Chrysler oil dipsticks breaking off

[92saturnsl2]

I bought my 2007 Pacifica back in 2018 and one of the first few times I pulled the oil dipstick the handle broke off. Getting the dipstick out wasn't difficult and the new part was some $20 or so.

Five years later, I have to use enough effort to pull the dang thing out that I'm confident it's going to snap again. It's not the o-ring, it's the plastic that seems to expand over time that makes it difficult to get in/out of the metal tube. I've tried vasoline, oil, etc but that thing is jamb stuck in there.

Is this a common problem for Chrysler vehicles of this vintage, and does any part exist that won't do this? I'm contemplating filing away some of the plastic under the O-ring so it slips in nicely and lets the O-ring do its job.

 

[CarDoc66]

Im a life long Chrysler tech and I’ve seen it a couple of times, not an epidemic. You must have the yellow “ring” handle with the flat metal dipstick? Pop the o ring off and use a strip of emery to take a small amout of material off. Fit it without the o ring, then when you reinstall the o ring it’ll be tight enough.

 

[92saturnsl2]

Im a life long Chrysler tech and I’ve seen it a couple of times, not an epidemic. You must have the yellow “ring” handle with the flat metal dipstick? Pop the o ring off and use a strip of emery to take a small amout of material off. Fit it without the o ring, then when you reinstall the o ring it’ll be tight enough.

Yellow ring handle with flat dipstick, yes. The new one I bought 5 years ago slipped in and out like a glove. Yet over the last several months it's become increasingly difficult-- twist side to side, pull and say a prayer.

I'll try sanding the plastic under the O-ring, as that's definitely where it's jammed up. I can't complain about a new $20 dipstick every 5 years, but I'd rather not worry about if/when it will break.

 

[oldcodger]

I almost had the same thing happen with my 2012 Nissan Frontier. It developed a crack where the handle is connected to the stick with two rivets. I noticed a crack developing at the lower rivet and replaced it before it completely failed. A couple of more pulls and it would have failed.

 

[sloinker]

Be thankful it is the dipstick. In modern cars more and more plastic is in use. That plastic with age becomes very brittle. If you need to remove or move these parts, many times they break. As often as not there is no new replacement available. You are left with repairing what you have, if possible. Finding a replacement at a salvage yard and remove it without destroying it or designing and fabricating a equivalent replacement on your own. My brother has an older millennium era SAAB that has a very convoluted plastic piece in it's coolant route. It has been parked for some years now as he waits for it to heal itself. Good Luck!

 

[proveitwithdata]

The plastic dipstick is a failure point in other cars, I remember a buddys nissan altima broke the dipstick in such a way we had to fish it out with some superglue and a prayer.