Engine oil dipstick lost in tube, how big of a problem?

Factual Questions
1

The engine oil dipstick, in my Jeep, has become separated from the plastic holder. Its in the dip tube, and its gone. How much risk does my engine face?

That’s a simple, to the point question, right? I turn to the SDMB, because I need an answer, and I need it to be clear and to the point. People here are quite knowledgeable, and answer questions completely, and to the point.

See, I tried Google. I tried Yahoo. And those answers are not complete and not to the point. People say stuff like: well, you’re going to lose oil from the dip tube without the dipstick, you should just buy one.

And urm, no. That’s not the question. The dip tube is still plugged, with the plastic handle. Its the dipstick metal, that’s lost within the dip tube.

The answer I’m looking for is:

Don’t worry, all engines have an obstruction, just to prevent a separated dip stick from getting drawn into the crankcase.

or

Jebus, Arkcon, no that’s not a possible engine construction. You are seconds away from wrapping the dipstick around the crankshaft, grinding the engine to a halt on the highway and wrecking it worse than if you had no oil.

I have read both explanations, or possibly that the dipstick is of such soft metal it can be torn by the camshaft with minimal damage to the camshaft and piston rods. Of course, every time someone posts that, the next response is, “You’re losing oil from the unplugged dip tube.” Grrr. :mad:

Truly, go ahead and Google it. Add all the qualifiers you want. You’ll end up on a random board, that talks about transmission dipstick separation before long. Just as I did.

Seriously people, do I drive it or no?

2

Usually not an immediate problem, the answer will be specific to that engine. I assume you are having a problem removing it though. Dipsticks usually extend to the bottom of the oil pan under the crankcase so it won’t be very far down the tube. Have you tried anything to get it out?

3

I would think that there is no way in hell the dipstick could exit the dip tube.
After all, when it is completely inserted, the end is almost touching the bottom of the pan - how is a foot or more of dipstick going to slide out of the tube?

4

The mechanics couldn’t get it out with needle nose pliers. I can’t see it. I’m given to believe there are magnetic retrievers for separated dip sticks, and I’m also given to believe that some dip sticks are non-magnetic. :smiley:

I’ve found the suggestion to use something “gluey” to retrieve the dipstick, and I’ve also heard that sticking something glue laden into the dip-tube is the “dumbest idea evar111!!11”

I’m not going to give too much back and forth in this regard. Because I don’t want the thread to devolve into all the others online that say, “You’re losing volatile oil components from the open dip tube, buy one.” But I am listening.

Eventually, I will have to ask someone to drop the pan. I just hope to do that later rather than sooner.

5

If it were me, I’d try fishing it out with tweezers—but tie a string around them first so they don’t fall in there too. But that wouldn’t work if it’s very far down in there, so maybe no better than the needle-nose pliers. If this were a common problem, you’d think somebody would’ve invented a gadget for getting it out.

6

If nothing else works you should be able to remove the oil pan and pull out the dipstick from the bottom. Unless Jeep engines are a lot different than other engines.

ETA: The mechanic didn’t tell you this?

7

What year and model of Jeep? You should be able to just remove the dip stick tube to get at the stick then put the tube back in.

8

Why not simply remove the dipstick tube (they ARE removable), watching out for dirt and other debris (don’t want that in the engine), and then retrieve the dipstick? No need to resort to exotic methods.

9

The advice from people who know about this stuff on this side of the pond is to push it down and it won’t be any problem to have it lying at the bottom of the sump. If you really want to get it out, you will have to remove the sump.

Usual caveats apply

10

Yes, most tubes come out fairly easy. This is a common problem in shops. Usually just one bolt in a support bracket.

11

If the stick has iron in it and the block is aluminum, you could possibly get a rare earth donut magnet that is small enough and tie some strong fishing line to it and lower the magnet into the hole and fish it out. DO NOT LOSE THE MAGNET.

Taking the oil pan off isn’t that big of a deal, unless Chrysler got cute and put the exhaust tailpipe in the way. If it’s unobstructed, you can drain the oil and pop it off by taking off the bolts holding it on. There should be a gasket between the bottom of the pan and the engine block. The are cheap at the parts house.

When you put your pan back on, make sure the mating surfaces are nice and clean and dry. Hand tighten all the bolts first then torque them down in a star pattern slowly until you get them as tight as they should be. Don’t try to be a hero and put them on too tight- snapping one off here isn’t what you want to do.

I wouldn’t think you would have a huge problem right away because it should be right at the bottom of the pan. If you ripped the stick off around your crank, you sure as hell would know already.

12

That’s my thought too. I’ve had some of them start to unscrew a little bit. I assumed, based on that, they should just pop out or unscrew the rest of the way. After that, the dipstick should be right there, pull it out, put the tube back in and put the dipstick cap/handle back.
If the dipsitck is down more than an inch, I’d be surprised if you could pull it back out, it usually takes quite a bit of force to get them out to begin with.
Checking to see if you can yank the tube out will be a lot easier than the next step, dropping the oil pan.

13

I figured the tube was removable but never encountered such a thing. It sounds easier than removing the oil pan, but even that is not a major effort, at least in the cars I’ve worked on. That’s not very many cars, and no Jeeps.

14

When asking for this type of assistance, it’s most helpful if you provide as much information as possible. You could supply the year, make, and model of your Jeep, as well as engine configuration and displacement. just sayin’

As far as whether or not it’s safe/wise to keep driving your Jeep, I assume you’re not experiencing any unusual noises, leaking, or odors. The engine starts and runs. If this were my Jeep, I would remove the dipstick tube (if possible), or pull the pan and remove the dipstick. Removing the pan would require replacing the gasket. Problem solved and you don’t have to worry about this issue anymore.

Good luck.

15

That could happen. Have the tube removed. the old part recovered and buy a new dipstick or live with that possibility of a catastrophic bottom end failure. If you don’t, how are you ever going to check the oil again?

16

OK. But I really need to go for some long drives, and I really don’t need to take my Jeep to a mechanic, have them plan to, think about to, drop the crankcase bottom, and take a week to do it, once they order the special super rare OEM only gasket. Which takes less than a day. Unless it doesn’t. Which depends. :smiley:

Clearly, I probably hardly ever check the oil, but you guessed that. Right?

Odds of failure? Highly probable? Somewhat a possibility? Rare but serious?

For the record, the Jeep’s engine is a 4.0 L 6 cylinder, inside a 2001 Wrangler. But in general, do engines have something to “catch” an errant dip stick? Or they don’t? One person in this thread says they do, one person says they don’t. Anyone for a tie-breaker?

I don’t see an easy way to get the tube off. It doesn’t appear to screw. Some people hint it may just pull off. Some people here specify a bracket, I don’t see it, but its cold outside, and I don’t feel like dodging street traffic just right now.

Have I put my perspective clear enough for the d.i.y crowd? Or does someone what to ask me if I can see the bracket when I put it on the lift in my garage? :smiley: Please realize I’m kidding, I realize I came here for gearhead help, and I am grateful, but please dumb it down for sub-highschooler skill level with regard to vehicle care.

17

A few minutes on the internet Googling jeep 4 liter oil dipstick tube yields oil dipstick tubes available for $20 and a series of posts on jeepforum.com about using a 13mm wrench as an installation tool to hammer the tube home in the block. It is held in by a bracket and a light press fit into the block. This doesn’t sound like something beyond the average joe.
A while back at the machine shop, a guy brought in a Hewland racing transmission that needed sleeving. Had no way to easily access the bearing bores to measure for center to center distances, and they were worn oval to boot. Went online, and to my great amazement, found an online set of prints from Hewland themselves no less. Modern life.:smiley:

18

First and foremost IANAM.

This is extremely, highly unlikely.

Also extremely, highly unlikely. The crank a connecting rods are so mu stronger than the dipstick.

You could go forever and it not be any problem whatsoever. The pickup tube will not draw the dipstick up, and and shards would get stopped by the filter.

The biggest problem with this situation is not being able to check the oil level. If it were me I would buy a new dipstick, oil pan gasket, oil & filter (unless it’s new), and change the oil and drop the pan. Remove broken dipstick.

Easy, simple, inexpensive, relatively quick.

19

Extremely, highly unlikely to be a problem, any problem, at all. You almost certainly can drive forever like this without it becoming a problem. The chances of a problem developing from this are extremely small.

Again, IANAM.

20

Thank you. That’s the answer I was hoping for. And I’ll look into working on this problem later.