HELP! Broken oil dipstick
 

I broke my oil dipstick today while trying to pull it out.
I'm left with the plastic handle and the rubber seal in my hand.
A small piece of plastic is still lodged in the oil dipstick tube.
If I push it, it might drop down deeper into the dipstick tube.

How do I remove it? Pliers, Forceps, super glue and chopstick, remove the entire tube (this difficult)?

I already have a new oil dipstick w/ new tube ordered.

Say if I drove the car for now, would you advise against it due to the pressure being released and all with no dip stick plug?? :cry::cry::cry:

Any advice will be highly appreciated.

I drive a 1998 LX Honda Civic 4dr.

Re: HELP! Broken oil dipstick
 

Any chance you could put an awl pick or small flat head in the tube and lever the remnants out? Worst case scenario involves dropping the oil pan, which isn't the end of the world.

Re: HELP! Broken oil dipstick
 

I *could* be wrong about this, but I think the dipstick tube will come out, it should have two o-rings on the bottom that keep it sealed.

Try putting PB blaster on the bottom of the tube and gently twisting/pulling.

Re: HELP! Broken oil dipstick
 

or drop your oil pan and pull it out the other direction. if it is still sealed in the tube it should be fine to drive around with. that sucks though.

Re: HELP! Broken oil dipstick
 

I had this happen to me.
suggestions
1) superglue a pencil to the broken end. *be careful to not superglue the tube*
2) shop vac
3) carefully put a small screw---

Personally what I did...drop the oil pan, its probably time for a new oil pan gasket anyhow. the pan is like 20 small nuts...comes off in 5 mins...then it will come right out.

As far as driving without the stick........I drove with it for 15k miles.... no problems, aside from not being able to check the oil.

Re: HELP! Broken oil dipstick
 

I'd pull the exhaust manifold and remove the entire dipstick tube from the block before I'd remove the oil pan, unless the pan gasket was leaking and needed replacement.

If the dipstick were to fall down here (Disclaimer: '95 D15B7 shown):

Attachment 452269

it would likely fall into a corresponding hole in the oil pan baffle:

Attachment 452270

bottom out against the oil pan and be trapped there and not cause any harm. It should stay clear of any moving parts. Then you could still pull the dipstick tube to get it out.

The dipstick tube is a press fit into the block I believe. Grabbing the tube with some vise grips and turning/pulling would likely get it out however be warned I had to have someone twist while I banged it out from inside with a punch while it was on an engine stand and even then it was stubborn. Take care not to damage any nearby components like the AC condenser.

Your best bet is to coax it out from above. You may want to remove the exaust manifold for easier access.

First I would definitely try as someone mentioned a sharp awl or some other pointy tool/small screwdriver to try and pry the broken dipstick out. You could also try to thread a sharp drywall screw or something down the side and then yank the screw with vise grips to jerk the dipstick upward.

Maybe some pointy hemostats can grab it.

You could try a super strong magnet.

You could partially crush the dipstick tube end with vise grips to make it oval shaped and have room on either side to probe/pry/grasp the dispstick end, then squeeze it to reshape it round.

Use a dremel to carefully remove about 1/8 inch from the end of the tube to expose enough dipstick to grab.

You could use a small torch and burn away part of the rubber plug and then grasp the metal portion with needle nose pliers or hemostats.

You could try to shoot a blast of compressed air into the crankcase breather hose and see if it shoots it out (you risk shooting out your main and oil pump seals as well).

You could carefully drill a small hole in the side of the tube right where the plug part of the dipstick is and use that to insert a pointy tool/awl angled down and then pry up (hopefully taking the metal particles with it). Afterwards clean with acetone and seal with epoxy (JB Weld).

<insert other ideas here>

Re: HELP! Broken oil dipstick
 

You guys are awesome people. Thank you so much.

Re: HELP! Broken oil dipstick
 

the dipstick tubes should pull right out

Re: HELP! Broken oil dipstick
 

Always keep in mind the object is not to drop any foreign material into the oil pan (in this case down the dipstick tube). All it takes is one hard particle or blocked oil journal to really mess up your motor.