make damn sure that it is in the pan!!!!!!!!!as long as it is in the pan you will be fine,but it also has to get past the baffle and drop down to the very bottom.you can get it out without yankin the motor.on the passengers side of the pan you will see what looks like a huge nut where the dipstick goes.drain the oil.pull the tube out .get a piece of fairly flexible wire like mechanics wire.make a hook on on end and stick it into the hole where the dipstick tube went into.make sure you get a godd hook on the piece in there.remove the big nut and let the big piece drop into the pan.this is the reason for the hooked wire,so you can get it back up and put the nut back on it when your done.now use a magnet on a flexible rod and go fishing.you should be able to catch it and get it out of the big hole.get a new oring for the tube adapter and put it all back together.now im gonna suggest that instead of getting a new oring that you get a tube of the grey rtv from ford or international.clean the tube adapter groove real well with brake parts cleaner as well as the back side of the pan wwhere this piece goes.put a nice thick bead on the adapter in the groove where the oring goes.put it back together quick as the rtv sets up in about 5 minutes.once the rtv is cured you will almost never get it back apart and it will never leak like they always do.
ill go see if i can find my thread here with pictures of my pan so you know what im talkin about.you know,pictures are worth a thousand words!