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Confused by dipstick!!

8K views 17 replies 12 participants last post by  Sir Baloney 
#1 ·
Checked my oil today as the electronic reader is fluctuating anywhere between 2 bars and full - only I still have no idea if I'm running low or not.

Took 5 readings and every single one was different - and to make things even more confusing each side of the dipstick gave a radically different reading each time. One side could be 'half full' and the other would be over the max level.

Anyone else have this problem???!:confused:
 
#5 ·
Mine was the same after changing the oil just after buying it . I think it's due to the god aweful mess in there when the EGR was working , chucking all sorts of crap back into the engine . Hopefully when I drain it again after 6 to 8000 miles , it'll be a bit cleaner . Either way , I know what's in there because I actually filled it up and it's not burning oil or I'd seee it .
Next fill will be cheap oil just for a few hundred miles , probably twice then I'll fill with the good stuff plus ZX1 Extralube.
My Landcruiser was never that dirty , strange ? The dip stick seems to get dragged as it's pulled out which moves the actual reading.
 
#9 ·
I get vague dip stick readings on my Spider 2.2 JTS. I think it's because of the curve of the dip stick tube. I suspect that the end of the dip stick has a tendency to scrape oil off of the walls of the tube and, in the process, it distorts the reading. If you think about it, that could certainly be the reason for one side showing way over MAX while the other side shows half full, for example. I'd go with the half full reading.

My normal technique on other cars has been to check oil after re-fueling by removing the stick, wiping it off, and then taking a reading. With most cars, this works fine. But with my Alfa I have recently started taking a reading on a cold engine before I leave my garage by quickly removing the dip stick and trying to get a good reading on the first look. The theory being that the oil has had a long time to drain out of the dip stick tube. Even then, taking subsequent "confirmation" readings leads to a certain amount of mystery, especially after I suspected a mechanic of over filling the sump.

You'd think that checking the oil would be a simple, straight forward procedure. But I'll have to say, my Alfa kind of irritates me with the way the dip stick seems to work. I do NOT completely trust the instrument panel oil level indicator.
 
#11 ·
I had the exact same problem with my Brera 2.2. Pretty sure the dipstick wasn't straight; I think it was bent a bit, possibly from being a bit too long? Anyway, I also suspected the dealer of having overfilled the engine at the start, and had them check it out. It turned out fine.

After about a year I pretty much gave up on checking the oil because the 2.2 never ever used a drop, not in the 5+ years I owned it in fact.

I get vague dip stick readings on my Spider 2.2 JTS. I think it's because of the curve of the dip stick tube. I suspect that the end of the dip stick has a tendency to scrape oil off of the walls of the tube and, in the process, it distorts the reading. If you think about it, that could certainly be the reason for one side showing way over MAX while the other side shows half full, for example. I'd go with the half full reading.
 
#14 ·
The sensor is at the front of the engine, I know this, as the roads are not flat round here, and the sensor always reads higher with the front end pointing down! :)
 
#18 ·
The sensor on my 2.2 is at the back of the sump.When I parked on a steep downward drive and left it for a couple of hours,on restart the dashboard lit up and told me to stop,there was no oil in the sump.As I knew it was full I restarted,reversed up the drive and all was fine.My engine,like others,has used no oil in 54,000+ miles.If only it had a duplex chain......
 
#16 ·
in order to have a proper reading , let the engine running for min. 5 minutes, then take the dipstick out and wait 5 minutes (with the dipstick out in order for the oil to go down). clean the dipstick and insert it for proper reading.
the first one will be correct.
 
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