phone call, help i have an oil leak

My DD is a 2008 chevy HHR. Cheap car, gets good mileage, anyhow, the filter setup the filter housing is cast as part of the engine block, and theres a fiber plastic threaded cap with an o ring. The filter element is clipped to the inside of the cap. The cap has a large nut cast into it. Special 3/8" drive metric super shallow socket like 1/4" deep to get the cap off. The oil change just before this last oil change i was in a hurry. I changed the oil tightened the cap with a new o ring, and jerked my 3/8 extension and wrench off the engine.

Doing a tool inventory a few days later i couldent find this special socket. Went oh well got to buy another one. 3,000 miles later i popped the hood to do another oil change, the socket was still on the filter cap.

I work in the airline industry, and have always made a habit of inventorying my tools every time i am done with a job, because a lost tool in an aircraft rolling around can jam flight control linkages and such causing a crash. Tools are not allowed to be MIA. We have opened aircraft back up looking for tools people have had missing out of their tool boxes. This costs time and money, however the alternative can be deadly.

I was happy i found my chevy ecotec filter socket, however i quickly realized had it fallen off on the freeway somebody behind me could have gotten seriously injured from it.

It seems like a small thing to inventory your tools right after your done wrenching, or in a hurry, but a tool falling out of your car while your driving could cause a wreck.

I now take a bit more time, and try not to be rushed even when doing quick car mtx on the daily drivers.