Thread: Broken Dip Stick - SOOOO Worried - Pan Removal?

Hoping for advice, tips, thoughts. Anyone else have this happen?

Last week I changed my oil. Last night I went to check the oil level, on general purpose & for piece of mind. I pulled the dip stick out, wipe it clean, stuck the dip stick back in the tube, pulled it out, & the yellow plastic stopper(?) with the rubber o-ring seal was gone.....

It was still in the oil level tube / oil pan - f'n thing came off the end of the dip stick.

I terrified of where a piece of it might end up. So I haven't moved or started it. Today after work I jacked up the front end & crawled under it to to see what it would take to drop the oil pan in hopes of finding the plastic & rubber pieces.

I'm not in a very good mood. Seems like a lot of stuff has to come off to get the pan out, and not even sure where to start?

Can anyone chime in? Would rolling engine make the pan / bolts accessible? I'm worried a piece broken crap might get past the oil pump filter, & clog or ruin the oil pump? I can't afford a catstrophic failure. Am I being paranoid?

Any help, does & don'ts, is greatly appreciated!

Ok, thanks. I was thinking of removing the tube. I'll give it a shot. But, I'm afraid the pieces are in pieces, the dip stick slides completely into the tube, with no resistance, it's not like the dip stick hitting any pieces in the tube.

I need to drain the oil before removing tube, right?

Hey B. Ya, I'm sure. It was on there when I put the dip stick in the tube, pulled it out 2 seconds later, & it was not. I didn't even blink. Felt like I was kicked in the gut. The top / handle of the dip stick was chipped / broken when I got the car, the plastic was very brittle. It was one of the first things I noticed when I first popped the hood. I thought, "just replace it, no big deal", then when I pulled it out and saw it had stopper / o-ring seal, I said "no worries, the oil is safe down there." urggg

I thought about trying to drain it in hopes the pieces would fall out, but that seemed like a gamble.

lol, Bill, I didn't think of that, the plastic should float.

Thanks guys, one and all, you come thru again, your the best.

I'll make time between tonight and tomorrow night and report back.

So I removed the tube and it was clear. So I changed the oil and oil filter (why not at this point), and no sign of any pieces or parts. I know the oil pump has a screen, but I have never actually held one in my hand, so I didn't know how fine it filters, my main concern was hurting the pump. I was kind of expecting to find them in the oil, but I'm going to stop being a worry-wort and just let it go.

I used a vaccumn line connector to help "seal" the dip stick in the tube, perfect fit at the tube and it streches pretty tight around the dip stick. Seals good enough for me to start and warm the engine up w/o blowing oil out. Good enough for me to put a few miles on it with no problems so far--knock on wood. I ordred new dip stick for $9.

Again, THANKS!