Figure closer to $400 if you were going to have us do it. For labor, it's probably closer to two hours than it is to one from the time we roll the car onto the lift to the time it rolls off. Need to remove both the mid-pan as well as the rear pan. Often we'll find missing or incorrect fasteners that we will need to replace. Occasionally we'll find a stripped nutsert that we need to replace. Then we inspect the top-side of the pans for any "tells" - mostly any leaks or rodent activity. Now it's time to lower the car back down and change the oil filter. With a new filter and o-ring installed, back up we go. Then we remove the 3 drain plugs. I should note that this is where I am typically cursing - accusing the whole world that know one knows what a torque wrench is. I swear, if I had a dime for each time we've had to use an impact gun to remove a drain plug, I'd be a rich man! For this reason, I am a BIG ADVOCATE of placing a Fumoto valve on the aluminum oil reservoir. I've seen TOO MANY oil reservoirs damaged by over-tightened drain plugs. While the oil is draining, we're taking the opportunity to look around. Typical candidates for inspection are the power steering pump, the power steering return hose, the oil pressure sending unit and the air conditioner compressor. After we have a look-see at these components, we'll look at the belts and likely inquire about the last time the oil pump belt was changed. Finally, we'll look at the rear shocks and suspension components to see if we see any leaks or wear that may need to addressed at a future service.
With the oil drained and the plugs cleaned, re-installed and TORQUED TO SPEC, we can move on to re-installing the pans. The mid-pan is first up with careful attention to correct fastener placement. There's 3 slightly longer T30 fasteners on each outer edge that secure both the pan and the side skirt. These fasteners are often misplaced/mixed with the other fasteners if a non-GT shop did the work previously. The aforementioned nutserts on the back edge of the mid-pan are inspected for tightness and we'll replace them if loose. (Over-torquing yahoo's will all-too-frequently damage these nutserts.) Finally, the rear pan/diffuser is installed.
All of this done, the car is once again lowered and we'll add 9.5 quarts of Motorcraft's finest. We'll check the level of the power steering fluid as well as the engine and intercooler coolant levels. It is common to have to add an ounce or so of power steering fluid. With the fluids all topped off, we'll make sure we are clean and then we'll do the priming procedure before firing up the car and letting it idle for a couple of minutes.
If you think $400-ish is too expensive for this kind of focused attention and service, well, there's a Jiffy Lube right down the street!
