I would be perfectly ok with an oil level sensor/gauge. I don’t keep up with my fuel level by dropping a sounding stick in tank either. 
no engine oil dipstick by design
- Thread starter ragtoplvr
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My Mazda has both a dipstick and an electronic reading on the Infotainment center. The lazy me occasionally uses the electronic method, but the aggressive me still checks it the “old fashioned” way……..it hurts to say that, lol!
Trust, but verify.
Recently, I saw someone checking their transmission fluid with a dipstick.I hate dipsticks. So hard to get an accurate reading unless you are perfectly level and many show different results on either side of the stick
It had to of been four feet long.
Your average driver today would be sooo confused.
That's how I check the air in my tires.
I use a 'manual' digital gage and occasionally use the TPMS.
Yet another solution in search of a problem.
I'd rather have it on the dash than my BMW F750 GS where you have to start it up, pat your head 10 times, ride for 20 mins in the mountains of the alps at exactly 20 degrees, brake 4 times and then wait 10 mins and check it
For the life of me I never know the level...
For the life of me I never know the level...
Sorry, Being that the price of an engine is so astronomically high,,,, ( I mean we're not talking about a Dodge Slant 6 with a 1 barrel carb from the 70's here, sitting on a shelf in a junkyard for $100 bucks),,,,,, I would not trust a computer to send me the oil level of an engine. True, we don't use a stick to measure fuel in a gas tank, but a stuck sending switch in a gas tank won't destroy an engine. You just run out of gasoline . The engine will be fine. It's bad enough they're doing away with transmission sticks. Personally, I use that transmission stick to check on the quality of the ATF, especially after a long hot summer of stop and go driving, or sitting in extended periods of bumper to bumper traffic. Those fans can only do so much,,,a lot of heat builds up inside that engine bay. Then add the A/C as the icing on the cake. I'll keep my cars. They all have 2 sticks each. Vehicles are getting too complicated anyway. The owner's manual's are about as thick as a Webster's Dictionary now.
Oh please.
Do you complain about having a fuel level gauge on your dashboard?
No, you don't, do you?
It's the same level of complexity, honestly.
You need a fluid level sensor, wiring, and a visual readout on the dash, or in the infotainment screen, plus the programming that makes the fluid level in the oil pan read out on the readout on the dash.
Big whoop.
It doesn't get used by the ECM to alter the way the vehicle runs, unless they use low oil level to turn off the remote start functionality.
The tech that scares some people is completely baffling to me. You’ll trust an oil pressure gauge, fuel level gauge, engine coolant temperature gauge, tire pressure sensor or whatever on board diagnostic but not an oil level sensor/gauge. That’s just too much. This kind of next generation high tech wizardry is a bridge too far.
Disagree. I think for the non car enthusiast type this would be very helpful. Many people aren’t going to check their oil level and don’t do their own oil changes. How many engines could this save from unnecessary wear or damage.
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The elefant in the room is that in-dash oil level gauges are a great addition to, not a replacement of, the oil dipstick.
An in-dash oil level gauge is a wonderful feature for the lazy.
An oil dipstick is mandatory for those other times where reality exists.
Use case scenarios:
- Stranded on the side of the road with an oil leak from a burst oil line. Repair was easy, accessible, done in five minutes. Amazingly enough, this all happened on the way back from picking up your Amsoil package from USPS. So you have all the oil you need. Look at that puddle of oil though... How much oil did you lose ? A quart ? Three ? Six ? All of it ?
Dipstick: Check. Dash oil level gauge: "Please drive 10 minutes for the gauge to calibrate"
- Buying a vehicle that has not been started in an year. Owner doesn't remember whether they filled with oil or not the last time they worked on it. "Ran well before I worked on it"
Dipstick: Check. Dash oil level gauge: "Please drive 10 minutes for the gauge to calibrate"
Etc, etc, etc. Every time you go with a non running engine, you need a stick. If not, you're looking at draining all the oil and adding it back + what's missing.
The Italians had this solved 40 years ago. I had it on my Alfa Romeo 33, and most other vehicles from the Fiat group had it. An oil dipstick that had a sensor at the bottom. Cables on top.
- On contact, the Oil Temp gauge would indicate the oil level. Or was it the oil pressure gauge. Forgot.
- Once the engine started, it would switch to Oil Temp. Or Oil pressure or whatever.
- If the car was completely dead, no battery or anything - the dipstick still acted as a mechanical dipstic. It was just a dipstick with cables. after all.
An in-dash oil level gauge is a wonderful feature for the lazy.
An oil dipstick is mandatory for those other times where reality exists.
Use case scenarios:
- Stranded on the side of the road with an oil leak from a burst oil line. Repair was easy, accessible, done in five minutes. Amazingly enough, this all happened on the way back from picking up your Amsoil package from USPS. So you have all the oil you need. Look at that puddle of oil though... How much oil did you lose ? A quart ? Three ? Six ? All of it ?
Dipstick: Check. Dash oil level gauge: "Please drive 10 minutes for the gauge to calibrate"
- Buying a vehicle that has not been started in an year. Owner doesn't remember whether they filled with oil or not the last time they worked on it. "Ran well before I worked on it"
Dipstick: Check. Dash oil level gauge: "Please drive 10 minutes for the gauge to calibrate"
Etc, etc, etc. Every time you go with a non running engine, you need a stick. If not, you're looking at draining all the oil and adding it back + what's missing.
The Italians had this solved 40 years ago. I had it on my Alfa Romeo 33, and most other vehicles from the Fiat group had it. An oil dipstick that had a sensor at the bottom. Cables on top.
- On contact, the Oil Temp gauge would indicate the oil level. Or was it the oil pressure gauge. Forgot.
- Once the engine started, it would switch to Oil Temp. Or Oil pressure or whatever.
- If the car was completely dead, no battery or anything - the dipstick still acted as a mechanical dipstic. It was just a dipstick with cables. after all.
Good point, I'll give you that. Oil pressure gauge: You can turn off engine and check level with a DIPSTICK, or listen to the engine for rockers tappin away, or tappets tappin., or lifters not lifting) Fuel level gauge: engine is running, you have gas. Coolant temp gauge : Open the hood, look for leaks, or look at the distended reservoir tank, or a hot upper hose/cold lower hose ,( closed thermostat depending where it's located ), TPMS I don't trust at all, ( their always off by 3-4 lbs ). But......a computerized oil level gauge crossed the line...sorry.. Again "Oh, my engine blew ? No oil in it ? But the dashboard told me it had plenty of oil ! " I personally think technology hasn't become THAT reliable just yet. Just one glitch, in that one part, of that one computer, could leave you stranded with an $ 8,000.00 repair bill. BTW, the Italians did get it right 40 years ago. The perfect dipstick. No computer.
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Nah, it's extremely unlikely to go this way.
You have orders of magnitude more risk of an engine dying because the owner didn't know that hood on the front opens to begin with, much less that the yellow loopy thingie is not a ripcord for a parachute.
An electronic oil level gauge will throw alerts that will flash in the driver's face, in easy to understand bites. They'll be something along the way of "Pull over when safe, add 1qt of oil"
Plus, failure in the sensor is detected, and will also cause alerts.
Not 100% sure, but I believe the oil level sensor also comes with two independent circuits, one is for the oil level per se, the other - just to detect catastrophically low oil level. So you're well covered.
It's not like you have no knowledge of the oil level till the gauge comes to life (a few miles in a BMW). You will still be alerted if the level is too low. The gauge will need some time to get up to snuff to show you the exact level though.
The main issue with no oil dipstick is when you can't start the engine and let it run to prime the level sensor and all that. Hence the need to keep a stick. I believe some BMW V8s have a hidden oil stick for dealership use.
My n54 doesn't have one, which annoys me.
Those of us who can actually determine a change in looks or odor of the engine oil will prefer to have a dipstick with or without digital monitoring. Same reason we had a trans dipstick installed on the 6 speed in the 77 in my sig.
Oil pressure gauges are meaningless to many people. They don't even know how to interpret them at idle / acceleration / cruising speeds. How many cars even still have these?
Not saying I wouldn't want a fuel level gauge, but they are quite inaccurate especially as you approach the top and bottom ends. How many times have you been on E yet you still can't even fill close to your entire tank's capacity?
I don't trust coolant temperature gauges - at all. They display normally at such a wide temp range by the time the gauge floats to the red it may already be too late - overheating damage is done. Not to mention in many engines the temp sensor is located too high up in the engine to the point where on a cooling system that is low the sensor will read air temp which will of course read lower than liquid temp and as a result not indicate a problem until it's too late. I run a scan tool w/ live data capability to digitally monitor ECT.
Tire pressure sensors and/or their batteries go bad, people don't want to pay to fix them (because they didn't want them in the first place) and then you are stuck with the annoying TPMS dash warning light shining in your face forever.
So yeah, I'll take a dipstick instead of another gauge / warning light.
Personally, I don’t like the lack of dipstick as my X1 oil level is displayed within the infotainment system. To measure, the oil must be at minimum temp before allowing measurement or error message is displayed. When I pulled out of the dealers driveway after service and into another parking lot 50’ away, I still had to wait ~2 minutes before performing measurement. What happens if the tech forgets to refill and goes to measure and he’s waiting for oil temp to rise in the bay? Does the tech sees a low oil pressure warning light instead? I guarantee you, they’ll stop and fill it up and kick it down the road and sign off as completed. How many times do you read about oil services and accidental no refill before finding out and it’s too late? What I’m saying is I double check level before leaving but BMW requires oil up to temp before measuring. That could be 2-3 minutes or possibly longer with engine on and no oil. Glad the included dealer oil changes are almost up so I can continue to perform my oil changes only by myself.
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You will immediately see a warning. You won't have to wait for the oil to get to temp for alerts to come in.
Plus, the dealership won't rely on the gauge to get a reading. That one can need up to 100 miles to calibrate after an oil change. They'll just have to take note of what they poured in.
Plus, the dealership won't rely on the gauge to get a reading. That one can need up to 100 miles to calibrate after an oil change. They'll just have to take note of what they poured in.