Dropped a socket and can't find it!!!!
 

It took me about two hours to install a AF1 since I kept dropping parts and tools down in the nooks and cranny's. I dropped a socket down somewhere on top of the intake and for the life of me cant find it. Drove to work today without any incident. I believe I can safely forget about it but I still wanted to see if anybody has any experience good or bad or any ideas on how to find it without tearing the thing apart. Appreciate any help/suggestions.:help:

got a magnet with a flexible stem and patience?

Wait 'till the day you do it with a 40 dollar 1/4" drive, impact, shallow, 7mm Snap-on swivel socket.

The truck doesn't leave until I find my socket.

If it was inside the head, the engine probably would have grenaded the first time you spun it over, so it sounds like you dodged the bullet on that one. I'd get a STRONG flexible-tip magnet & go fishing in the valley under the intake. Then reach up on top of the transmission, & inspect the frame rails & xmbrs - you might have already dumped it on the road somewhere.

I tape my $40 snap-on socket to the extension for coil pack removal, same with older extensions for spark plug changing. That area is the Bermuda Triangle in Ford land, If you ever remove the intake every tool that was ever lost in a ten mile area will probably be under there. LOL!!!

Quintin and Chuck have my thoughts also :beers: . I used to take all of the lost tools found in places like that when I would work on vehicles and give them to lube tech's at my shop to keep them from asking for mine.

hiding place
 

i dropped a socket too when i changed to my cai. pull your belt, remove your alternator and see if you find it then. there seems to be a little pocket behind there where everything goes:-) hope this helps...

I lost one of the throttle body cover screws down in that area. Its like ontop of the block under the intake manifold, for those that cant picture where we are talking about.
-Patrick

Hahaa , I can picture it - I blamed someone else for grabbing my favorite little pair of vice grips and losing them .. Well , until I had to fix that line in back of the water-pump that is , guess where those things were :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

OOPS

Yeah , that channel in the back on top of the block - You would be surprised how many 7 and 8 mm sockets will fit in there :D

https://www.f150online.com/galleries...940-194896.jpg

Do enough of these, you'll be loosing money with those $40 sockets. I know, I have two matco 7mm sockets riding on top of mine right now, damit. And patience and a magnet is far from what you need......it takes an act of god to get to that bastard when it goes down there:thumbsup:

Flashlight and patience? As long as you haven't heard anything go crunch yet, i would assume you are ok.

I forgot about an installation sheet for my K&N in my Dakota's engine compartment. I started it up, and I heard this slapping noise.... I popped the engine hood up and there were the instructions being shredded up by the engine fan. Took me forever to get all of the paper out of there. :(

Good luck, dude. - Og

A few years ago I lost an 8mm socket down there. When I traded the truck in a few months ago was still down there. I couldnt get it out no matter what I did, and I wasn'd ever in the mood to take off the whole intake for a cheap little socket.

God knows what else Ive probably lost down there.

I remember Neal saying that he lost something down there once and it started messing with his knock sensor that is down there, and would pull timing from his engine up top. I dont think I had a problem like that with mine..I would think you would notice it, but it might be something to remember.


Its always a great day when you are working on something and a tool falls out of it from somewhere that you lost a year ago. Of course it seems like it happens two days after you bought one to replace that tool :lol:

LMAO! That is just too good.