Welcome to my nightmare!

[Railing68]

Well after an enjoyable 250 miles I realized that my aluminum dipstick end broke off in the pan. It was a lokar stick and milodon 7+qt road race. SO now I am in the process of pulling it apart to get the motor raised to attempt to pull the pan in the car. I finally don't have oil leaks or issues and now this. Totally sucks, 406 was running nearly perfect. I didn't find any shavings of metal in the oil, the piece is probably stuck in one of the baffles or trap doors. I am not willing to take a further chance though. Tried fishing it out with a flexible grabber tool, but that is pretty hard when you don't know where it is. Needless to say my next dipstick will be steel. Lame, SS

[Jagarang]

An interesting pearl of knowledge, I may have been looking to use one of these before reading this. I never really gave the "brittle" qualities of aluminum much thought in this type of application.
Did you try calling Lokar to see if they had any thoughts on the problem? Perhaps they'll just say that their sticks were not intended to be used with "extensive" modifications, but you might get an answer like a bad batch, or a known issue. Perhaps they'd offer a replacement.

[Railing68]

Good thought but I wouldn't run one again. At least with steel I would have been able to use magnet for retrival. Sucks to be me! I will be happy if it is possible to get the pan off in the car or raised. Scattershield and motor plate aren't going to make things easy. SS




An interesting pearl of knowledge, I may have been looking to use one of these before reading this. I never really gave the "brittle" qualities of aluminum much thought in this type of application.
Did you try calling Lokar to see if they had any thoughts on the problem? Perhaps they'll just say that their sticks were not intended to be used with "extensive" modifications, but you might get an answer like a bad batch, or a known issue. Perhaps they'd offer a replacement.

[apex69]

Well after an enjoyable 250 miles I realized that my aluminum dipstick end broke off in the pan. It was a lokar stick and milodon 7+qt road race. SO now I am in the process of pulling it apart to get the motor raised to attempt to pull the pan in the car. I finally don't have oil leaks or issues and now this. Totally sucks, 406 was running nearly perfect. I didn't find any shavings of metal in the oil, the piece is probably stuck in one of the baffles or trap doors. I am not willing to take a further chance though.Tried fishing it out with a flexible grabber tool, but that is pretty hard when you don't know where it is. Needless to say my next dipstick will be steel. Lame, SS


Does it look like it had broken off or does it look as though it was worn through as if it were laying against the crank and the crank wore through it?

Were you using the flex tool through the oil drain hole? Try a thin wire coat hanger and fold the end over using a vise or vise grips this creates a catch put an arc on it and go to work. I seriously doubt that it’s stuck in a baffle or trap door.

[Railing68]

looks like it just broke, the grabber tool is going in at a sender bung on drivers side, the drain has a boxed section less than an inch inward so can't go straight in at that pt, only at 90* with a hanger and grabber is to big to get in there or the dipstick hole. I think it is probably in the boxed sump area by the pickup but that is just a guess. I tried using a blow gun to see if I could here it but maybe that was a bad idea, if I forced somewhere upwards. Pretty frustrating ordeal, If it sounds like an am feeling sorry for myself, well I pretty much am. SS

[Jagarang]

The chances of grabbing in and getting it "JUST RIGHT" to come out of a tiny hole are astronomicaly low. It'd be like a dog trying to carry a broomstick through the front door

[ProdigyCustoms]

It probably hit the crank, real common on SBC. Let it go. It would have to cycle through the oil pick up and there is not way it will do that. I ran my race motor forever with a broke end in the pan. It's not like it can jump up and run through the bearings.

[Railing68]

Funny you should say that, because I kind of decided to run it and take my chances. With all the baffles, windage tray and 4 or 5 trap doors in the pan I would hope it can't go anywhere. Basically I am rationalizing since I don't want to deal with full removal. I don't think it is even possible to get the pan off with the scattershield and block saver, let alone in the car. If something bad happens then I will have a good reason to yank it out. Thanks for the replies. SS

[yody]

good idea to leave it there. You would be pulling the motor to get that pan off, no way its coming off with teh engine in, especially with a scattershield. I did a timing belt on an early 90 Acura legend, i found a hole in the block, near the timign cover, looked like someone cracked a piece of aluminum off of the block tyring to use that spot to hold the balancer while trying to loosen the bolt. I could see there was JB weld around the hole, so i figure the piece of aluminum must of just fell in the motor. Car still runs stong!

[Railing68]

yeah I suppose, but would you want to leave in your new 468? SS

[yody]

no but i would

[rumblee]

i had that same lokar dipstick and ran it for about uh...2 hours maybe. i pulled the motor due to a flat cam, and found the dipstick broken in 2 pieces. its junk. dont waste your money on these turds.