Hello fellow dodge owners...I need some help. I have a 98 dodge ram 2500 with a 5.9L gas motor.

I am in the process of replacing my intake manifold gaskets and my plenum. I also decided to replace the distributor as well. After I got everything out, I noticed a small 7 mm 1/4 inch socket was laying on the cam shaft gear. Well stupid me went and tried to get it without a magnet, and it slipped out of my fingers and proceeded to fall down a port directly below the camshaft gear. I swear I heard a splash like it had fallen into the oil pan. I need to know for sure if this is where it went, so I am taking the oil pan out tomorrow. I need to know if I need to raise the motor to get the oil pan out? I bought the truck with a lift on it, and it looks like I can get the oil pan out without raising the motor but I just want to make sure. I don't want to take the oil pan off if I have to disassemble the top half of the motor to get to the socket. Please advise.

 

Sorry to hear my friend. Nothing that I can think of off the top of my head that you would need to do in addition to dropping the pan. Now you may not have the needed clearance to completely drop the pan due to the front crossmember and room or the lack there of around the pickup tube and the sump etc. Good news is that that shouldn't matter much in this case. You just need to drop the pan far enough to get a hand or a flexible magnet in there to get that sucker. Now, if it uses cork gaskets obviously replace while your there. Never dropped a pan on a 5.9 so I'm not 100% sure of every little quirk involved here but I think that is most of it. If you do need to pull the pan and you can't get enough room I would keep in mind where to get a cherry picker. Because you can probably pull the mount bolts and lift it 1-2 or so inches without any real threat or damaging anything to get the additional access you might need. I'll bet though you can get that sucker without going through all that mess.

 

Future reference:
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/dodge-r...s-section.html

 

if you think you heard it splash, it probably did. an oil drain port would take it straight down to the pan.

the oil pan on my 01 did not require raising the motor, nor dropping the exhaust pipe, but i did have to remove the starter, braces, and inspection cover. my starter was a pain, torqued very very tight and required a couple of 1/2 drive extensions to get the pull bar out beyond the engine mount or something. 3/8 extensions flexed too much. 1/2 did the trick.

 

Did you try just draining the oil first?
A 1/4 drive socket is a small one, it might come out with the oil, or you might be able to fish it out with a pocket sized magnetic tool through the drain plug hole.

 

It won't come out in the oil, the threaded boss for the drain plug protrudes into the oil pan and will certainly stop it.

 

If you have access to a boroscope, get it in the oil pan through the drain hole and look around. You may find it in there, then use a magnet on the underside of the pan where the socket is to move it over by the drain hole, then use something to reach inside and grab it or a small telescoping magnet to ****** it out.