help...i've got dipstick problems

speedy

speedy

Member
Some of the people who use this forum may be aware that i am in the process of restoreing a P6 3500 auto. i have the engine stripped to a block and everything was going well....until yesterday :angry: My parents decided that my engine could do with moving around a bit and in doing so, they have snapped the dipstick clean off . That made my new year as you can imagine !! Right...Can anyone tell me how to get the dipstick out easily, so i can hit my parents with it?

Speedy :(
 
Speedy,
Try one of those "little magnet on a telescopic stick" thingies that you can buy in the tool section of "pound" shops., or maybe an uncoiled wire coat hanger with some sticky tape attached might do it. If no luck, you may have to turn the engine upside-down (if no fluids in it!) and it will fall out or take off sump and remove. Good luck, advise on result.
Regards, John.
 
sorry john, i don't think i described the problem as i should have . It is the actual tube that the dipstick goes into that has snapped, and it has snapped flush with block where the engine number is .

speedy
 
Speedy.

Dont worry, you had described the problem perfectly, it's just that some people dont always know the answer but they want to have a try anyway - Bless!!

If it has snapped off flush, I think the only way you'll get it out is by drilling it out. If the sumps off then great. Just be mindfull that if the crank or the oil pick up etc is still in, you'll have to cover them up to stop swarf getting in the galleries.

One other good tip is to coat the drill bit in vaseline first so that a large amount of the filings and swarf stick to the drill and dont end up in the engine.

Find a drill the same size as the hole in the block and slowly drill through. When you put the new tube in, loctite it in place and it should be ok.

Johnny. :D
 
Hello Speedy,
I have re-read your original query and am glad that you added the correction to make the problem clearer, no doubt someone will add some helpful suggestions soon.
Regards, John.
 
Speedy , you could try to unscrew the remnants using a triangular file pressed into the inner part of the tube, this might give enough grip but files are brittle.
Probably the best solution would be a stud extractor - the type that looks like a tapered screw tap with a left hand thread, these are designed to screw into a hole drilled into a broken stud, (or the inside of your dipstick tube) and once the extractor bites into the metal it will unscrew it. These usually come as a set of 4 to cover a range of sizes and are stocked by most tool suppliers and are not very expensive.
Otherwise if you have a reversible drill, find a drill bit that "bites" press hard and try to spin it out in reverse on a slow speed.
All the above will have more chance of success if you file the broken part flat to get rid of any jagged edges before you start. Soak around the thread with plenty of WD40 and perhaps a touch of blowlamp to loosen things up.
Good luck
 
Just to help out, I'll ask a extra question for speedy....
How does the stem actually fit ? is it a press fit into the block, or some sort of screw ?

Your obviously going to have to extract a full one from another engine, and fit it to yours, so it would be helpfull to know the best way to remove and refit.

I don't know the answers myself, but somebody will !

Richard :)
 
Extractors, reverse drills, helpful suggestions soon...... etc etc? I do not wish to appear rude or ill mannered but the more I attempt to join in - in this forum, the more I am puzzled by the many entries.

I am a mechanic and have been for many years. Speedy has asked a question regarding the broken dipstick tube and correct me if I am wrong, I have just placed the answer on this thread. Drill the old tube out; replace it with another tube, securing it with loctite.

However, other suggestions have been put forward and I do not understand? Have I not just answered the question? When someone asked about a problem with intermittent wipe, I didn’t respond because I don’t know enough about it. When someone asked about auto box problems. I kept my mouth shut. I haven’t got the answer.

BUT, it appears that many visitors to the forum feel that they must add their 'view' to the thread, based on what they do not actually know. One thing I am sure of in this particular instance is that it is not experience. You may all feel that you are helping but you are not. Speedy clearly states in his first post that the tube has snapped off flush and that the engine is stripped to a block. So John (Cardiff and district) he needn’t explain further. The tube needs to be drilled out. (Please bear in mind John that this is not another dig at you, but you do it to yourself)!

To everyone…..

IT DOES’NT SCREW IN, IT IS A PUSH FIT!!!!!!

QUOTE.
How does the stem actually fit? Is it a press fit into the block, or some sort of screw?
I don't know the answers myself, but somebody will!

I have re-read your original query and am glad that you added the correction to make the problem clearer; no doubt someone will add some helpful suggestions soon. (He didn’t correct himself; it was clear in the first place).

WD40 and perhaps a touch of blowlamp to loosen things up.

Try one of those "little magnet on a telescopic stick" thingies that you can buy in the tool section of "pound" shops., or maybe an uncoiled wire coat hanger with some sticky tape attached might do it. If no luck, you may have to turn the engine upside-down (if no fluids in it) and it will fall out or take off sump and remove.

UNQUOTE.

Has anyone ever tried to remove a snapped - flush tube with a piece of sellotape or a 'thingy' bearing in mind that it is a press fit and is probably secured with loctite?

Speedy had already said in his first entry, he had the engine stripped to a block. For goodness sake. I sometimes wonder what the forum is all about. These entries actually ask questions and don’t answer them. I thought that the idea of placing threads on here was to gain help, not just any old answer which either states the obvious or responds with an incorrect or extremely uneducated answer.

I have owned many classics; you have probably seen my views on here in the past and some will disagree but that’s life. I will re-iterate what I have said in the past. Anyone who has owned a P6 for many years is a convert. That is fine. However, for the people who have only owned them for a short time, these uneducated views do not help. Speedy is probably more bloody confused now than he ever was. The dipstick tube has snapped off – no great problem and easily remedied, IF HE IS GIVEN THE CORRECT INFO. Give the guy a chance.

IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE ANSWER, WHY REPLY?

Speedy. If I were you, buy a Haynes manual off eBay and do it yourself. It would be nice to think that the answer lay here but you will end up with a head full of broken biscuits.

No wonder the average man on the street thinks the classic owner is an anorak?

Good luck and decide for yourself what advice to take.

Johnny.
 
Ok Johnny
Sorry if my comments have caused confusion
If you are certain that the only way to get it out is to drill it fine... you are an experienced mechanic and your advice is something that should be valued by club members.
I would personally try any other method than drilling as MY experience as an AMATEUR is that 1) I am VERY unlikely to have the correct size drill or the means to accurately identify what size is required - so it will either fail to remove the whole base or will drill oversize, or what normally happens TO ME is that it will wander and drill into the casing - hence my suggestion of using a stud extractor or file to get a grip on it, if that fails at least it will not cause any further damage.
Perhaps as Speedy has got the engine stripped to the block he might have enough wit to decide which suggestions might or might not work.
 
Without making this into a discussion on forum etiquete, can I just say that there is always more than one way to skin a cat.

As Malcolm said, I personally would avoid drilling it out, especially as it is only a thin tube it would probably be quite easy to deform the tube using a chisel or screwdriver and then it would just pull out, without damaging the block (which of course is relatively soft ally)

Everybody has their own opinion on a problem, and is entitled to air it, obviously it would be a waste of time to repeat somebody else's solution, but there is no harm in a different view.

Your orignal answer gave no indication as to how the tube was fitted, or how to remove one "in one piece" from another engine, which I suspect is going to a lot more dificult than removing the remains of the old one.

Please have some tollerance, and don't presume that your answer is "the only answer" no matter how much experience you have.

Richard
 
Thanks To everyone who has posted an answer to the problem that i am having. Johnny-Thanks for your advice, but i'd rather try and get the dipstick out some other way than drilling it as i will not do anything that may ruin my rovers block. If my cars dipstick is a push fit its a tight one ;) i snapped it while trying to pull it out in the first place :D I think the best method is to use penetrating oil on the engine for a few days and then try and pull it out again. If this does not work then i will look into other, more risky and possibly violent :angry: ways of removing it :)

Thanks again.

Speedy
 
Good luck!!! :D

P.S. The 'new' tube from a donor car will be dead easy to remove. TWIST it clockwise and counterwise again and again whilst gently pulling up. It will come out without too much of a problem. They normally snap off because they have been bent over.

Remember, ally is as everyone says, soft. Easy-outs or stud extractors can still cause damage to the block as can chisels or files. My own view is that with a drill, you can decide how much metal you remove as long as you keep the drill straight and you take it easy.

Malcolm, shame on you! Drills are only cheap these days!!

Johnny. :p
 
WARNING - I am an amateur :)
Why has no one suggested drifting the tube out? After all that is the opposite of how it was fitted.
Alternatively assuming you have sufficient access, one way of removing an interference fit tube is to saw lengthways along the tube thus reducing the hoop stresses and relaxing the interference. A junior hacksaw blade should fit in the hole and even if you don't manage to saw through the entire length of the tube, you may weaken it enough to aid removal with a drift. Done carefully, you should be able to get away with negligible scoring in the hole (far less damage than a drill)
Despite having removed a V8 sump , I can't remember the exact arrangement, so the above may well be impractical/impossible, however this method does work for the removing the interference fit outer bit of bonded metal/rubber bushes in the suspension.
But I am only an amateur....
 
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