Dipstick

[Anonymous]

Do others have trouble reading the dipstick? I find that if I take it out, even after the car has been standing for a while, wipe if, put it back in and then take it out to read it, it is very hard to distinguish where the oil starts and stops on the cross hatching on the point. Its as though the oil just goes where it wants to and spreads all over it. Does anyone have any tips for making the dipstick easier to read? I am still not sure how full it is.......

I never had this problem on other cars as they have just a nice, flat, plain piece of metal with a couple of marks on and there was no spreading of the oil. You could tell where the oil level was very easily..........

[Anonymous]

I agree - very hard to tell quite where the level is at first glance. It usually take a few attempts to get a good reading.

You could leave the oil 'til it gets really really dirty to make reading it easier - not sure that's the best solution though!!  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[Anonymous]

I agree too - I find the dipstick hard to read. Maybe my oil is too clean - I'll work on getting it dirtier then!   s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted:  

I think the fact that Toyota seem to have fitted the longest dipstick they could find on to 1zzy doesn't help either   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[Anonymous]

Same here.  It's hard to see the reading.  I'll be starring at the dip stick for the longest time..  One side of my dip stick reads full and the other side reads half.  So i just try to keep it there.  

The flat dip sticks are really easy to read

[Anonymous]

Chuck some sugar in the oil, that would thicken it up to be easy to read  :-) :-) :-)

Seriously, I don't have this problem on the 2, but other vehicle is an old aircooled VW, and it was very hard to read the oil level, so I dremeled some cross hatching on the dipstick with a thin cutting disk, and it is very easy to read the oil level off now, even with fresh clean oil, so maybe this would be worth a try.

Rough pic is below (the lower thing is the dipstick with cross hatching clearly showing, top is a oil temp dipstick thingy.




Also don't forget, the mere act of checking your oil will stop your engine exploding, this is easy to prove as most engine failures occur to people who never check the dipstick at all  :-) :-) :-)  At least your having a look !!

[Anonymous]

Fair point!!! Good job I look after my car!!!

But, the 2's dipstick already HAS the cross hatching on it and to be fair, I think it is actually this that is making the problem, cos the oil is not running UP the dipstick properly when it replaced, causing the oil to "stick" in various different places and therefor having no definate "edge" to read. Its almost like the inside of the tube it goes down into has oil up its sides and its unavoidable that oil will get all over the stick and not just the bit you want to read.

Its a real pain in the arse..............

[heathstimpson]

I'm suprised John as I never has this problem with my dipstick on the 2  s:? :? s:?

[roger]

Don't want to put the cat amongst the pigeons, but did all those whose engines went bang think they had oil because their dipstick said so??

And then turned out not to.   s:? :? s:?  

roger

[Jap GT300]

Don't want to put the cat amongst the pigeons, but did all those whose engines went bang think they had oil because their dipstick said so??

And then turned out not to.   s:? :? s:?  

roger

Nope, I've lost 3 1zz's and the oil loss was very sudden, it wasn't because the reading was hard.

Try running your finger over it, that is what I always do.

[roger]

Don't want to put the cat amongst the pigeons, but did all those whose engines went bang think they had oil because their dipstick said so??

And then turned out not to.   s:? :? s:?  

roger

Nope, I've lost 3 1zz's and the oil loss was very sudden, it wasn't because the reading was hard.

Try running your finger over it, that is what I always do.

Just a thought. In fact I don't have much of a problem reading the stick, especially now there is a little colour in the oil.

[Anonymous]

But, the 2's dipstick already HAS the cross hatching on it and to be fair, I think it is actually this that is making the problem
Its a real pain in the arse..............

The cross hatching is cast, and so the edges are too smooth to work as well, I think if you dremel some hatching on the back of the moulded end it will be much easier to read, as the crisp edge of the dremelled hatching really highlights the oil level, as it is shinier than the surrounding metal.

As for oil up the tube, I always check my oil first thing in the morning when the engine has not run yet, so this isn't an issue.

I wouldn't get too paranoid about the exact oil level, if it is up to or close to the top mark, then that is fine, frankly even if the level is slightly above the top mark, it should be harmless - the dealer did an oil change on my car in November, and it is still reading above the top mark - so they clearly overfilled it !!

Then again, dipsticks are probably a bit advanced for UK main dealers !

As for the pain in your arse, maybe you are not using the dipstick for its intended purpose  :-) :-) :-)

[Anonymous]

But, the 2's dipstick already HAS the cross hatching on it and to be fair, I think it is actually this that is making the problem
Its a real pain in the arse..............

The cross hatching is cast, and so the edges are too smooth to work as well, I think if you dremel some hatching on the back of the moulded end it will be much easier to read, as the crisp edge of the dremelled hatching really highlights the oil level, as it is shinier than the surrounding metal.

As for oil up the tube, I always check my oil first thing in the morning when the engine has not run yet, so this isn't an issue.

I wouldn't get too paranoid about the exact oil level, if it is up to or close to the top mark, then that is fine, frankly even if the level is slightly above the top mark, it should be harmless - the dealer did an oil change on my car in November, and it is still reading above the top mark - so they clearly overfilled it !!

Then again, dipsticks are probably a bit advanced for UK main dealers !

As for the pain in your arse, maybe you are not using the dipstick for its intended purpose  :-) :-) :-)

Heh heh.......I knew I was doing something wrong........

The level is hard to read whatever the state. Early morning, hot, cold, you name it. I might give the cross hatching a go and see what that does, but I have to get hold of a Dremmel first!!!  s:roll: :roll: s:roll:    s:oops: :oops: s:oops:    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  

I don't think there is any oil loss, but I would like some kind of indicator, just in case. I will try these suggestions and see how they go. cheers

[so.simple]

Has anyone ever driven a Clio? They have a "digital dipstick". Ok, that's probably not the right name... Whenever you insert the key in the ignition, the first think that appears in the odometer area is a bar graph (Like in a mobile phone for the network coverage) displaying the oil level. I' d be so much happier if our cars had the same system.

[Tem]

I' d be so much happier if our cars had the same system.

I have the oil level sensor from 3S-GTE and I hope to install it into my engine...it's just a trigger for warning light though and doesn't show the level, but if I manage to "calibrate" it so that it lights when the oil level is half way down the dipstick scale, I'll be vewwy happy  s8) s8)

[Anonymous]

I had a Peugeot 306 which oil pressure gauge showed the oil level when you first turned the key, then reset to oil pressure after a few seconds. I had to explain this to the salesmen, as he was too thick to realise  :-) :-) :-)

Problem with this is french electrics are worse than their mechanicals, so you'd still need to check the dipstick anyway  :-) :-) :-)

[Anonymous]

Has anyone ever driven a Clio? They have a "digital dipstick". Ok, that's probably not the right name... Whenever you insert the key in the ignition, the first think that appears in the odometer area is a bar graph (Like in a mobile phone for the network coverage) displaying the oil level. I' d be so much happier if our cars had the same system.

1 Series Beemers are weird (or at least I think so), the Petrol version has digital dipstick, the diesel (more expensive) doesn't.  Must be some techy reason I guess.

[enid_b]

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[Anonymous]

Necroposting ftw!  s:D s:D

[Ross_Curtis]

I've only had my 2 a few months now and for the first month I was constantly checking mine, it received an oil change before I picked it up and as a result had very clean oil which made reading it VERY hard.  I too found one side read half the other full, once I realised this I'd filled the level up too far (according to one side) now the oil has got a bit darker its far easier to read.  

A tip - I rotate the dip stick  a few times before I pull it out this was is reads the same both sides.

[Silverman]

I learned from my Verso that the oil stays very clean in this engine and the level is hard, (but not impossible), to read on a dipstick, even one of the short, straight, 'flat' variety.

The MR2 dipstick should be called a wigglestring, with its yard of wire, but look on the bright side if your oil is clean.  During my search for a '2' (12 months?) I looked at a fair few and I always checked the oil for level and clarity.  Very occasionally, I found dark grotty oil which ended that particular enquiry.  (In those days I'd never even heard of precats.)

If the engine's in good nic it doesn't use much oil.  Clean the wigglestring thoroughly, feed it back in from close to the guide tube, withdraw and examine.  Even with the newest oil you can soon see the level, which will probably be pretty good.    Good luck,  S'man.

[enid_b]

if u push it back in just as far as the first notch, then the full oil line should appear about 3mm up the stick,  2nd notch is 2/3rds the way up, and fully in is impossible to read,

but u already new that eh?

E