WHAT IS THIS????

[f350crew/long]

Hello fellow powerstrokers.
I was changing my oil the other night and I'm not sure if this fell out of my pan. It may have been in my drain pan and I just did not see it. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone may know what this is and did it come off my truck..I drive a 2002 F350 7.3 with 209,000 on it. I know I shouldn't have but I used ether on it the other day to start it, and it vapor locked. This of course was before the oil change. I did the oil change due to cold start/ stiction issues. I was puttin in Rev-x. Anyway this is waht I found and I'm not sure if it came from my engine. Any help would be appreciated. At least for a sense of comfort. Here is a picture of what I found.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u4ytx6s8g4er8k9/truck.JPG

[floorboy]

I see nothing!!! Nothing!!!

[sniper_101]

Oil squirter.

[f350crew/long]

Originally Posted by sniper_101

Oil squirter.

Hey Sniper_101,

Thanks for the reply. I never heard of an oil squirter and looked up images of what you spoke of. Sure enough that is what it is. So I made some calls to two different respected Ford dealers and told them my story and asked about the possible consequences of not fixing this. They explained to me what it is for and mentioned that it is an item that should be fixed but it is very expensive to do. They also re-assured me that if I change my oil every 5-6,000 miles and don't work the truck hard, which I generally don't given that I do most highway miles for work and rarely pull much weight such as heavy machinery or camper...etc, that I should be fine letting it go. Of course they would rather see it repaired but I made it clear that I don't have that kind of money at this point. That gave me some relief. I also called a local Diesel mechanic who I've heard decent things about and he stated the same thing.

What is your take on it?

Thanks again, F350crew/long

[carolinaboy02powerstroke]

If it were me, the first chance(time/money) I had to pull the motor and have it fixed, I would do so. The only way to pull the pan is to pull the motor and to reseal the pan to the block correctly is to let is sit upside down for 24hrs plus.

[rufushusky]

That my friend is an piston cooling jet... actually not that uncommon for one of those things to fall out...

Piston cooling jet