No OIL Dipstick?!

[haley10]

Why can't we have both features? My car has the level alert and a dip-stick. I guess the Euro folks don't think we need to ever do uoa's with a vampire pump? Guess you could still do the Fumoto valve thing, but I'd rather not.

Will these do an accurate uoa on the fly, too?? If so, no problem I guess, but they need to be smarter than some of the OLM's around now.

 

[Gary Allan]

Well, I look at it this way. I remember when "electronic money" was first introduced. We still had rotary dial phones and it used a version of "punch cards". It evolved a great deal between the initial offerings and the current product that we have today.


The dipstick will surely become extinct sometime in our future.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I like a dip stick or indicator. It is always their and is not likely to fail! I have never had a dipstick fail ever!! Electronic sensors fail often and are expensive! If you need glass's to read it it then quite denying you need them and get them! A moron should be able to operate a dipstick!

I am tired of things that should not be gizmo'ed being gizmo'ed! If you are too stupid,incompent or absent minded to either rember to check your oil when you get gas you deserve to sieze an engine! Same thing goes for windshield solvent, ATF, Coolant etc... A total moron can read their owners manual and get a good idea on how to check these and when to check them.


Maybe we can put a sensor on our under garmets to tell us when we are urinateing or defacateing on ourself as well so we do not forget to go to the bath room and relive ourselfs!

If we want to put some content on the cars the matters why not a breath analyzer, something to monitor eye's for sleep depravation, maybe something to keep slow moveing trafic out of the fast lane!!! Maybe we could have jammers along the freeway to prevent cell phones from working as most people I see talking on the cell phone are driveing like they are drunk. You can spot them 4 miles out driveing 10-15 MPH under the speed limit speeding up and slowing down and weaveing in their lane.

I needed to rant a bit!!

 

[Kestas]

Just another expensive design rammed down our throats.... and some people wonder why cars are so expensive to buy and maintain nowadays. It's another bunch of wires that get in the way when you're trying to maintain the engine.

 

[smthrj53]

Unfortunately, expect more such designs in the future. Last year my company put me in South France for a month where we have a manufactuing plant, gave me a Renault to drive. Naturally, I popped the hood for a look and found no dipstick!!

After wondering how the natives handled that, I assumed they just used an idiot light. In the small towns around me, I also couldn't find quart or liter containers of oil. All they had were 4 liter jugs.

I have seen the future, and I am scared.

 

[Cyprs]

In my Nissan X-trail the dipstick is off 3/8" right from factory, the oil has to be 3/8" above full mark for correct level. Having said that, what if Nissan or any other company install the wrong sensor right from factory as in Nissan's X-trail dipstick? Atleast I can manually set to the "U" bend 3/8" above full mark and have correct amount oil in crankcase. Too much tech at too much risk IMO.

I dont know how these tech systems work but I want to add oil if I am down a few hundred mil and not when I am down to a full litre when alert may signal.

Cyprs

 

[cipman]

quote:

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Originally posted by smthrj53:
...... Last year my company put me in South France for a month where we have a manufactuing plant, gave me a Renault to drive. Naturally, I popped the hood for a look and found no dipstick!!

After wondering how the natives handled that, I assumed they just used an idiot light. ............

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lolz. all renault models have dipsticks. what they dont have is an extra hand to grab and pull your nose next to the dipsticks handle. but what they have is a sensor that tells the onboard computer the oil level. when u start the engine it shows "oil level ok" or "check oil" and, if u want, u can press a button and see the actual level on a bargraph indicator.
better u didnt find it. i dont think u have a clue how to check the oil level on a renault car (newer models) with the regular dipstick. if u think its done by popping the hood in the morning and see if the oil level is between the two markings on the dipstick, then you're wrong. next time trust the onboard computer or tell them to get u a bicycle.

 

[ikeepmychevytoo]

Just another marketable "technology" that people supposed to finance for making the life more complicated.

 

[Tosh]

quote:

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Originally posted by labman:
Why put something on the car that the average owner will never use? To check a dipstick, you have to figure out how to open the hood. This also eliminates complaints about hard to read dipsticks. Don't forget, we are a bunch of weirdoes here.

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Umm, Porsche spent a lot of thought on this dilemma with the Boxster and finally decided on a typically efficient solution: no hood.
Cipman? Why so much hostility?

 

[jtantare]

So does the indicator on the dash tell you exactly how much oil you need to add? Can it tell if the engine is over filled? What is the point of all of this? If the sensor fails or gives a false reading its bye bye engine. Somehow I don't think Honda or Toyota will be eliminating the dip stick any time soon.

 

[oilyriser]

Better yet, a warning light that lights up when the levels gets too low: "Warning... you are about to void your warranty."

 

[moribundman]

quote:

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Umm, Porsche spent a lot of thought on this dilemma with the Boxster and finally decided on a typically efficient solution: no hood.

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Where do you get your facts?

The dipstick and the filler openings for coolant and oil are in the trunk. At least they were there last time I drove a Boxter.

PS: If you were trying to be funny, my most sincere apologies!

 

[AEHaas]

At Mercedes of Sarasota I changed the Maybach oil with the mechanic. To my surprise you do not even have to lift the car. You just put a vacuum hose to the dip stick line and evacuate the oil from there. They told me the dip tube goes all the way to the bottom of the wet sump for this purpose. Now that is making it easy.

aehaas

 

[kingrob]

quote:

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You just put a vacuum hose to the dip stick line and evacuate the oil from there. They told

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This is the new trend in quick change services. A lot of places are just sucking the oil straight through the dipstick instead of facing down the monumental task of unloosening the drain pan bolt.

 

[AEHaas]

My mechanic friend over at the dealership told me that all the new cars are made so that lifting was not necessary. He also stated that he did test the drain by lifting a car and pulling the drain plug (same model car and engine). Only a cup of oil came out.

On filling the engine the manual states it takes 10.5 quarts to fill with a filter change. I put 11 quarts in there. So it must have been empty by this test.

Not having to rotate a car into the lift area of my garage for an oil change is certainly easier. Also the oil filter is in front of the engine up top to ease access.

aehaas

 

[JHZR2]

My w123 chassis turbodiesel can be 'vacuumed' out from the top too... nothing new there.

JMH

 

[brianl703]

So far, the only car that I've done an oil change on that requires jacking up to change the oil is, surprise surpise, a Honda..oil filter only reachable from underneath because it's on the backside of the engine and you can't get it from the top.

 

[moribundman]

quote:

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This is the new trend in quick change services. A lot of places are just sucking the oil straight through the dipstick instead of facing down the monumental task of unloosening the drain pan bolt.

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Many European gas stations had a do-it-yourself-oil-change-via-dipstick-tube-change-station next to air and water already back in the '80s. This method wasn't, and still isn't popular with with people like me, who believe that the last oil to come out when draining is the dirtiest.

 

[cipman]

>Cipman? Why so much hostility?
no hostility intended; just matching the last fraze i quoted. apologies

>So does the indicator on the dash tell you exactly how much oil you need to add?
yeap. 150 ml per bar.

>Can it tell if the engine is over filled?
no, it can't. over filled with oil? not likely if u know what you're doing when changing/filling. no problem if over filled less than 5%. filled with water/coolant from a blown gasket? then u shoudn't worry about "oil" level.

>What is the point of all of this? If the sensor fails or gives a false reading its bye bye engine
if it fails (short/open circuit/out of normal parameters) you'll be noticed by the "service" light. false reading is possible.

>You just put a vacuum hose to the dip stick line and evacuate the oil from there. ......... This is the new trend in quick change services
this "trend" came up some 18 years ago. quickly abandoned. don't use this method unless the repair manual specifies so. i doubt maybach's manual says so.