broken dipstick

[sparrow2]

I check my oil level, coolant level, brake fluid level, Battery condition hole, washer level and tyre pressure once a week. For the oil I pull out the dipstick, wipe it with a paper towel, put it back in and pull it out again before checking. Well after seven and three quarter years of doing this I had a shock last Saturday - the end of the dipstick broke off when I wiped it! I have ordered a new dipstick and it will be £16.98. I can only imagine it is metal fatigue. 377 wipes with a paper towel is just too much for it!

I then checked my owner's manual. Nowhere does it actually say you should do these things once a week. I just always have with cars that I have owned. For example if I only did this once a month then presumably the dipstick would have lasted 31 years which would have been quite sufficient!

I attach a picture of the broken end.

 

 

[fordulike]

At least you've been lucky it didn't break off inside the engine 😨

[craggle]

Is it the braided wire that has broken or just the cast metal?

My dipstick is made from a braided wire and this seems to run right to the end of the cast metal bits making it fairly robust. Just wondering if the wire stopped short of the end on your one?

Craig.

 

[sparrow2]

4 hours ago, fordulike said:

At least you've been lucky it didn't break off inside the engine 😨

That happened to my previous car! I had it for 10 years in total. It probably broke at the same sort of age as this one. The garage found the broken end in the oil filter at its next service. It makes me think modern dipsticks are no longer designed to be taken out once a week!

[sparrow2]

2 hours ago, craggle said:

Is it the braided wire that has broken or just the cast metal?

My dipstick is made from a braided wire and this seems to run right to the end of the cast metal bits making it fairly robust. Just wondering if the wire stopped short of the end on your one?

Craig.

 

I think it is the cast metal that broke. There is no sign of cable in the broken bit. The cable only protruded about 1mm from the other cast metal bit. When I get my new one I will post a side by side photo of the new one and two bits of the old one.

[Helisupp]

The IQ2 has a stainless steel strip dipstick....or is it just mine..............

[sparrow2]

19 minutes ago, Helisupp said:

The IQ2 has a stainless steel strip dipstick....or is it just mine..............

Yes that is correct. I have an iQ3 and that has the dipstick with the bit on the end. I will post a picture later of the new one and the two bits of the old one side by side.

[sparrow2]

I got my new dipstick today. I laid it out in the utility room with its broken counterpart beside it. I could see the problem. The broken one was about halfway between full and low longer than the new one. 377 wipes downwards with a paper towel had made it longer and then the end, no longer with a wire inside it, broke off! I attach a photo. I shall be a lot more careful wiping the new one! Fortunately I had topped up the oil relatively recently from halfway between full and low (actually low) to full (actually halfway between full and low) and so I do not think it had ever been below the real low mark. I will top it up properly again soon (engine warm, on a flat surface and having waited five minutes with the engine off).

[sparrow2]

I checked the oil level properly today with the new dipstick in. It was half way between low and full as I suspected it might be. I topped it up to full. I am now thinking about the best way of making sure the same thing does not happen in another seven years. It may be possible to just measure the length of it and check from time to time. However it is such a long wobbly thing this may not be as easy as you might think.

[craggle]

I used to own a Range Rover and I used to check oil and water every week. It was a 4.6 V8 and that needed a close watch on the levels as it did use oil and water. 

When I replaced it with the iQ I carried on as before, once a week but soon got bored as it never changed! Now check it every month or two and it still barely needs topping up. 

Craig.

[Helisupp]

Our first IQ2 (wish we never sold it) did 60,000 miles, and the oil level NEVER changed between services.

The used IQ2 model we just purchased with 27000 miles on the clock will probably be the same.

Just fitted an as new set of IQ3 wheels to the car (£133 bargain on ebay), looks a lot better.

 

 

 

[JayG]

On 8/8/2018 at 11:29 PM, sparrow2 said:

 

bit random but you only seem to be wearing one shoe 😀

[sparrow2]

4 hours ago, JayG said:

bit random but you only seem to be wearing one shoe 😀

Yes it is not a very good photograph. I should have shown just the ends of the two dipsticks. Then what happened would have been clearer.

[sparrow2]

On ‎8‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 10:17 AM, craggle said:

I used to own a Range Rover and I used to check oil and water every week. It was a 4.6 V8 and that needed a close watch on the levels as it did use oil and water. 

When I replaced it with the iQ I carried on as before, once a week but soon got bored as it never changed! Now check it every month or two and it still barely needs topping up. 

Craig.

 

5 hours ago, Helisupp said:

Our first IQ2 (wish we never sold it) did 60,000 miles, and the oil level NEVER changed between services.

The used IQ2 model we just purchased with 27000 miles on the clock will probably be the same.

Just fitted an as new set of IQ3 wheels to the car (£133 bargain on ebay), looks a lot better.

 

 

 

My iQ3 did not use very much oil for its first 60,000 miles. Now it is needing a top-up between services to keep the oil over the low mark. It is at 70,000 now. It is about three quarters the way to its next service and in total I have put 1.25 litres of oil in since its last service to get the level back to max. It always used a little between services before but not enough to necessitate topping up to keep the level above low - it would drop from about full to half way between full and low between services at the worst. When it was brand new the coolant level went down by a cm in the reservoir which I topped up with Toyota pre-mixed coolant but since then it has never been off the max mark at all even at 70,000 miles! I like to keep my eye on the coolant level because a drop could be a sign of something like the water pump needing replacing - something well worth catching early to avoid a catastrophe. I have a car allowance from work and have to fill in an assessment each year. As well as having to answer yes/no to what I do at the moment you have to answer yes/no to checking all the lights before every trip! I answer no to that one with an explanation as to why it is a bit OTT. My manager counter signs the form and never complains about what I write. After all he has to fill in the same form himself! One question I remember was "Do you carry anything dangerous". I answered "yes" with an explanation it was petrol in the fuel tank! Everyone in the department had a good laugh about that!