Mechanic Says Ford ‘Perfected’ The Oil Change After 2022 Ranger Comes In. Then Viewers See How It’s Done: ‘I’m Selling The Car'

A mechanic set out to prove that Ford has "mastered the perfect oil change" on the 2022 Ranger. He did it by pulling a wheel, popping five plastic clips, and watching the drain trail dump used oil straight onto the underbody shield.

The demonstration was apparently meant sarcastically. But not all the observers picked up on that.

The video was posted by old snap (@oldsnap85), an auto tech whose channel is mostly maintenance clips. His caption doubled down on the bit.

"Ford has perfected perfection with the Ranger oil change,” he wrote.

The Straight-Faced Dig

Old snap narrates the oil change with mock praise.

"I got a 2022 Ford Ranger here. All you have to do is pull the driver's wheel, pop these plastic clips out of here. I mean, it's right there. How much easier do you want it to get?" he says.

Then he sets the drain pan under the filter and watches as the oil flows away from it.

"Naturally, you put your drain pan right underneath the filter, but forgetting it's a Ford. Oh, of course, it has to follow the trail down to here. Gotta love Fords,"  he says.

He closes with a twist of the knife: "People need to stop whining and realize the Ford Ranger has mastered the perfect oil change."

Old snap saw the comments coming. "I'm just going to let them fight and call me an idiot in the comments," he wrote under one exchange. To a commenter who said the video was "both 100% correct and also wildly exaggerating," he answered, "I'm glad that someone actually picked up on that."

The Part He Overplayed

Old snap admitted to some exaggeration in the demonstration. He pulled the front driver's side tire on-camera. One user piped up to say that this step is unnecessary

"You're doing too much, just turn the wheel," wrote DFins54, who said he owns a 2019 and a 2025 Ranger. Multiple owners agreed you reach the filter by turning the steering to full lock and dropping the wheel-well flap, no wheel removal required.

The DIY guides back them up. A Ford Ranger EcoBoost oil-change walkthrough says the filter is reached by removing five plastic clips inside the driver-side wheel well and lowering the flap, with no wheel removal in the procedure. The drain plug sits behind the narrow engine skid plate, which comes off with four 15mm bolts, two of which only need loosening.

What He Got Right

That said, the video does expose some  genuine annoyances. The oil filter hides behind a clipped-on wheel-well flap, and the clips are the part owners complained about most.

"The hardest part is getting the flap back on after you break all the clips," wrote Erick Hayes, a purported 2020 Ranger owner. And a guide at the enthusiast site The Ranger Station confirms the drain "trail" old snap mocks is a deliberate Ford design decision: a molded channel that carries oil away from the filter so it doesn't run down onto the suspension. The guide sees that as a plus, but the channel empties onto the engine skid plate, so unless you pull the plate first, the oil lands on the shield instead of your drain pan.

The skid plate itself is the crux of the old snap’s problem. Full-length underbody panels smooth airflow beneath the truck to cut drag and improve fuel economy, while shielding the drivetrain from road salt and debris. That works well on the highway, but not necessarily in the driveway.

Are Oil Changes Ever Easy?

In comments, viewers nominated vehicles they claimed offered easier oil changes. Subaru owners showed up in force, pointing out that many of that make’s  engines have the filter on top of the block, reachable from the hood. "This is how easy it is for a Subaru Forester, right on top," wrote Stache. 

Toyota and GM truck owners pointed out that their filters sit just inches from the drain plug. Others claimed that a wide range of  modern vehicles now bury the filter behind a shield or a flap.

Others offered conspiracy theories about manufacturers making home service harder on purpose to funnel owners toward dealer shops. Commenter jibwagon put the penny-pinching earlier in the process. 

"It's amazing that not one OEM engineer goes, 'hey guys, this is gonna be a pain in the [expletive], can we do better?'" A reply read, "the accounting department says no, because that would cost an extra $3 per car."

Motor1 reached out to old snap via TikTok direct message and Ford via email for additional comment. We'll be sure to update this if either responds.