque wrench with the oil-filter adapter already on it that breaks at 3.5lbs (err 44-in-lbs). And instead of going to find the proper wrench, they give it the good ol extra half turn instead. From my car it took a few turns from when the filter seated to when the wrench broke

 

[Old Car Guy]

Ok.

Ok I hope this helps on this....... :cheers:

 

[Darkane]

Ok I hope this helps on this....... :cheers:

Yeah you bet thanks.

Update: spoke to Isaac in the FP group. He's pretty confident the filter is seated enough.

He was a little confused as to why they used the "torque to yield" method as opposed to just using a wrench and 18 ft/lbs. On a side note, Ford also applies thread locker to the factory filter.

He told me to monitor the filter for any weeping or leaks. He's confident it should be fine, but was confused with by the torque to yield method was used.

 

[tldukestang]

I have 2200 miles on my GT350 and had the oil changed at 520 miles. I took it to the track last Wednesday and yesterday backed it out of the garage only to find a gallon ice cream pail lid sized oil spot on the floor. I hadn't driven it much since the track day. I called local garage and recommend Ford roadside assistance tow it. I could tell the oil was dripping off the oil filter access door and suspected something with the filter. Called me today and said oil filter lost its seal so they cleaned it up and tightened the filter "back to factory specs". I wonder if they should be putting Loctite on the filter like the factory? It doesn't make a lot of sense to me that the factory would install Loctite and future oil filter installations would not. I'm going to keep a very close eye on mine for future leaks.

 

[Kurac]

I've always tightened by hand using a rubber glove. Is it really important to torque the filter to spec??? Ive never had an issue in any of my past vehicles with leaking filters. I'm about to do the oil change myself this weekend.

 

[krt22]

Yes very important, there has been at least one case of one backing off completely (I think at the track).

 

[rfcs550]

I was surprised that my dealer did not have a torque measuring wrench tool to install the oil filter. The chief mechanic said he can torque to spec 16-18 ft. pd by hand with a rubber glove. How would he know? The dealer also used Mobil 1 5w-50 full synthetic, not Motorcraft. This should be fine per manual.

Both of these things have caused me some concern as to whether I should return to this dealer. Are Ford dealers servicing these cars required to have a torque wrench measuring tool and use Motorcraft oil?

 

[mdmoore23]

Yes very important, there has been at least one case of one backing off completely (I think at the track).

Not true. As a former Ford tech, I've put oil filters on thousands of cars and never once used or thought about wasting time using a torque wrench. If one backed off, it was improperly installed, period. Hand tightening, as any normal competent person would do it is gonna yield at least 18 ft lbs anyway. Putting an oil filter on this car isn't need to reinvent the wheel. Every vehicle has a torque value for their oil filter and Ford's are normally around 18ft lbs, yet I bet no one has been asking this same question about F150's.

 

[mdmoore23]

I have 2200 miles on my GT350 and had the oil changed at 520 miles. I took it to the track last Wednesday and yesterday backed it out of the garage only to find a gallon ice cream pail lid sized oil spot on the floor. I hadn't driven it much since the track day. I called local garage and recommend Ford roadside assistance tow it. I could tell the oil was dripping off the oil filter access door and suspected something with the filter. Called me today and said oil filter lost its seal so they cleaned it up and tightened the filter "back to factory specs". I wonder if they should be putting Loctite on the filter like the factory? It doesn't make a lot of sense to me that the factory would install Loctite and future oil filter installations would not. I'm going to keep a very close eye on mine for future leaks.

Oil filters don't just lose their seal. This does not happen unless a) filter was never tightened properly at oil change or b) old o-ring remained on filter housing causing improper seal or c) new filter was installed without the o-ring attached. These things do happen, but how many shops do you think will admit to improperly installing an oil filter on a car like this? I've seen it all.

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