Sharkbait

Strange problem. I go to pull out the dipstick and the metal sheath it slide into comes out with it. Now I cannot see where in the hell this thing goes back in? Any help is appreciated. Can it be driven this way or will it spew oil all over. Any local guys wanna come over I'll buy the beer so long as it'll save a trip to the shop.

Gretch

Take a flash light and shine it down where you pulled the stick from. The tube fits into a hole in the top of the oil pan. The tube should have a tab on it for a bolt, to attach it to the face of the block. Your bolt must have come loose. if you have a belly pan, The bolt is prolly rolling around down there. Do not drive around with out re-installing the tube... you will toss a lot of oil and you will also notice that your idle is high. that is because you have a vacuum leak with the stick out, or the tube removed. Five minute job to put it back in, easier if the pan is off and the car is on a lift......but can be done from the top down...

Garth S

..... and pay attention to the (O-ring) seal : it should still be in place in a recess in the pan - but may have parted company with the tube. Anyway, it must be in place to do the obvious ....

jpitman2

I though the stick tube screwed into the pan? IIRC thats how I removed it when I did the belt and pump....maybe its just CRS kicking in - Cant Remember S....
jp 83 Euro S AT 49k

Sharkbait

Well I got it back in but I can't find the bolt. Anyone know what size it is? Also, not sure if I have the O-ring or not I didn't see it on the steel tube and not sure if I saw it around the opening on the oil pan.

Garth S

The bolt is standard metric M6, probably 25mm long. JP is correct in that some tubes thread in ( if they have a straight shaft with a nut and threads on the end - often a dead give away .. ) - the rest are curved and have a welded on tab at mid point for the M6 bolt.

colin505

Having just replaced my dipstick tube o ring I can say the bolt is M6, but I would estimate that the thread length was around 10mm so a M6x25 is probably too long.

I don't know how tight the o ring fit should be. Mine seemed to be quite a loose fit, so I hope it is ok. Also took some time trying to fish out what I thought was the old o ring which turns out to be something like RTV sealant.

Hope this helps

Colin

88S4

SteveG

Will you people PLEASE put the MY in your sig? I assume Gretch knows Sharkbait and his car, otherwise how can he comment?? Mine does not have an o-ring or M6 bolt. Mine simply threads into the pan with a al washer. It drives me nuts trying to figure out what applies to my car and what doesn't when I don't know the MY of the car being diagnosed. Mostly when I don't know the MY, I just exit that thread.

Gretch

So exit this one......Lighten up francis.

FlyingDog

Sharkbait, you're lucky. I have the threaded type. Like every other threaded part on my car, it wouldn't come out, so I had to bend the tube to get the timing covers off.

Steve, lighten up. Non-members don't get sigs anymore.