messed up dipstick??

[Dragon877]

hi guys i got a real big problems with my 94 camry...i cant seem to check my oil level cause my dipstick is all bent and weird.....it goes in and out of the hole fine but it never seems to read any oil level

i know i got plenty of oil cause i just got an oil change bout 1700 miles ago, and i added a full qt of oil less than a week ago, but my dipstick doesnt show any oil at all..is there anyway to fix it or anybody know where i can get a new dipstick?

[bigbird]

toyota dealership. i had to replace mine after i bent it. wasnt too expensive though.

[aussie_gen1]

Well, if you want to be sure, you could replace the oil yourself with the correctly measured amount, and see if the dipstick works... or just replace it.
It's not unheard of for a 13 year old car to use oil.
Did you check the oil level after it was changed?

[Heat]

Why did you add a full quart a week ago? And when you last had your oil changed, did you do it yourself or pay somebody to do it? If you did it yourself, how many quarts did you add?

[nodrogkam]

overfilling your crank is just as bad as having it underfilled.
get a new dipstick...and pray that you havent been driving with an overfilled engine.

[Dragon877]

i had to drive down to philly so i added a qt...if i overfilled my crank wont the engine get completely messed up? i drove down to philly and back and everything's good

[Mike Gerber]

If you know of someone who has a generation 3 Camry with your engine (I4 or V6), drive over to their car and ask to use their dipstick to check your oil. If the oil now registers on their dipstick, go to the dealer and get a new one or try a salvage yard. If it doesn't register and it looks the same as your dipstick, you have a problem. Your engine is either leaking oil or burning oil at an alarming rate. If you can't find a friend with the same car and engine just get a new dipstick to be safe.

Putting in too much oil can be just as damaging to your engine as running too low on oil. Get this dipstick problem taken care of so you can acturately minitor your oil situation or the few dollars you will pay for a new dipstick may seem trivial to you.

Mike

[nodrogkam]

So overfilling isnt good because when there is too much oil, it gets whipped around creating air bubbles and foam which doesnt do much to help lubricate parts, but this only happens when you overfill by a certain amount. I believe half a quart or more.

you could borrow someone else's dipstick, just make sure to wipe it clean so you dont mix up the oil from the two different cars.

[toyomoho]

How do you get this far without running out of oil. Find a long piece of fairly stiff wire and feed it down the filler hole, see what depth the oil is.

[marc780]

Junkyard dipstick. Ought to cost a couple bucks. Change oil (yourself) and then double check the new one's accurate. remark if needed.

[MAR]

Give it Viagra! It'll straighten up immediately!

I know, that was uncalled for.

[Mike Gerber]

Just an addition thought here. Is there any chance you can put the dipstick in a vice and straighten it out that way?

Mike