Help with a (2001) rusted and broken dipstick tube

[Gareth C]

My wife has a 2001 Yaris Hatchback 1.3. Its coming up to its MOT I've hit a problem. The dipstick had slightly rusted into its tube and when I pulled to dislodge it. The plastic handles snapped leaving the dipstick in the tube and me with no way to remove the stick or check the oil level. The top of the dipstick that i can see in the tube looks rusted in place. Has anyone else had this problem. 

How difficult is it to replace the tube myself or is this a job for a garage? 

In the mean time should I be worried about the Oil level. It has no warning lights on or anything but I'm not a fan driving around not knowing what the oil level is like.  

[DerekHa]

Hi Gareth,

The dipstick wouldn't be inspected as part of the MOT so no rush to get it fixed before hand. If you have no oil wanring light coming on then would think there's enough oil in the sump at least up to the minium mark. Very unusual to have corrosion start inside at dipstick tube could it be that the dipstick has got twisted at some point?

Have never had or heard of a dipstick getting stuck/rusted inside it's tube. As the plastic has broken off are you able to get a good pair of locking pliers (molegrips) on to the metal of the drip stick and give it a good tug., lock them on as tight as you can. Would be an idea to get some penetrating oil in the tube and let it soak for a while before trying. You'll be needing a new dipstick at least but would think a used one would be good.

[Gareth C]

Thank you for the quick reply, at work at the moment without the car but will take a look when i get home to see if I can get it out with pliers. 

I have some regular WD40 at home, think that is good enough or should i try and get something else. 

The car was SORNed for a couple of years during lockdowns so i think corrosion got into a few bits. I want to get it fully checked and serviced next but I'm trying to fix what i can first to lower the costs. 

[Bper]

 

Hi Derek,

If the above doesn't work try long nose pliers they may be narrow enough to grab hold of the top of the broken dipstick.👍

[DerekHa]

Hi again Gareth,

I imagined your dipstick tube would be simlar to the one that fitted to my partners 2006 C1 with the 3 cylinder engine, they're a seperate tube that's bolted to the engine with a bracket but looking at the Mk1 Yaris vvti engine from 1999 to 2005 the dipstick goes striaght through the alloy rocker cover so not as easy as I imagined.

Still think locking pliers are the best option for you. WD40 should be good enough but it's not a true penetrating  oil, GT85 may work better.  Don't use ordinary  pliers as they likely slip off as they won't grip tight enough! Is the car a runner by the way?

As Bper suggested long nosed pliers may help if there's not much to get on to.

Good luck Gareth and keep us posted.

[Cyker]

I think you'll need some surgical forceps to get that out - Even needle-nose pliers will probably be too big to fit in the tube!!

I'm a bit worried that it's rusted in tho' - That suggests the oil level hasn't been checked in a very very long time...!

 

[Gareth C]

Got sent some pictures to show what it is looking like. 

this is what it looked like to start with 

 

 

Then a narrow flat head screwdriver was used to scrap out the visible crud around the edges which just flaked away. Now it looks like this. So it seems the plastic handle broke and there is still a healthy chunk of the plastic part in the tube. I don't think any of my pliers are going to fit the gap between the plastic nub and the side of the tube. 

 

[Gareth C]

33 minutes ago, DerekHa said:

Is the car a runner by the way?

As Bper suggested long nosed pliers may help if there's not much to get on to.

Yes the car is running fine, its showing its age a bit with some lost power compared to when we first got it 14 years ago but its pretty solid. Hoping to keep it running for a few more years. 

I might need to get some new pliers and at that point if i need to buy stuff to possibly fix it myself I'm tempted to get a garage to quote for the work. 

[Cyker]

Argh even forceps or tweezers would have a hard time there. That's going to be tricky. If that's plastic you might be able to drill into it with a pin-vice deep enough to use a small screw to pull it out, but it might also push it deeper

[Stivino]

Remove the outer tube, easy peasy.

[Cyker]

Hah, apparently this has happened before!

 

[DerekHa]

There are some Youtube video's covering similar broken dipsticks:-

If the dipstick tube is held by a bracket and the tube is external to the engine unbolt the tube and remove it with the dipstick inside and once out push the dipstick up and out of the tube. Refit the tube and get yourself a new dipstick, seems these are likely breaking as the plastic goes brittle with time and use.

Alternatively get a small HSS drill bit in a cordless drill and drill down into the end of the snapped plastic dipstick you can see down the tube. Find a long self tapping screw and carefully screw it down into the broken end, let the screw bite without putting too much force on the plastic then get some grips on the screw and pull striaght up.

Worth looking at Youtiube as there's several methods shown to get this done

[DerekHa]

Just taken a close look at those images Gareth. Have never seen corrosion like that around a dipstick!

If the dipstick tube can be removed unbolt the whole thing and take it out!

If not try the following:-

Doubt you'll ever get any type of pliers onto whats left inside the tube. Drilling the yellow plastic remnant would likely be the best option, Go for a 1/8in or 3mm hss drill bite and try to keep the drill running slow and down the centre. Put a suitable self tapper in there using a screwdriver until it tightens up. Clean as much of the corrosion out as you carefully so the inner part of the tube is smooth then apply some WD40 and leave it to soak a few minutes then try and grips/pliers or wire snips under the head of your screw and apply even gentle pressure upwards.

[flash22]

As above soak the base of the dip stick for a few hours, go back to it and spray it again 1 bolt in the block, wiggle and pull

or give it a screw.................. a self tapper or chipboard/drywall screw in the end of the stick

 

The question is on a 2001 is that a Japanese built car VIN starts with JT or French built VIN starts with VNK, i suspect it's a Jap one as the 1.3 was produced from 05/2002 in France (2SZFE) and from 1999 in Japan making it a 2NZFE engine

As you will need a new O ring for the tube