Broken Dipstick

my oil warning light came on lastnight so i tried to check the oil level but some how i managed to break the dipstick the small plastic peice at the end.
the orange part

now i know its a dealer part...but what about the broken part that has been left in? how do i get that taken out...can that cause damage?
 
Already PM'd you about this, but you should suffer no problems as there is a coarse strainer which removes stuff such as this, to prevent it getting into the engine proper.

I'd mention it to the dealer when you get the new dipstick, but they'll probably just tell you to not worry and it'll be resolved at the next oil and filter change.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Very spooky my oil light came on last night:eek:
I gave the engine a feed but tried to figure it out, up until the first service the oil levels were ok, one month after the first service the oil plays up:confused:

Regarding the dip stick, i did email Audi gmbh to suggest a white section at the end of the stick so reading could be made easier, but no response:( how anyone can check oil levels black against black is beyond me:confused:

Doctor
 
End of my dipstick broke off also (or at least I pulled it out one time and the end was already gone) - obviously another little design fault. This was around a year ago, and I've a feeling that it was around £15 or so to replace.

Never suffered any ill effects from the broken section left in the sump.
 
Well I managed to break off the end of my dipstick a second time.. thanks to the forum, I'll happily leave it as it is till the next VSI, then just ask for a replacement. Silly plastic.. my wife's A4 has a metal dipstick, never any trouble.
 
dipstick

wakefield audi quoted me £37 for a replacement dipstick in May, i declined their offer.
Paul
 
doctor said:
Very spooky my oil light came on last night:eek:
I gave the engine a feed but tried to figure it out, up until the first service the oil levels were ok, one month after the first service the oil plays up:confused:

Regarding the dip stick, i did email Audi gmbh to suggest a white section at the end of the stick so reading could be made easier, but no response:( how anyone can check oil levels black against black is beyond me:confused:

Doctor

You should be ashamed waiting for your oil warning to come on, why do you think audi put the service flap there? you should be checking at least once a month!
And I don't know where you get the 'black' dipstick from, mine is all orange / yellow, all the Audi's Ive been looking at have the same colour as well!!
 
Tdiman, you were a bit hard on Doctor, there are many posts on our forum saying (in effect) "don't rely on the dipstick, wait for the oil warning light". This advice has been given to me by 2 Audi stealers as well. I wouldn't like to think of him crying in the corner after his telling off. All in fun of course.
 
Well if anybody who has taken a driving test recently will testify the test includes such things as under bonnet checks! so even DVLA consider it important enough to ensure people at least know about these things, having said that they are also the people who consider the stopping distance of a ford anglia as being typical!!!!!
 
well my polo has a black dip stick (metal) and I can read it no problem infact its a pleasure to be able to read the oil level after not being able to on the A2 for over two years of owning one. I think the main problem with the A2 dip stick is thats its far too long and by the time its fully retracted all the oil has been rubbed off and also its not a straight down into the engine has to go round a few bends first
 
Dead right - don't trust the dipstick - wait for the light - thats what its for, it won't do the engine any harm to run it with the minimum level of oil in, there are plenty of engines that get damaged when you put too much oil in. Wait for the light and don't worry about it.
 
tdiman said:
You should be ashamed waiting for your oil warning to come on, why do you think audi put the service flap there? you should be checking at least once a month!
And I don't know where you get the 'black' dipstick from, mine is all orange / yellow, all the Audi's Ive been looking at have the same colour as well!!

Thankyou tdiman for your valued reply.

I can tell you that I do check the oil levels regularly and that the dipstick is black! Perhaps you may not be aware of all of this components changing specification. My vehicle is 2yrs young and I am afraid I am not the type to change the specification of my dipstick for pleasure.

Doctor

nb: my thanks to those polite posters on this site:)
 
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doctor, is it in one piece? or is the end you're supposed to read made of (cheap and apparently brittle) plastic?
 
It does seem then that the dipstick design was an ad hoc affair and which you have fitted is a complete lottery.

Tank is just over 2 years old, and he has an orange plastic dipstick, which is very easy to read.

Cheers,

Mike
 
I too have a wire dipstick with an orange end, the reading is inconsistent to say the least, I check my car once a month (3-4000 miles) when I do tyre pressures and all the fluids, my wifes car I check every fillup, about every 6 weeks
 
whuy said:
doctor, is it in one piece? or is the end you're supposed to read made of (cheap and apparently brittle) plastic?

Its a black wire with what seems a black moulded end to display the min max markings. Its not broken (Yet!)

Placing my designers hat on I just couldn't see why they didn't have a lighter coloured moulding at the end (although, as Skipton mentioned, it sounds as if they have on some models).

Might be cheeky enough to ask for one next time I'm in my stealers.

doctor
 
Another broken dipstick!

I managed to break my dipstick today. I think I can shed some light on how it happens. This forum and a Google search shows it to be a common problem. I also happened to look at an A2 which had a broken dipstick before I bought mine.

I changed the oil yesterday and went to check the level with a view to topping up to the max at lunchtime today. The engine had cooled down after my morning commute, and the air temp was about 10C, which may be relevant.

After wiping the dipstick I re-inserted it. As the plastic end bit negotiated a bend in its guide I heard a click & immediately realised it had probably broken; withdrawing it confirmed it.

Having previously read here that having the plastic end in the sump is nothing to worry about (thanks Mike) I felt I had no option but to push the dipstick back in to push the broken bit down into the sump. Later on I thought it would have been worth starting the engine to see if it would get blown out. Too late though :(

Obviously there's a design flaw, but a couple of thoughts may help others avoid the problem. I think it's caused by a weakness in the plastic end bit, which can get over-stressed and cause it to break off as it's pushed around the curve of its guide.

A contributory factor could be low temperatures, causing the plastic to become more brittle. Another could be that the flexible dipstick sets in a curve, to some extent, over time. I find it's easier to insert in one orientation than another because of this. In fact when I broke mine I felt I'd started to insert it "against the curve" and had just decided to pull it out a bit and turn it when it broke.

People can do 2 things to help prevent theirs from breaking:
1) Check levels when warm, as the manual states, a few minutes after the engine has stopped. The plastic will be less brittle.
2) Check the set/curve of the dipstick and insert with the curve rather than against it.

Mark
 
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