Here's my new Craven dip stick inserted into the dip stick tube. At this point, it stops and has to be taken out with the aid of pliers. You can see what the pliers have done to the red knob.

Surely this can't be right. Notice how the knob does not bottom out against the black tube. How will I know if the dip stick is inserted to the proper depth to get an accurate reading?

That can't be right. What year is your car?
I'd take it out and go back to the stock one until
you figure out what's going on.

The first one they sent me goes in a little further than yours, but the second one they sent me was even worse than your pic. Send a note through the Cravenspeed website so that they know it's not just me!

drsimmons & Muzak:

Actually, I did send the same pictures to Kellen at Craven, as he requested. And yes, I did put the stock dip stick back into the car. My car is a Cooper 2010.

My new craven dip stick fits like a glove...so nice.. I think it even fits better than the stock dipstick, which creates a better seal. very good all around.

Now about the oil level:

It appears that I have too much oil ... way too much.. :( I can't tell for sure... oil is way up on the new dip stick...

Which I don't think is right...

What should I do next ? Thinking of taking it to a regular oil/lube place for a drain and replacement so I know its right?


Pics attached...its hard to make out tho..but any insight would be appreciated.

Put the orig. dip stick back in and drive it till operating temp.
Let car sit 10 min. and check level with orig.
Then install new dip stick and check.
Send pics of both if possible.
A side by side of the two sticks may help.

Sure I can do that..but I've never been able to really read the old dipstick.

Was after SEVERAL attempts of pulling the old dipstick out and cleaning it and putting it back in, that I so happened to catch where the oil level was (1/2 full) about 10days ago, added 1/2 a quart then, and been driving since...so if anything it must be a lil low..

Will post pics for sure.

Whats the situation if I do infact have too much oil?

I had almost the exact situation as you, Bhavin. About a week or two before the new dipstick arrived, I could swear I was a half quart low by tirelessly checking/reading the stock dipstick. I had never burned oil until then, so it didn't seem right, but I added some anyways. When I got the Cravenspeed stick, I noticed I had too much oil. I went down and got a siphon and corrected it right away. Too much oil is not good. Now, you will see some oil on the part of the new dipstick where the fatter spring portion meets the skinny reader portion, due to the oil from the tube rubbing off, but I found after correcting the oil level, you should be able to tell clearly where your oil level is due to how skinny the reader is.

Muzak... well its sort of comforting to know I'm not all that alone.

That old dipstick is more ridiculous every time I think of it.

*Looks for siphon

This will surely be interesting for me. My 07 dip stick isn't too bad to read (that is if I'm reading it correctly) compared to the newer ones.
My oil level is always to to top bulge on the old so when I get the Craven dip stick hopefully they compare.
On my last oil change I actually measured the amt. of oil removed and I got just a little less than 4.5 qts out (due to filter) so I'm thinking my reading of the old stick is correct.
We will see. :confused:Another question I have is, are we sure the Craven design is measuring the oil correctly. I'd hate to see people put less oil in when that dip stick is showing
correct level only to find out it's not reading correct and is actually short reading.???? Any thoughts.

:popcorn:

Good reports. :thumbsup:

Unless it falls into the pan funky due to being a slinky (you'll see), when I set it up next to the stock, the top bulge of the stocker, lines up with the top notch in the Cravenspeed. Albeit, the Cravenspeed is a little shorter overall and doesn't go as deep into the pan as the stocker.

Is it that the dart part of the plastic found on the factory stick is missing on the Cravingspeed version? In other words the Cravingspeed is missing the unneeded part that extends past the measurement section?

Maybe even a little more than the excess dart part of the stock stick, but that's going off memory and not at home at the moment to check. However, it seems plenty long.

I can take a photo late this afternoon or evening if it would behoove anyone to see.

Im going to take detailed pics in about 1hr.

I just took comparison photos and will post them in a few minutes.

Here is the comparison between the stock dipstick (yellow handle) and the Cravenspeed (red handle) Mine fits perfectly in the channel.

Here they are side by side, lining up the bottom of the handles where they would stop at the top of the channel:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Wixpi0sGi...psticklong.JPG

Here are the tips, dry and clean:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vCfbrHjOXH.../dipstick3.JPG

And here they are after dipping in the channel. I KNOW that my oil level is too high (will be taking it back to the dealer today) but you can see that the tops of the measuring part line up, and the Cravenspeed one is not as thick, so it doesn't drag oil up with it. It is far easier to read with clean oil!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f8xLIGzMbI...ickcompare.JPG

Thanks Joanie! was this cold or after warmed up?

Warmed up. :-) I should have done the Cravenspeed one first, because the stock dipstick drags oil back up the channel. Since I did the stock one first, the channel had oil that then messed up the Cravenspeed reading. That's the main problem with the stock ones, that thick bulb at the top drags the oil up the channel and smears it all over the stick when you re-dip to take your reading. The Cravenspeed stick doesn't do that.

I'm finding mixed responses for warm or cold, some are saying cold will be more accurate b/c the oil filter will have drained..

warm makes more sense to me, to allow for expansion of the fluid, which is the way it will be when its running.

I'll take the readings again later today after the oil has been corrected. :-( Wish I had a siphon. What would a siphon look like, and can I pick one up at AutoZone or whatever?

Im going to AZone in a few minutes to see if they carry something like this... i need one right now...bad.

Many thanks! I've been meaning to do this with mine, just to confirm / check that it's just the right length to measure oil level correctly...and you saved me the trouble.

Sorry to read of fitment issues, I didn't experience any in my case, the "here's what's wrong" photos are very wrong indeed, geez.

Some posters don't have what year car they own in their signature.
This would help in determining the fitment issues.
Joanie has an 11 and apparenty fits ok but are the above fitment issues in the earlier years or newer years.
My OEM stick is entirely different than Joanie's and mine's an 07.