oil change disaster

[zackytsai]

Help! I was doing oil change on a 2003 7.3l and when I unbolt the oil drain plug this unknown object fell out of the hole. Can anyone tell me what it is and what I should do?

[NoRalPh]

WOW!! This would ruin my day too...

How small is it? I mean, to have fit through the drain hole,,,, take a picture with a dime next to it!

It's solid - right? Not a tube?

Is it attracted to a magnet?

Does the end look "sheared"?

[zackytsai]

It's a tubular looking pipe and 2 1/4 inches long

[atvrider93]

I wish I knew what that was but I don't. Was the engine running fine before the oil change? any odd noises?

[zackytsai]

Truck was running fine beforethe oil change. No odd voice at all.

[southend]

It looks like the little oil injection tube othat the 6.0 has under the piston, not sure if the 7.3has that.

[dieselflash]

Yep that's a piston oil squirter for sure

[zackytsai]

Any suggestion on what I should do?

[atvrider93]

First you should give your engine a pat on the turbo for dropping it right down to the oil pan as opposed to getting stuck up in the cam or other moving and expensive parts. Then you should figure out how hard it would be to get it back where it needs to go and what exactly that involves

[f350crew/long]

Hey, I just had the same exact scenario happen. What did you wind up doing and did it cause any problems with your engine. I'm really concerned about mine right now and don't have the money to pull engine and rebuild. Any help would be much appreciated.

thanks, F350crew/long