I was going to post on your short block thread about fixing that.
Do you think P&D will be offering this fix to the MINI public?

 

Make a cork screw. a few initial coils the size of whats left of the stink on up to the size of the tube. flatten the end with a hammer. Screw it on. Say the mandatory cursive phrase & remove it. Now use another cursive phrase & try again Thinner wire will act as chinese finger cuffs. Hold on I'll go break mine off & let you know.....

 

I got mine from Moss Motors as well. At the time, they offered dipsticks for both the MC and the MCS, though they seemed to be on clearance for an awful long time.

The little winged logo was neat looking, but when you had to tug at the dipstick to get it out, the wings got more than a little sharp.

Mine broke off above the tube, so getting it out took only a pair of pliers. I put the stock stick back in.

Both the stock stick and the Moss stick are difficult to read. I am never sure how much oil I have in my MCS.

 

Look here:

http://www.northamericanmotoring.net...ad.php?t=21772

It seems the reason that Moss Motors discontinued this stick is that it broke on a lot of people. I was able to find one aftermarket stick still made for the S in England, but none stateside.

 

I never had problems with mine. Your's had o-rings that were too big and made it attach a bit too tightly.

 

I thought we got them at the same time, same batch!??! WTF!?


Clover

 

And I think you can get something like some music wire from your local hobby shop (I build r/c planes so I'm alway tinkering, repairing) Ask someone there were there metal tubing/music wire is and they can help you.

Make a "dipstick" or in this case a "dip-trick"
Take your music wire and cut it to length for your dipstick. Wrap one end around the shaft of something small like a screwdriver, then clamp down on it with some vice grips and wrap around about 5 or so turns to form your corksrew. But remember if you screw up, don't go trying to redo the wire. Music wire is very forgiving, but it's not that maleable. It could break off if you try to mess with it too much before you insert it in your engine.

I would get several wires, so you can get it right and have room for mistakes. (The corkscrew will have to be very small in diameter to get down that curvy plumbing so I would experement and take your time here so it will still fit down the tubing. Give it a twist as you insert (as the owner of an S, I empathize–I usually turn the dipstick as I reinsert it. Keep on twisting–just make sure you turn in the direction of the open end of the screw so you can wrap your cork screw end around the end of the broken off dips stick.

NOTE: I have not tried this–I am just offering this as a suggestion following the brilliant post above. I did put on my own pulley myself–took 12 hours with a jury-rigged belt tensioner tool and I managed to break my neighbor's crow's foot in the process! But I did get it right. So take this post with a grain of salt. Good luck and I feel your pain!

-Jake

Jake

 

You could try this web site as they also sell MCS replacement dipsticks.

http://www.minisport.com/new-mini-sh...d-product.html

 

Hard to tell for sure, but this one looks like the stock stick except it has an aluminum top... the rest looks OEM...

 

I was surprised at how much resistance there was to get the dipstick into the tube. I called the MINI service dept. and one of the guys said that that was to be expected because of the bends the dipstick has to make.

He suggested that one should guide the dipstick in by holding it near the entrance to the tube with your other hand and push from there instead of pushing from all the way back from the handle, which makes it more likely to break by bending.

(Not sure if this is how your dipstick broke, but his suggestion is a good one.)

 

That stick must come with a 5 qts of synthetic oil, or else its gold plated. 23 pounds sterling+vat! Or does it specially dissapate heat that results in a 5HP gain when brisk driving.

 

I 2nd that!

 

For £23 Looks like its time to see what can be done with block of Aluminum and a lathe. I think the fundamental problem is the number of odd bends the dip stick is asked to make. That's why the MossMini product with the braided steel cable should have worked. But, the end was to chunky and the O-Rings too large for the application. That's my two cents.

 

Sounds like a golden opportunity for an aftermarket supplier like M7, Alta, Pilo or even the Whalen Dip Stick Machine to fab up a sturdy piece of braded steel cable with the correct o rings and a cool handle.

They may not even need to post Dyno numbers to sell the thing.

 

How about just storing the dipstick in the trunk or garage and plug the hole. Use the dipstick only when checking the oil level. The heat of the oil/engine may have caused the deteriation of the plastic dipstick. Thanks for posting.

 

I had an old school construction guy get a piece out of a similar tupe (not in vehicle) using a welder. He stuck the rod (wire feed won;t work of course) down in and tacked the end of the piece, let it cool for a few seconds, then pulled it out.Not sure I would do this in the oil dipstick tube since it runs right down to the oil pan, but maybe right befroe an oil change might be OK.

 

By the way, I wasn't agreeing with the price of the dip stick, rather that someone asked if there were alternatives . I agree the pirce is high and it would be good to have a better option than the current plastic