Check Cylinder For Damage

[FordToyota]

Hello,


My mechanic dropped a 6mm socket into the cylinder of my 07' Ford E150. He had the spark plug out and the socket fell in. He retrieved it after starting it up and now the van is making a clicking noise in that area. Is there anything that can be done short of tearing engine down in order to determine the condition of the cylinder head? I believe the noise to be coming from a damaged valve at that cylinder head but I would like to know the condition of the cylinder wall.


Thank you,

[maxwedge]

Get an inspection camera in the spark plug hole, may be able to see something.

[tomj76]

He started it up??????

Geeze, even I know not to do THAT. If he needed to move the piston to get to it, too band he didn't just turn the crank pully to get to it. A small magnetic pickup would have been able to pull it out.

He might have bent a valve, which you might be able to see with a borescope, but if you can't see it you'll need to pull the head. However, if the valve is bent then it probably doesn't seat right, and this would affect the compression and cylinder performance. There's also a chance he damaged the piston, wrist pin, or connecting rod.

I'd start with the compression test, then a visual check, also see if the sound can be traced to a more precise location wjth a stethoscope.