I drained the oil and took the filter off (first oil change). I got the Motorcraft FL-500S filter but it looks a little shorter than the factory filter. What gives. Will it work?

 

That filter should work if that is what motorcraft lists for that application. I manage a service shop and we just had a new company come in that narrowed our product lines down because we can use more of the same part number filters on more applications.

 

Does part # not matter then? I just noticed the ford parts site says FL 500S but lists a different part # than my box says.

 

The FL500s is the superseding filter for the 3.5 EB engine I believe the reason was to reduce the weight hanging on the oil cooler this change was made in 2011

 

Don't worry about it. It says FL-500S so it is the right one. The dealer did my first oil change so I don't know if the original one was different, but I know the one I just bought at Walmart looks exactly the same as the one the dealer put on.

 

I thought the same thing when I changed mine the first time. You've got the right one.

 

Ok. Thx guys.

 

One reason the FoMoCo factory filter appears different is that it is a 'generic' one-size-fits-all filter made by Champion Labs that is used in the assembly of more than one Ford engine. The Motorcraft FL-500S filter is made by Purolator to Ford specs and is packaged & marketed for retail sale by both dealers & auto parts vendors.


You have the correct MODEL of filter...don't worry about part numbers. They differ from year to year as parts inventories are differentiated.

 

On a side note, it looks like I made an oil mess on top of the skid plate that's under the engine. I noticed what looked like a drain channel below where the oil filter sits. So I'm like "cool I'll just position the oil pan underneath this drain channel before popping off the filter " WRONG! It ended up draining out the back on top of the skid plate and pouring all over the road in front of my driveway.

I may pop the skid plate off next time and see how it goes.

 

Good to know. I took my skid plate off because I didn't know any better, but after doing it I thought I could have left it on. I guess I'll continue to take it off in the future. Thanks for the heads up.