TA dip stick for engine oil.
- Thread starter The Panda Nut
- Start date
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TA dip stick for engine oil.
It’s obviously stealth oil on an even more stealthy stick
OP
OP
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Thats a polite way of putting it!
Your photo is focused on the floor rather than the sticks so I can't make out what material you used for the home made one? I painted my dipstick white but you still can't read it properly so would be nice to make a home made one like yours...
In most Fiats I've had since the spiral and top plastic handle with 'O' ring had been dreadful to read. You wipe them clean and they get oil on them as you insert them. The flat blade end angle when used has variable results. Also garages often overfill so oil goes above max and you can't work out what the real level is compared to just getting oil on the spiral rod from the tube.
I overcome/reduce these problems by:
o remove and clean
o orientate the blade to vertical position
o insert only as far as/until the plastic handle boss touches the tube rim
o withdraw and read - where is the oil?
o clean and repeat this time to the 'O' ring touches the rim
o finally repeat this last time to all the way down
Generally speaking the dip stick top end plastic is about the same length as the blade low/max distance. The 'O' ring is 50% up.
The three step process allow you to clearly see the oil level changes and are able to far better judge the real level especially if the final level is high on the stick.
I don't mind a small overfill and with the process can also judge the overfill.
I overcome/reduce these problems by:
o remove and clean
o orientate the blade to vertical position
o insert only as far as/until the plastic handle boss touches the tube rim
o withdraw and read - where is the oil?
o clean and repeat this time to the 'O' ring touches the rim
o finally repeat this last time to all the way down
Generally speaking the dip stick top end plastic is about the same length as the blade low/max distance. The 'O' ring is 50% up.
The three step process allow you to clearly see the oil level changes and are able to far better judge the real level especially if the final level is high on the stick.
I don't mind a small overfill and with the process can also judge the overfill.
That seems a sensible way to get a pretty accurate reading. Still doesn't excuse the crappy designs that Fiat uses. A flat piece of spring steel would be so much better.
OP
OP
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Coat hanger. Bent to form a handle at the top so it cannot fall into the engine, The rod is the same as the stick on the cars cap. A flat gound onto the stick so the flat exactly corresponds to the measurement area. Stangely a steel rod (as used by sensible car makers for over 100 years) actually works, unlike the oil coloured plastic stick in the TA that repels oil almost completely .
I have seen nothing on my dipstick and also seen it apparently overfilled, only to find the real level is as expected i.e. at the max mark. Oddly its awkward to feed the homemade stick down into the sump. I just hang the stick on the garage wall. Without a garage it would be a thing needing a home under the bonnet somewhere and a pain.
The steel stick you can see oil exactly on the flattened area.
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