Ford Escape FAQ & Maintenance Tips

Questions and answers

• Is the Escape 3.0 V6 drain plug metric?

  Yes — and this catches everyone out. On a 2003 model the drain plug is most definitely 15 mm, not the 9/16 inch some later-model guides quote. Use a 15 mm box-end wrench, give it a little inward pressure while unthreading, and hand-tighten it back in.

• What oil and filter does the 3.0 L V6 take?

  Oil: Motorcraft 5W-20 synthetic blend — the owner's manual specifies 5.5 quarts for the 3.0 V6 4X4. Recheck the dipstick after a short run and a settle.
  Filter: Wix 51372. Wet the rubber gasket with fresh oil before installing, and tighten 3/4 turn past gasket contact.

• What's the right oil filter wrench?

  A clamp-type wrench gets the job done, but the better option is a 3/8-inch-drive cap wrench. The one that worked perfectly: a “Rite Fit” A252 (93 mm × 15 flutes) with a short 2 inch extension. See the comparison at step 11.

• Walk me through an Escape V6 oil change.

  The full walkthrough is the 12-step how-to: ramps (4x4 locked, parking brake set), 15 mm box end, drain pan started well back (that oil shoots out), filter access from behind the radiator, Wix 51372 with a wet gasket, 5.5 quarts of 5W-20, dipstick recheck. Every step has a page, and the written notes are the originals from 2004.

• Any 4x4 tips for the Escape?

  The one that shows up in the how-to: when using ramps, lock the 4x4 on before driving up and set the parking brake once you're on them. It's the same habit worth keeping for any off-pavement day — see step 01.

• What exactly is the Bigfoot / Barbfoot truck?

  A radio-controlled monster truck: a Barbie Escape body on a Radio Shack R/C Avalanche chassis, documented across 18 build photos. The December 2004 sequel — the “new BarbFeet” — is covered in the Big Barb gallery, with the companion photos in the build log.

• Where did the dancing Escapes come from?

  Original animations made for the site back in the day — one per 2003 factory paint color, in small and large sizes. All 28 are on the Dancing Escapes page, each with a direct download link to the original GIF.

• Is this website still active?

  No — and that's part of the point. The original site went live in 2002, was captured by the Internet Archive on August 30, 2004, and went quiet after that. The version online today is a 2026 restoration of the 2004 snapshot: same URLs, same words, same photos, modern layout, and the images the archive had still been holding back in their folders.