Dipstick reading

[whitesnake]

Over last year I had the impression my E was using oil by the readings I was getting off the dipstick. I had made sure readings are on level ground every time and cleaned stick thoroughly with wire wool and WD40 but still readings were below line. I found this worrying because I had done full oil change at start of year and new correct amount had been put in.
Finally I resorted to annealing the dipstick with my Blowtorch, made sure it was straight afterwards, took a reading and low and behold the reading was well up over the full mark so needed to remove oil to get to correct level.
What a lovely feeling to get a result that sets your mind at rest and restores confidence in the engine and negates the need to cart litres of spare oil around.
Just hope this tip helps others.
Steve.

[mgcjag]

Hi Steve...dont follow this....you filled up with correct amount of oil (by measureing i assume)....then after straightening dipstick you took some oil out?.......so how much oil do you now have in their...the correct amount of less.....Steve

[christopher storey]

Nor do I follow it. How does "annealing" the stick alter its length etc . Was this posted on April 1st?

[whitesnake]

Just to clarify all this, I did oil change with correct amount of oil and all was ok then over a period of say 4 months the oil reading on the dipstick seemed to drop so I filled up with a litre but the reading on stick was not very clear. I tried cleaning dipstick with various solvents to clean and get an accurate reading but nothing worked then I tried heating dipstick with blowtorch to clear deposits off it. This worked very well, I now have an accurate reading and have taken out the extra litre I had overfilled with. My reading is half way into the hatched area which is where it was with correct 8.5 litres ( 15 imperial pints ).
The post is really just to give a tip on cleaning dipstick when normal methods do not work,sometimes it gets a shiny surface on it that precludes getting an accurate reading. nothing more nothing less.
Steve.

[Robsan]

Dipstick is made of mild steel I think. Handle is made of brass but that is academic

to anneal mild steel you heat it up to low cherry red then allow to cool naturally. this only alters the malliabilty but does not alter its physical properties, ie length, width, physical size

So I cannot see how any Heat Treatent has altered the Calibration of your Level measurement dip stick ?

did you forget or not replace the felt seal when refitting dip stick

If that was the case the dip stick would show a higher reading [ not sure by how much, but it would indicate higher oil level] but would have been false as it ommitted the felt seal [distance piece]

hope this helps

[mgcjag]

I think the original poster is saying that he couldnt see the oil line on the dipstick....the oil wasnt sticking to it becaus of some deposits......so he used heat to clean off the deposits.....now the oil sticks and he can see it on the dipstick.......Steve

[whitesnake]

MCJAG Steve. Thank you that is exactly the case.
I know that by heating a dipstick it will not magically alter its length, it was the ability to read the level that I wanted to enhance.
Steve.

[PeterCrespin]

“...it was the ability to read the level that I wanted to enhance.”

Can’t ‘see’ the problem, but it reminds of the Series 1 (Brian Jones) Rolling Stones song: Paint it Black

Series 2 was Mick Taylor, my fave era.

Series 3 is the current Ronnie Wood band.

[mystery type]

Title should be...”dipstick reading oil”

Sorry steve

[Robsan]

sorry all. Happy new Etypeuk back again :-)