Whoa hold on there!

My 08 manual shows a 100k mile service interval for the automatic transmission. (Lifetime coolant).

So please remember to change it! I will do it at 60k because it is such good insurance to potentially save SOOOOO much money later on.

 

Sorry to drag up an old, well worn, topic but I can't seem to find the exact answer... On the dipstick above, where, exactly, is the full mark? Is it at the far right of the flat area of the "orange" just before it expands or is it nearer to one of the marks the the OP made in the middle... My manual shows a completely different dipstick so it is no help at all. Also, does anyone have a sence of the scale (ie from one raised end to the other on the flat part = one quart or ???) thx

 

He's showing how he modified his. I did something even easier. I emptied all the oil out during an oil change, then put in EXACTLY what the Owners Manual recommended (4.2 quarts).
Once you KNOW you have the proper amount of oil, it's easy to pull out the dipstick, and mark the point where the oil line stops.
I've had no trouble since then

 

For some reason I would be scared to drill holes in mine being scared that it would break off inside my engine.

 

He drilled shallow dimples, NOT holes.

 

Great Idea!

 

Doesn't matter. They were not engineered to have shallow holes drilled into them. The plastic material used might have developed a hair line fracture that you can not see and break under all the vibration the car produces. I wouldn't risk my cars engine on something as cheap as a dipstick.

 

...And where did your line come out? I assume that it would be aprox the same for all our cars. I think I'm a bit low but without knowing the fill line???

 

It's close, but you're correct in not being exact.
You'll need to take into consideration the 'level spheres' the manual is referencing to.



I personally have my level sit just below the maximum sphere.

- Erik

 

Thanks Erik... That is what I thought but wanted to get confirmation before putting more in.

 

Thank you Eric for doing such of fine job of illustrating my dipstick. I have to chuckle at folks thinking a little dimple will cause the tip to fracture and destroy their engine. And I thought I was paranoid.

 

what dipstick invented this stupid dipstick ? why can't they just put a ordinary everyday run of the mill metal dipstick on these cars the ones so we can read them for crying out loud i can't tell how much oil is in it

 

The attached link is to a thread giving information of what causes problems reading the dipstick and solutions. The 2011 dipstick is identical except for color.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-dipstick.html

Morris, 201 MC, PW/B

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-dipstick.html

post #11 states that it has a metal core.

 

This is currently the dipstick without oil on it.

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/11437585970/ES240631/

Fits R55 R56 R57 R58 R59 R60

Early MINI in the first years of the R56 model came with a dipstick that in my opinion is the hardest to read and was all metal and flexible.