[chirpn69]

So I pulled out my dipstick this morning while getting gas and noticed that @ the bottom 4 inches is gone what happened? Any ideas?

I pulled the tube when I got home and still no sign of the missing tip

For everyones info it was a cheap Mr gasket piece from Taiwan and that is probably the root of the problem but what broke it off.

Could I be that much of a gorilla that i broke it off putting it back in. I don't remember it going in with enough resistance to break it.

 

[327NUT]

Hard to tell what broke it but obviously it needs to come out. Depending on where your drain plug is I would jack up the car as high as possible to promote the quickest drain flow and hope the broken off piece gets drawn down near the plug. Then try to fish it out with a magnet.......and get a better dipstick.

 

[Will H]

Might be that the stick was jammed against the bottom of the pan and the vibration found a flaw in it.

 

[Henry Highrise]

Maybe the stick was bent a little and the crankshaft was hitting it and wore it in two.

 

[66GMC]

I was thinking the same as Henry, but you surely would have heard it rubbing ... unless it was a sudden "jolt" that snapped it off.

Our little NAPA truck (97 Ranger 4.0L V6) sounded REALLY bad ... we thought the cam gear was rubbing on the front cover. You guessed it ... dipstick rubbing on the crank!

Was the engine running when you re-inserted the stick? (That doesn't make sense ... who checks their oil with the engine running? :embarrass )

What does the tip look like ... broken or worn?
Any sign of heat from friction?

 

[Will H]

If the end of the stick that you have left is broken smooth without burrs then it broke from long term fatigue. If it's rough it broke from some kind of shock like a crank counter weight hitting it.

 

[camaroman7d]

This is not uncommon. It is usually caused by people not installing the lower half of the dipstick tube (the part that goes into the block and down to the oil pan). Without the lower half of the tube the dipstick can and will hit the crank. The small piece that broke off is really no danger but, you can probably drag it over to the drain hole with a magnet. The piece is too big to get into the oil pump so no worries there.