Anyone have an idea what this thing is? I found it lying in my driveway this morning.

After cleaning off the grease, I was relieved to read "Ford" rather than "BMW". (No, I don't own a Ford)

 

It's an injector...someone's Ford is missing one, and I bet it doesn't run very well.

 

No Fords here.
Makes me wonder whose vehicle isn't running well, though. Only folks (that I know of) who were in my driveway yesterday were the UPS and FedEx guys.

 

Edited my post after reading yours again about not having a Ford.

It's rather odd to find something like that in your driveway...not only because you don't own a Ford, but also because that thing is held in by the fuel rail and won't just fall out on to the ground.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I see the recess in the body of it, where the rail fits.
I'll have to ask the UPS man how his truck is running, next time I see him.

 

Considering that the wiring harness for those also lock into place, and they are a very tight fit at both ends, I would guess it was left under the hood by a forgetful tech who was working on the vehicle.

 

Unless it's a small UPS van, most of their vehicles are a diesel. And that is not a diesel injector. I wonder if someone ordered injectors that were delivered by UPS. A box could have been borked and one had fallen out.

 

It was pretty greasy. Definitely used for a while.

 

I was thinking about that. There are quite a few online stores that deal in used parts. Another thought I had was if you live on or near any roads that recieve any decent amount of traffic, someone could have been bringing home a used motor/top end/misc. parts from a scrap yard, yard sale, swap meet.

 

I'll see if the cat wants to play with it.
Maybe that will keep him from going out and killing the rest of the baby rabbits, under my deck.

 

Give the baby wabbits squirt guns. That'll hold the cat at bay. (of course you've got that issue of opposable thumbs to work out...)

 

He killed one this morning, and left it on the sdiewalk for us.
Then later, I had my overhead door to the shop open, and Wally brought one in here to play with.
I heard the blood-curdling screams, then went and took the bunny away from him before he hurt it, and put it back under the deck.
Wally's mad at me now.

 

someone playing a joke on you???

 

Had a similar problem many years ago, but on a much larger scale. My best friend was my dog 'Kilo' (weight when I got him), part Sammy, Malemute, and 1/4 wolf (Alaska Thunderpuppy). Best dog that ever owned me; but when I moved to a house out in the boonies, he started bringing dinner home for the two of us. Started with squirrels on the porch every morning, sometimes a raccoon or 'possum. Moved up to the neighbors chickens (and one cat). On the porch. Every morning. Last straw was a goat. After that, he spent his evenings tied on a run. Although, the goat wasn't bad, a little gamey, but hey, it only cost me $200 to appease the neighbor.

 

Well if it helps you are looking for someone with a 3.0 liter Ford Ranger.

 

Is that really what it's from? I was gonna guess 5.0 based on popularity and how freakin' common they are. Then again, the 3.0 Ranger is damn common, too.

 

With "cylinder deactivation" all the rage amongst car manufacturers now, perhaps somebody figured this was an effective way to do it to their own vehicle...

 

I'd say that the only way it got there is somebody replaced it and threw it on the ground instead of the trash. It's almost impossible that it fell off a car.

HOWEVER
In high school I bought an 84 Audi with a broke transmission ($250 and it just had a leak). The former owner told me that "the AC used to work until one day she drove off and the air conditioner compressor was just sitting in her parking spot".
I assumed she was just an idiot and didn't know what she was talking about.

I later notice that half the compressor bracket (which was pretty hefty) was still bolted in place. I don't know how the bracket broke. I also don't know how it didn't break anything else when it fell out.

I also found half the bolts holding the transmission to the engine were missing too. It's amazing what can break on some cars without stopping them.