Ok, seriously, now I'm pissed off.

[sloweryucf]

Who the hell makes a car where the oil dipstick cylinder completely fall apart after five years? WTF man!

[dougyfresh]

The high temperatures of the engine compartment turn the plastic brittle after a few years. Same thing with the vacuum lines.

Welcome to Audi/VW. Its common place and has been for many years.

[kwimberly]

Happened to my 99.5 Jetta right before I traded it in on the Audi. Cost 5 bucks to replace from a local indie shop. Make sure none of the pieces fall into the tube.

[sloweryucf]

Can you drive without it?

At least to get to the dealer.

[orttauq]

You can drive with it, but get it replaced when you can. Parts under $20. May cause CEL, as well as rough idle/acceleration as there's now a leak in the crankcase..

[Audi_Chick]

Audi charged me around $35

[absolutegtr]

I bought a newone, and that crap still doesnt hold in place.Ihave to push down on the tube to just pull out the dipstic....

[F16HTON]

Dipstick and tube are under $25 shipped

[HeymyAudi]

I just changed mine today... While taking out the Evap system I noticed that the dipstick housing was leaking so I go to pull it off and it crumbled in my hands....

[widgget]

the handle part of my dipstick broke off a few months ago but the bottom half of the orange plastic still seals tight, i just don't have the loop to pull on to take it out.

[dougyfresh]

I bought a newone, and that crap still doesnt hold in place.Ihave to push down on the tube to just pull out the dipstic....

That is because you have not pushed the dispstick tube down enough until it clips and retains on the lower half sticking out of the block.

Jake's engine had the same problem until I pushed the dipstick tube (the orange upper half) down until it seated properly.

Just use more force, Luke..

[sloweryucf]

We are all back together. Jammed a rag into the dipstick hole until I got to the dealership. $14 plus the time it took to vacuum all the broken plastic pieces up so they didn't fall into the crankcase.

[BEESIX]

aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this just happened to me today =[ now im pisted

[Teratorn]

Changed mine a few months back. I was told by the service department not to worry too much about the plastic pieces falling in. They will either just dissolve in the engine or get flushed out in the next oil change. Best to change the tube/neck when the dipstick handle crumbles since they age and become brittle at the same time.

[BEESIX]

i got lucky nothing fell in

[El_Chapusca]

Mines broke and i didnt even touch it

[B6Lovin]

Mines broke and i didnt even touch it

I'm pretty sure all it takes to break those things is a hard stare. Lol

Not to mention audi/vw knows that crappy orange plastic sucks. Must be in the VAG bible somewhere that thou shalt not revise thy crappy plastic or something.

[kwimberly]

I always freak out when I check my oil because after I wipe off the dipstick it looks like there's blood on the paper towel! I think it's dark orange paint that rubs onto the stick when pulling it out of the tube. Either that or my car runs on blood.

[G Men 08]

^^ haha.. yeah i was a little weary of the weak dipstick my self.. what about an
"aftermarket" one thats stronger?

[kwimberly]

^^ haha.. yeah i was a little weary of the weak dipstick my self.. what about an
"aftermarket" one thats stronger?

There you go - APR Stage 1 Dipstick; or JHM Dipstick Linkage Kit

[B6Lovin]

you may or may not be able to replace the majority of the tube with a metal piece that you seal with o-rings. That still leaves the handle on the actual dipstick though... Your best bet if you're looking to seriously make something better is to buy a new tube and model one after it - then try and find a way to put a different handle on the same stick.

[B6Lovin]

and to be honest I'm surprised that nobody has stepped up and made a new tube/stick with the popularity of 1.8t's.

[absolutegtr]

That is because you have not pushed the dispstick tube down enough until it clips and retains on the lower half sticking out of the block.

Jake's engine had the same problem until I pushed the dipstick tube (the orange upper half) down until it seated properly.

Just use more force, Luke..

Hmm...maybe? I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

And Luke?

[kwimberly]

Hmm...maybe? I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

And Luke?

Oh dear. How old are you? Use the force, Luke is from one of the original Star Wars movies. Not this new JarJar Binks crap.

[zims666]

Hmm...maybe? I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

And Luke?

oh wow. im gonna let that slide considering you just pumped out one kick ass DIY

[dougyfresh]

and to be honest I'm surprised that nobody has stepped up and made a new tube/stick with the popularity of 1.8t's.

Its dirt cheap to replace it with an OEM one. Just do that every 100k and you're fine. FWIW: My engine's oil dipstick tube was perfectly fine when I disassembled my motor at 125k. I replaced it for good measure because of this problem (brittle plastic due to high engine bay temps).

Hmm...maybe? I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

And Luke?

Wow.

Now I feel old.

[absolutegtr]

lmao....i got it guys....I NEVER watched star wars, sorry Not my thing I guess...I am 20yrs old though

But doug, your the man Something so simple too, lol...I really did have to push down on it quite a bit, had you not told me, I would have thought something would have broke! Bad news is, since it had not been pushed down, i have been running with quite alot of oil!!

[dougyfresh]

lmao....i got it guys....I NEVER watched star wars, sorry Not my thing I guess...I am 20yrs old though

But doug, your the man Something so simple too, lol...I really did have to push down on it quite a bit, had you not told me, I would have thought something would have broke! Bad news is, since it had not been pushed down, i have been running with quite alot of oil!!

Drain some oil and recheck everything asap. Running too much oil will damage your CAT (amongst other things).

Not a problem. I recall how Jake was that this "Factory POS dipstick sucks. It doesn't work!". As he was putting the front subframe back on his B5 I just pushed it down until it clicked.. All done.



Guess I'm the tail end of the generation that grew up with Star Wars (the OG movies too). I remember going to see Return of the Jedi in the theaters with my parents. Between Star Wars and GI Joe... What a great way to grow up!

[B6Lovin]

^having an older brother helps too... i was born in 88 but grew up in the early 80's lol (my brother is 12 years older than me... so i grew up on the OG movies, toys, etc. i still have an atari, and my frist cd was CODA by led zeppelin LOL)

[dougyfresh]

"Relax! Alright? My old man is a television repairman. He's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it!"

FTW!

[sloweryucf]

"Relax! Alright? My old man is a television repairman. He's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it!"

FTW!

Gnarly!

[BEESIX]

got my tube for $5 and installed it =] now i can finally sleep at night