Yesterday while filling up with gas I decided to check the oil.
I just bought the car (MCS) with 18k miles.

Anyway...... I pulled the dipstick very hard, and couldn't get it out. I dont see anywhere any special procedure for removing it.
I was afraid that it'd break if I kept pulling so I stopped.

Is there some kind of trick to it?
Do I just pull straight out till it comes out or breaks?
I don't want to drive 100 miles to the dealer for an oil check!

Thanks again
Donald

 

It just pulls out... It feels like its going to break... but it will be fine. It binds in the tube... so it hard to remove and insert...

 

Try twisting it to help the rubber seal release.

 

keep a sharp eye on it as time goes on. Mine did break and I was lucky enough to get it out in one piece(with the broken section dangling by a thread!) making the replacement easy.Twisting in and out is good advise though

 

They will break !!! I had one with a small defect that eventually was hanging by a thread. Took it to the MINI dealer where they replaced the dipstick no charge....but .the new one is free of defects and still is a pain to insert and remove. Why a dipstick requires ANY extra technique is a joke. MINI missed the boat on this feature? An aftermarket Stainless Steel dipstick would sell...vendors? There must be others with a similar story?

 

hmmmm. yup, I would buy a better mousetrap a la dipstick in a heartbeat, vendors? what about those flat stainless dipsticks that every car in the world used to have that NEVER broke????????

 

Yes... the dipstick has frustrated me. I never look forward to checking oil, one, because it's VERY hard to tell how much oil is in the damn thing. Two, because it feels like the stick is going to snap when I'm putting it back in.

If vendors don't hop on this one I will! One could make a fortune :D

EDIT: There's http://www.shop.com/op/~POLISHED_OVA...-prod-15987039, but I'm not sure if they're for the classic Mini or not.

 

FWIW the aftermarket chrome dipsticks have been know to break too. I'd stick with stock for that part.

 

It looks an awful lot like the black dipstick I got a while back from Moss Mini, as do the oil caps on the same page.

That dipstick broke after maybe six months of use. I just noticed over the weekend that my oil cap has come apart; the decorative top has completely disappeared.

This may explain why Moss constantly lowered the price and no longer sells em.

 

Give it a quarter turn as you extract it, and reverse upon installation.

 

As Tarzan said if you give it a slight turn it helps. Also when I'm putting it back in I use two hands one two push down and twist and the other to give support to the middle of the dipstick to keep it from bending. I hope this helps you.

 

Since this is a dipstick thread, can anyone give me any tips on how to read it? I have a new MCs with about 500 miles. I call pull the dipstick out without a problem, but I have no idea where the level of oil is! I believe that I finally get that the levels are at the bottom (in the orange area) but I simply can't tell!

 

cmyk Yes... the dipstick has frustrated me. I never look forward to checking oil, one, because it's VERY hard to tell how much oil is in the damn thing. Two, because it feels like the stick is going to snap when I'm putting it back in.

Same here. Never had a problem pulling the dipstick out but, putting it back in and seeing where the oil is on the dipstick is difficult. Other threads have stated the dipstick design has changed (don't know what year it changed) and the older style was easier to read oil level. Apparently, all model years were affected by the "difficult to re-insert" issue. Since there have been a number of owners that had dipsticks break, my only advice is to be carefull.

This is my #1 gripe with car. Mini engineers did a great job overall but dropped the ball on this one.

 

I'm so glad to belong to NAM. I thought I was losing my eyesight when trying to read the oil level on the dipstick. I've held it in bright sunlight and under my Ott lamp trying to read it. My MCS has 1200 miles on it now, and the oil is so thin/clear I can hardly tell where it is on that stupid orange tip. :impatient

 

orange? mine is yellow. you may want to get your eyes checked out. (i just got back from my eye exam yesterday)

 

Every time I check the oil and can't find any on the fricken dipstick, I tend to FREAK!

I've owned lots of cars but none have had the elusive "where's the oil" on the stick situation that both of my Mini's have. It really, really is difficult to see what the oil level is. Shouldn't this be a very simple, low tech and reliable widget? HHMMM

 

^^ maybe you don't have any oil in there?

 

Precisely!!! that's why I FREAK everytime I check the oil. But after I slow down, angle the da8mned thing into the light at just the right position, Voila! a trace of oil. Maybe it's not dipstick, as a user or instrument, but rather the oil that's so hard to see?

 

Drat. Maybe it is yellow. Hard to tell squinting like Mr McGoo tryin to see the oil. Just color me crazy.

 

well, atleast you didn't pull something else from the motor.

 

My oil is easy to see just need to wait a few weeks to break 2k on an oil change (And Royal Purple goes in on the dark side anyhow). Yes you need a turn for the uninstall, install, but once you get the hang of it (checking every week you will) the process becomes quite simple.

 

Craven Speed sells a dipper.

http://cravenspeed.com/index.php?productID=64

-Cody

 

Kenchan, You had me convinced that I was color blind. Not so. Flo's dipstick is yellow/orange. Confirmed that this afternoon while practicing the "turn the dipstick while removing/inserting" procedure today. I'm starting to get the hang of it. Also, many thanks to the person who suggested using a paper towel to determine the oil level on the dipstick.

 

I bought this dipstick for my Cooper from Kass Motor Sports:

http://www.kassmotorsports.com/advan...3k6ma3&x=0&y=0

It's flexible, more like a cable, and it is much easier to read than the stock stick. Looks cool too. It does have the rubber seal like the stock stick.

 

This may seem like a stupid question, but how do you read the mini dip stick? There are not really any markings for high or low oil level.