Wow. Doesn't it have one of those electronic oil level checkers? I thought that was the standard nowadays, especially for a brand new $46,000 vehicle. If a 10 year old Mercedes lets you know when you need to add a quart, a brand new, from scratch Mustang should show you an exact level.
Although... I certainly don't expect Ford to re-design the 5.0 just for the mustang application. I'm guessing it's just the way it is since the GT has a strut bar where the f-150 (for example) does not.
Inaccessibility, that's a word that is familiar to anyone that regularly has been working on cars for the last few decades. If this dipstick gets you excited you need to spend either a lot more time under the hood and see just how bad it really is or maybe you shouldn't be lifting one at all. VBG
You have to use 2 hands to check the oil, big deal. When my daughter was managing her fleet of corporate BMW's, one of the 5's oil warning indicated the car need to be towed to the dealer. Only 75 miles away. They couldn't find anything wrong and 2 people had to drive there and shuttle the car back. I'll take engine and transmission dipsticks any day.
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
It's perfectly simple in cars without the strut brace - design has been like this since the engine debuted in 2011. And even with the strut brace, it's not that hard once you do it a couple times. No, it's not ideal but there's no perfect car.
Seems like a pretty big oversight. Pretty much just needs a slightly longer dipstick and tube that bends and clears the brace. Not a huge engineering feat.
Can't just say "it's the engine" or "it's the tower brace." All that expensive engineering could remain exactly how it is while a cheap alteration is made to the tube so that it becomes more accessible. But a car was never sold based on the location of the dipstick. Laser mustang puddle lights however...
Aren't about 95% of these engines going into trucks? I'm guessing that location is the best possible for those applications and we Mustang owners have to make do.
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Comments
Given all the work on this engine for the GT, you'd think a dedicated dipstick + tube wouldn't be a big deal...