General Dip Stick oil leak sorted!

[andyrousecar]

With my limited mechanical knowledge I feel I have definitely got to the bottom of the dip stick issue following a good thrash over Barbondale the other evening with no oil leak whatsoever.
The O-ring is not expected to have any mechanical strength at all, it's just a seal and only acts as one if the dip stick is held secure in the crank case by the V form of the dip stick design. I have found that the tension created by the V needs adjusting every time the dip stick has been taken out by slightly exaggerating the V with pliers.
The additional problem I was suffering from was that the dip stick is a seperate part to the collar that has the O-ring on it and the dip stick was vibrating enough that it was traveling through the collar so the V profile was no longer in the crankcase hole therefore the O-ring could no longer provide enough friction to keep the assembly together.......got it?
I fitted a simple retainer on the dip stick part against the O-ring collar (see picture) this stops the dip stick shaft being able to pass through the O-ring collar, no more oil leaks.

 

[Bleeding Knuckles]

Hi Andy, I too have had a leak from the same area and found with my type of dipstick (later 126) the rubber or plastic bung that the simple metal rod passes through had hardened and shrunk until it no longer maintained a good seal. It's amazing just how much oil can be lost with a bad fitting item, anyway I've bought two replacement rubber bung's so I can sleep a little easier knowing I'm not dumping my oil onto the road!!

Ian.

 

[fiat500]

Has anyone worked out a simple modification to secure the dipstick but still make it easy to take out regularly?
Mine is an original, which normally has a very good seal although it does rotate in the hole a little from time to time and then I hear it rattle on the heatshield.
That happened today a bit louder than usual accompanied by a faint smell of burning oil. the reason was obvious; I've been watching too many rallying videos of Steyr-Puchs and now the ignition is sorted, Murf's performance has "rallied" quite significantly. So I was thrashing him and made the dial go past 60mph and kept at 60 for about two miles on the straight flat So just the sheer amount of engine activity and pressure popped the stick up a fraction.

 

[the hobbler]

maybe I have just been very lucky, but I have a 126/500R type dipstick in my 650 engine, and never suffered any leak from the dipstick area. has anybody tried of these dipsticks (they have a much bigger sealing rubber on them) to see how that works---and they are cheaper than the 500 'bent-metal' dip-sticks!

 

[fiat500]

I'll see if it fits Tom as I have one of those.
I'll report back after a medium length spin I have planned tomorrow....I'll take the current one as well though and I suppose I'll have to go high speed too if I going to do a fair comparison.

 

[fiat500]

I'll see if it fits Tom as I have one of those.
I'll report back after a medium length spin I have planned tomorrow....I'll take the current one as well though and I suppose I'll have to go high speed too if I going to do a fair comparison.

Disappointment....that one is a blind alley as I am sure others already know. There is no way I can stuff the later dipstick in the 500 crankcase hole and in any case, the markings for oil levels might be a bit out.:bang:
I'll just have to drive more sedately.

 

[Toshi 975]

If you have a sloppy dipstick (I can see the potential for humour here !) you need to get it sorted as the dipstick on a 500 will wear the crankcase and make it even harder to get a seal. I would also worry a little about repeated bending of the dipstick as metal fatigue will set in and you will end up with unwanted bits of free metal in the sump. I have come across this a couple of times. An easy quick fix for the 650 engines where the rubber seal hardens and wears is to get some smal o-rings and slip them over the worn seal while you wait to get a new seal

 

[fiat500]

Thanks Dave. I hadn't thought of the wear and tear...at least my orifice is well lubricated down there which should keep that to a minimum.
Call me stupid (please do) but I had thought that there was some clever interference fit where the taper of the "O"-ring plug meets the sides of the hole. So I have never tried bending the spring-loaded bit. I did that very carefully just enough to improve the grip and voila! a non-sloppy dipstick. It should last for a while and then I always have the brand new one as a spare that I put to one side as it was loose from new.

 

[Luxe]

I was too cheap to order a new rubber piece as shipping is more than the piece costs, so I just degreased the plug and stick and epoxied mine. Viola, no more engine oil spray in the engine bay!