dont people wipe dipsticks on the upper radiator hose any more?
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Yes I noticed this. Very funny.
On a serious note though, those who wait for the oil light don't deserve the privilege of personal transport IMO -- it's a sign of the kind of neglect that puts other road users at risk; bald tyres, neglected cambelts waiting to snap at 80 etc.
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i had one of those 30 years ago
it wont catch on as todays motorists on the whole dont know how to lift a hood never mind dip a stick
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Really, if you're the sort of person who only checks the oil when the light is on, then you are hardly going to buy one of these to maybe use once or twice. You'll resort to a rag, or panic and drive to a garage.
This instead would be better for someone who checks oil on one or more vehicles every day and wants to avoid carrying a pocket full of rags. You've seen doctors walk around with stethoscopes around their neck? Now cue lots of clean mechanics walking about with one of these on a keychain!
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it wont catch on as todays motorists on the whole dont know how to lift a hood never mind dip a stick
Have to agree. My girlfriend doesnt even fill up the washer fluids... just waits till she has it filled yearly when its serviced! surprisingly all relatively new drivers should know how to check the oil... steering fluids ect. as you have to answer 2 random questions about things under the bonnet when you pass you test.
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>>as todays motorists on the whole dont know how to lift a hood never mind dip a stick
BONNET.
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Good finding. Just ordered mine from here.
www.rockshore.uk.com/silver-dipstick-wiper-reuseab...p
£1.75 [item] + £1.00 [delivery]
Considering it Valentine Day gift to my car :-)
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In fairness looks like a good idea - I have always carried a litre of oil in the car, recently added a funnel, lint free cloth and an easy means of disposal when away from home is always an issue - sorry I come from the school of weekly checks on my vehicles. May order one - £4.95 on e-bay.
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I would kind of agree with this, but I do feel compelled to add that "us lot" would only say this as cars are our thing.
I am sure there are washing machine engineers out there who despair of people, no doubt some on this forum) who don't put limescale thingumajigs in their washing machines, or whatever.... they probably feel that such people are beyond hope and not deserving of the privilege of a working washing machine. : )
Such is human nature. What is of immense importance to one person is irrelevant,pointless and geeky to another. I have an irrational dislike of the "IT crowd" type responses and attitudes, and will admit it's purely down to feeling stupid because I don't understand all the jargon they come out, and the smug way in which they often do it.
Cue now loads of people telling me they service their washing machines, fridges and George Formby grills every week and anyone who doesn't doesn't deserve fat-free chicken breasts... yes I KNOW LOTS OF YOU DO but many of us don't! : )
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Waste of money if you have a car with a plastic dipstick. The dipstick itself is a waste of time.
It drags and smears the oil all the way up the tube so getting an accurate reading is impossible.
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A car user shouldn't have to check fluid levels in 2010, just as a Windows PC user shouldn't have to prat about with registries and defragmentation tools.
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Agreed Hamsafar, esp with the Windows bit - however its a sad fact of life that we do
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>Keeping an oily rag in the car isn't pleasant either. Under the bonnet it might get sucked into the air intake or fan, or worse still get hot and catch fire.<
I've always carried a rag to wipe the dipstick, usually stuffed well out of harm's way behind something like the ABS controller. A few years ago I got a rollocking from a young whippersnapper customs official at Poole, who spotted the rag and lectured me on the dangers outlined above. 'I've seen this sort of dangerous thing before' he said. I'm still speechless over that one.
And 'plastic dipsticks' - is that an April Fool as well? I wouldn't give much for the chances of one of them in the XJS.
>A car user shouldn't have to check fluid levels in 2010<
For Christmas my son gave me the Eagle Annual Book of the Cutaways, a brilliant collection of the cutaway drawings of present and future technology that appeared every week in the Eagle comic throughout the 1950s. If they had been right we'd be whizzing around now in jet-powered people carriers, atomic airliners, 200mph monorails, etc, etc.
Tecnnology seems destined ultimately to disappoint doesn't it?
But how much of a pain is it really to whip out your dipstick once a week...
;-)
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And 'plastic dipsticks' - is that an April Fool as well? I wouldn't give much for the chances of one of them in the XJS.
I wish it was an April Fool but Citroën thinks they are a good idea in the 1.6HDi, not sure if it is the same for Pug, Ford and Volvo who also use a variation of this engine.
Absolutely the most useless thing I have ever come across in 24 years of driving.
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Citroën 1.6HDi
At least they've got a dipstick. My dad's C270CDI hasn't, and he's of the generation where warning lights and displays are not to be trusted.
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Wow - I'm amazed how I have managed to survive 25 years of motoring without buying anything from that web site :-)
That all fits in the "We have invented everything useful - let's start on some other stuff now" category.
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A car user shouldn't have to check fluid levels in 2010.
It may be 2010, but we're still driving around using the principle of internal combustion invented over 100 years ago, and as long as we have fluids in engines looking for places to escape, we'll be checking them.
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I will stick with my two squares of clean kitchen roll folded and stashed in the glovebox. Doubles as an emergency tissue / spill wiper / duster if required too.
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What's wrong with a plastic dipstick?
The one on the CC3 does its job of giving an indication of level and providing a low pressure seal on the dipstick tube.
Can't see one made of steel would be any better.
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What's wrong with a plastic dipstick?
My only real problem with them is they tend to be black. Makes the level much harder to see (especially on diesels with black oil) compared to a typical silver metal dipstick where you can see the level at a glance as soon as the stick comes out of the tube.
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>> What's wrong with a plastic dipstick? >>
The yellow plastic one on my 2.0 TDCI is fine, I believe the one on the 1.6 TDCI is prone to snapping and dropping its end into the sump.
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they could of made the thing magnetic, i dont like the idea of sticky pads holding anything under the bonnet in a hot/ cold damp enviroment
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What's wrong with a plastic dipstick?
As a dipstick it doesn't work on the 1.6 engine.
Take it out and you can roughly guess where the level was as the oil gets dragged off the stick and onto the inside of the tube. Clean the dipstick, reinsert and the oil which is now coating the inside of the tube gets smeared up the dipstick, pull the dipstick again to read and there is a big smeared area from where the oil level could be anywhere.
Repeat as often as you like now, you're just wiping oil off the stick for fun with no idea of how much oil is in the sump.
The metal one in my Volvo just shows where the oil is. No smears, no guess work.
Edited by gmac on 14/02/2010 at 16:41
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what about having a clear glass bubble fitted into the sump that you could view through the starting handle hole?
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Bikes seem to have gone back to the sight glass - both my Honda and BMW have them. The old 650 has a pukka Honda plastic dipstick in light grey - useless thing.
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The old 650 has a pukka Honda plastic dipstick in light grey - useless thing.
MY 125 Honda has a black plastic dipstick. Equally as useless.
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what about having a clear glass bubble fitted into the sump that you could view through the starting handle hole?
>>
Or a transparent polycarbonate sump, no rust, and the accumulation of sludge would be obvious to those who care.
Edited by Old Navy on 14/02/2010 at 21:33
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old endura sumps are now £20 a shot on a site i buy bits off
only seems yesterday when there were £125 a piece
not worth using jb weld on them at that money
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Is that new sumps for old enduras (don't tell aladdin ;>)).
Or old sumps for old enduras from scrappies?
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Why does anyone need to wipe the dipstick anyway?
I just withdraw it far enough to see the level, then push it back in again.
I only check the oil when the engine is cold and the oil is at its natural level. If you check it when the engine has just been running it will be wrong level anyway.
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I never wipe my dipstick either, Cliff.
That said, on some cars you are supposed to check it when hot.
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Is my elderly Peugeot the only car to have a digital oil level readout on the dash?
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BBD,
But is it accurate? How does it compare with the dipstick reading (if it has one?)
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"But is it accurate? How does it compare with the dipstick reading (if it has one?)"
I'm not sure Dave, I have the same problem as some above posters in that by the time I've pulled the dipstick out it is so smeared that I can't read it. Very frustrating.
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I only check the oil when the engine is cold and the oil is at its natural level. If you check it when the engine has just been running it will be wrong level anyway. >>
In reply to Cliff Pope:
But what if you follow the manufacturer's instructions:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=82878&...e
Edited by jbif on 15/02/2010 at 10:58
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It's absurd trying to measure the level of something if it really goes on changing after 10 minutes.
If you really want to use such an erratic base point, then why not do it once, then try again when the oil is cold and see what the corrected level is. For ever after, you can then check it cold by lifting the stick and ending "Dipstick Wiping Misery" as Private Eye would say.
The only occasion I can see when wiping is essential is when checking oil in a component with a threaded dip stick, where the correct level is usually specified with the plug resting on the threads, not screwed in.
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Call me mad but I think this gadget if it ever existed would be of benefit to me.
On my last MOT of my Mk3 Golf, it was written on the advisory list the mentioning of my "rag inside my bonnet". According to the tester, it's a fire hazard!
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