Nope. The only part of the dipstick that touches the dipstick tube is the O ring. I can only assume that it fused itself to the inside of the tube.
Anyone else ever break a dipstick???
After years of getting help from this forum, I can finally give back.
It all started with a simple oil change....(a familiar start to an involved, sometimes expensive story, huh?)
I use a topsider to suck the oil out so I have to remove the dipstick. It usually pulls right out but this time it didn't. I give a couple of extra tugs and twists on it only to have the pull ring crack off around my finger.
Now, I cant pull it out, so I grab the top of the dipstick around the edges with a pliers and carefully try to get it to break free by moving it left to right. The only part that broke free was the top of the dipstick leaving the rest of it in the dipstick tube below the top with nothing at all to grab.
My final solution was to CAREFULLY drill small holes around the perimeter of the dipstick. After I CAREFULLY drilled the holes, I drilled one more closer to the center and put a sheetrock screw in it, just deep enough to have a couple of threads grab to give me something to pull on. Too deep would risk cracking the remaining dipstick and having it fall down the tube. YIKES! Sure enough, it worked.
Yes, I could have removed the dipstick tube from the block, but that involves breaking the seal between the tube and the block and hoping the O ring stays on the tube and not in the block and having debris from the block fall in. Its tight and dark down there and full of little Service Advisers telling you how big a job it is to drop the oil pan to clear out the pieces of O ring as the car is being unloaded from the flatbed.
Attached are the pics of the dipstick after I got it out. You'll see the holes around the perimeter and the screw. Sorry I didn't think to grab a few pics before I started.
Things to watch out for:
DONT ALLOW ANYTHING TO FALL DOWN THE DIPSTICK TUBE WHEN YOU DRILL!!!!
After drilling the perimeter holes and putting the screw in, use a vacuum to clean out the drilling debris before attempting to pull it out.
Dont drill too deep. You don't want to drill past the rubber O ring.
Im not surprised that eventually, the plastic top of the dipstick got brittle from the years of high heat. I don't know why the dipstick got stuck in the first place, but when I put the new one in, I put oil on the O ring and will continue to do that every time I pull the dipstick out.
Got the OE replacement dipstick from KO Performance, $25 delivered to my door.
Hope this helps someone who might be in the same jammup. Love my CLK!
It all started with a simple oil change....(a familiar start to an involved, sometimes expensive story, huh?)
I use a topsider to suck the oil out so I have to remove the dipstick. It usually pulls right out but this time it didn't. I give a couple of extra tugs and twists on it only to have the pull ring crack off around my finger.
Now, I cant pull it out, so I grab the top of the dipstick around the edges with a pliers and carefully try to get it to break free by moving it left to right. The only part that broke free was the top of the dipstick leaving the rest of it in the dipstick tube below the top with nothing at all to grab.
My final solution was to CAREFULLY drill small holes around the perimeter of the dipstick. After I CAREFULLY drilled the holes, I drilled one more closer to the center and put a sheetrock screw in it, just deep enough to have a couple of threads grab to give me something to pull on. Too deep would risk cracking the remaining dipstick and having it fall down the tube. YIKES! Sure enough, it worked.
Yes, I could have removed the dipstick tube from the block, but that involves breaking the seal between the tube and the block and hoping the O ring stays on the tube and not in the block and having debris from the block fall in. Its tight and dark down there and full of little Service Advisers telling you how big a job it is to drop the oil pan to clear out the pieces of O ring as the car is being unloaded from the flatbed.
Attached are the pics of the dipstick after I got it out. You'll see the holes around the perimeter and the screw. Sorry I didn't think to grab a few pics before I started.
Things to watch out for:
DONT ALLOW ANYTHING TO FALL DOWN THE DIPSTICK TUBE WHEN YOU DRILL!!!!
After drilling the perimeter holes and putting the screw in, use a vacuum to clean out the drilling debris before attempting to pull it out.
Dont drill too deep. You don't want to drill past the rubber O ring.
Im not surprised that eventually, the plastic top of the dipstick got brittle from the years of high heat. I don't know why the dipstick got stuck in the first place, but when I put the new one in, I put oil on the O ring and will continue to do that every time I pull the dipstick out.
Got the OE replacement dipstick from KO Performance, $25 delivered to my door.
Hope this helps someone who might be in the same jammup. Love my CLK!
