Oil Dipstick Extension

Due to major arthritis in both shoulders I am finding it increasingly difficult to worm my way down into the engine space/room to do my routine oil checks and wish to extend or replace my dipstick tube and dipstick so as I can reach it from a floor hatch. The distance from the block to the access area is about 1 metre and I would appreciate any ideas on a good way to go about this. My engine is a Ford over.

Phil23 said:

Due to major arthritis in both shoulders I am finding it increasingly difficult to worm my way down into the engine space/room to do my routine oil checks and wish to extend or replace my dipstick tube and dipstick so as I can reach it from a floor hatch. The distance from the block to the access area is about 1 metre and I would appreciate any ideas on a good way to go about this. My engine is a Ford over.

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Don't extend the tube. It will throw out the level reading. You need to look at adding an extension to the dipstick itself. Even then, by the time you got the dipstick up to you, gravity will drag the oil giving a false reading also, plus the added joy of oil dripping in to the bilge.

Maybe look at it from a different angle. Instead of bringing the dipstick to you, take a mirror to the tube. Grab one of those inspection mirrors that are on the telescopic rods. Fix a length of dowel on the dipstick, pull the dipstick and view it with the mirror, or invest in a grandson lol.

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How about something like this that even has added benefits...

Intelligent Dipstick Prevents Engine Failures

A Real-Time Oil Analysis System that Protects Investments and Extends Oil Changes

Read more: Intelligent Dipstick Prevents Engine Failures - Diesel Power Magazine

The intellistick.com site in the article no longer works.

Ted

O C Diver said:

The intellistick.com site in the article no longer works. Ted

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Musta been a crap invention then HAHA

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Extending the dipstick tube and making a longer dipstick is the way to go IMHO. Of course, it is essential that the "hi-low" mark on the new (extended) stick is in the right place. How you extend the tube would be dictated by the construction of the exisiting one - perhaps a copper extension tube, flared at the top end, sleeved to the existing and suitable braced to prevent movement. I have seen long Caterpillar dipsticks made of a flexible spring with a little piece of dipstick "blade" on the end carrying the hi-low marks. Craftsman sells a 24" long pick-up tool for around $9.00. The outer sleeve from two (well, one and a half actually) of these tools could be joined to make a flexi dipstick like the Cat ones. To calibrate, get the oil level right according to the original dipstick then adjust the new one to read accordingly. Easier to say than to do, but that's the idea. Let us know what you eventually come up with.

I've made a few dipstick extensions. All's that's needed is a tube of some sort coupled to the existing tube, or into the hole in the block. Standard hdw store stuff. If tube is straight, I've used a 308SS welding rod as a stick. It's round, so I beat a little flat into it where the operating oil level should be. Or just scratch marks, whatever. Machined a bolt as a handle, with a hole drilled for rod. A tack weld on top to hold it together. Even if tube is a little curved, the weld rod (abt 1/8"dia) will take some flexing.

Cummins uses soooper long dipsticks on some of their B-motors (I actually bitch about them), but you could buy one (and its plastic tube) and adapt that.

Before you start taking stuff apart, measure oil level with existing stick so you know where to mark new stick.

There calculations for where to make the marks on a dipstick. Things like the angle the motor sits in relation to level. Or just put in the required amount of oil and make your mark.

skipperdude said:

There calculations for where to make the marks on a dipstick. Things like the angle the motor sits in relation to level. Or just put in the required amount of oil and make your mark.

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If I put the "required amount" of oil in my engine I overfill it and have to remove some.

Sucking the old oil out (as per the manual) doesn't remove all of it.

Still as. Close as you can get without carful calculations.
Say you lost your dip stick overboard.
How would one place the marks?

skipperdude said:

Still as. Close as you can get without carful calculations.
Say you lost your dip stick overboard.
How would one place the marks?

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The way you said..you do have to be smart enough to realize what you are maintaining by the way you do things....

Many engine these days use LOOOOONG dipsticks. My Ford P/u dipper has to be three or four feet. It's freezing so, no, I'm not going out to measure. It has a crosshatched bulb on it to hold the oil and make the level easily visible.

I've seen some Cummins ones and they too are long.

I suspect there is no reason you couldn't adapt something like that.

Hello Mr. Phil23, Perhaps my experience may be of help. One of my hobbies has been the restoration and re-building of inboard gas engines, more particularly the Volvo-Penta 5.7L of late '80,s vintage. I have been using the OSCO type of exhaust manifold instead of the V-P primarily of the weight issue. The V-P is a massive, heavy unit whereas the OSCO type is much lighter. However, the OSCO fits closer to the block / heads and will not allow adequate clearance for the dipstick as designed by GM to fit. So, I tried bending new tubes to work around the manifold without success. I discovered that dipstick tubing must be of a type and size that is only available to GM!

One day whilst trawling thru the internet I came across a special type of dipstick tube used by the auto racing folks that consists of a flexible, SS braided tube of varying lengths that allow the positioning of a dipstick just about anywhere. Really neat - can be fairly expensive. I found out that if you poke around on the internet long enough you can find someone that is selling stuff for less!

I am posting some pics of my solution in hope this may help you. I also discovered that if you bend a tube in more than one plane you will need a dipstick with a round cross-section. The flat ones will only follow a single plane curve. I noted the length of existing dipstick that enters the block and added the length of my new tube then went to NAPA and got a dipstick of that length or longer. Worked like a charm.