Confusing Dipstick Levels (see illustration)
 

Okay, I've been a MB diesel owner for several years now, and I should bloody well be able to read an oil dipstick properly. But, alas, I cannot seem to tell exactly how much oil I have in my crankcase.

After driving the car for any length of time, I'll get out and check the oil. The reading will look like figure A, presumably with a good deal of the engine oil coating the upper components. After wiping the dipstick the reading is the same and any subsequent checks (within a few minutes) yield a similar reading.

After letting the car sit all night, the reading in the morning looks like figure B, which is too much oil. But after wiping the dipstick and taking another reading, it looks like figure C: a low reading with trails of oil leading upward.

If your oil level readings looked like this, how would you interpret it?

I'll bet that you are using Synthetic oil. If so, to get a correct reading you need to let the car sit overnight before measuring the level. This you are doing so that's OK.

The puzzle comes as to why it showing a lower level after you measure it overnight for the second time. One possibility is that you are wiping the dipstick with a Kleenex, or something else that makes it slippery and that does not let the oil stick to the dipstick properly. Wipe it again with a rug and let it sit for about 5 minutes before taking another reading. You should then have a correct reading.

Been there, done that.

Phil

this may or may not be the case but a lot of fluids can travel uphill. given time (overnight) i know i can soak up fluid by putting newspaper on it and waiting a day. when i pull the dipstick first thing in the morning, the level is always more than after i wipe the stick and recheck. the type of oil does not make a differance.
i would always believe the cold level after wiping the dipstick one time.
pberku has a point about syntec oil that i never heard of.
that is a good point. what is the best to use?
maybe he is talking about those wipes that have skin softeners in the napkin

for drying off your floor some newsparer works really well. fluid will move upwards,but takes a few days before being changed.
on light color carpet the ink on the paper can transfer to your carpet, so some care needs to be taken
a little long winded but thats me some times
rich

It's no puzzle. The top of the MBZ dipstick has o-rings that seal the opening; when you push the dipstick home, the seal prevents the air in the dipstick tube from escaping out the top and instead, compresses it, pushing the surface of the oil in the dipstick tube downward slightly and giving you a false 'low oil' reading.

Being 20 years old, the o-rings aren't a 100% perfect seal so, after several hours the trapped air leaks out and fluid level in the tube rises to the true level.

Or it could be that the dip stick tube is sealed at the top also dips into the oil at the bottom. When driven, hot air in the tube expands, when shut off overnight the air contracts and draws oil up the dipstick tube giving a false high reading.

I check mine in the morning by removing, cleaning and reinserting and reading a second time.

I thought 616 and 617 dipsticks were tough to read until I bought a Toyota Landcruiser which requires a complete course in voodoo to read the dipstick.

how long has it been since the oil was changed? it looks like it's either REALLY cold where you are, or the oil is WAAAAAAY past due to change.
the oil should not V like that. since you are in Cary, I'm going to say the oil is past due to change.
anyway, on the V reading, pull it back out, clean it again, and set it back in the tube and wait 1 minute. then take another reading. it should show what your level is, IF YOUR CAR IS PARKED LEVEL.
if the front is downhil, it'll read high, if it's up it'll read low.

by the way, both B and C are fine readings for oil level...


now that I think on it a little, it's possible your dipstick tube has oil on the sides, and you are getting oil on the side of the stick as you reinsert it...

Likewise for my VW diesel. Oil is black and dip stick is black plastic. Black on black was not the smartest thing if you ask me.

Uhhhh, John.....

Original post and pics were from 2004.....

Considering that, yeah, I'd say he's WAY overdue for an oil change!:D

Man, this is like the 3rd or 4th multi-year-old thread I've seen resurrected today - must be a slow holiday weekend.

WOW! hard to believe I missed that!
slow weekend indeed!

The OP last activity has been about 4 yrs.

Is it wrong to reserect an old thread from the dead and pump some life into it. :confused:

I see this often, "Thats an old thread" :eek: like it is wrong to bring it up?


I was having the high reading on the stick in our old engine back in 07. suddenly one morning it would be up like 4 inches with the morning reading. wipe off the stick and it would read normal.

finally the problem was eliminated when the timing chain took out the whole engine. :rolleyes:. problem was solved with the new engine.

Charlie