This.....
Okay this is truly effing lame.

Went to check the oil on my 14 Escape.
Pulled out the dipstick as I always do on the same angle I always do.

Didn't come out the same way it always does.

I got two things:


This .....

and....

This.....

The dipstick end was not that deep in the tube after it broke. It was just below the surface. However, in trying different methods to grab it, it slowly slid to its current position and either the passageway narrows and the remaining part of the handle can't go any further, or the bottom of the dipstick has bottomed out on the oil pan.

I tried using gum and adhesive sticky stuff (removable tacky stuff, but everything is too oily and nothing will stick by the time it gets down the tube.

In my mind I am down to

• Pull a strong vacuum on the end of the tube and literally suck the rest of the dipstick tube out.
• Use something like JB weld for plastic and attach a good sized piece of plastic to the end of the dipstick, let it cure, then pull to remove.
• Use a tiny tiny drill bit to make up pilot hole slightly off center, then put a wood screw, a long one, just far enough in to grab. This is my least favorite because it creates plastic dust and although I can blow it away, I can't really properly clean up until after the dipstick is out.

I can certainly feel it with the end of needle nose pliers, but the OD of the dipstick top plastic is pretty much now the same as the ID of the tube

And there is nothing to grab at. See the first picture for the physical opposite of the surface I'm grabbing at.

Note that the o-ring is not in the hole.

Suggestions? Am I on course? Off course? Is there a tool for this to add to my single use tool drawer?

As far as I know, the dipstick itself is stainless and not magnetic. Already tried.

Also, it is an internal routing of the dipstick which goes through the valve cover, so there is no simple dipstick tube to remove to get it out



Do you think I could create enough of a vacuum using the Venturi on my oil extractor hooked up to my twin stack?

 

I would drill into it and install a small diameter long sheet metal screw and use side cutters to slowly retrieve the broken piece. Lube the o-ring on the new dip stick to avoid future frustration. 😀👍

 

After I posted, I realized I hadn't done a YouTube search. Since YouTube is the mother of all mechanics, NOT, I saw a lot of people running compressed air in through the breather to pop it out. I thought I would give it a try. Either close off the breather and put compressed air in through the oil filler or leave the oil filler cap on and put the air in through the breather.

I'm thinking I might have to drain all the oil to generate enough pressure to push the dipstick out since it is submerged in the liquid, but because it is wedged tight enough, it might be sealed enough to build up the pressure with the oil in there.

But I asked for your advice for a reason. Experience.

Sheet metal screw is self tapping. Smart.

I will of course post back with the results.

As always, thank you Andy.

Derf

 

Tried the self-tapping screw. Taps fine. Unfortunately dipstick is not moving. I'm thinking the bottom is wedged against the bottom of the pan and acting like an off-axis spring. That thing does not want to move.

Screw keeps pulling out of its self-tapped hole in what's left of the dipstick handle.

I believe the oil pan is quite accessible on this vehicle, so I will likely bite the bullets tomorrow and just drop that and shove the stick back up, gently.

 

Remember that the entire crankcase will be under pressure. You may find you blew out more than your stick end.

 

How true that would have been, maybe.

I decided against the compressed air approach and went with Andy's recommendation except I used a screw attached to the end of an oil seal extractor to drill into the leftover plastic in there, then slowly and gently slide hammer it out.



Damn tool was expensive.
I'll probably give it to my mechanic as a 13-year anniversary gift as in how long I've known him. Or at the minimum I will have him store it for me at his shop and if I need it I'll let him know 😀.

Going to do just an oil pan drain to hopefully remove any plastic shards that might have found their way down the tube. It was a squeeze fit when stuck but I don't know what happened when I r got it near the top of the tube where the gap between the plastic part of the dipstick and the tube it goes through is nonzero.

I'll also put the two broken ends together to see how much plastic I'm missing.

Thanks again to all

​​​​​​Thanks again to all.

 

Wish I read this earlier; the self-tapping screw would have been my 1st suggestion. The original 5.0L in the Crown Vic had a stuck/jammed PCV screen in the intake. I used that method to extract it; which I was only half-successful. It came out a little before jamming up again (warped intake manifold). But the method was working though. Glad it worked for you.

 

Thank you for sharing your experience, sir

 

You mean, you check your oil? Whaaa people still do that?
Old technology man.

 

Old ride man.

Antique custom plates I put on my 95 SC2, I done did.
I am restoring it to its former glory. I'm going to start a go fund me to cover the cost of getting it repainted.

Antique means no more chasing one of the two functional OBD1 tailpipe testers left operating in the state. They cost $15,000 a year to maintain as functional because the emissions places are required by law to have the most up-to-date software which they must purchase from the state DMV. 10 cars a year does not justify $15,000. So no more inspections and I figured I'd get a custom plate since most of the young riff raff wasn't born when it was built.
I'd love to make it into a fake sleeper and posture up at red lights but go nowhere against the all show no gos and the Rexes.

I do believe somehow I have once again drifted severely off topic, but at least it's my thread.

And the oil dipstick was the escape. Classic Ford quality. It's been driven at least a hundred miles and hasn't acted up.