Removing bent dipstick

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Raftco

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Sep 23, 2009
59
Catalina 30 MKII, Fin Keel Harwich Port, MA
I have a Universal 25XP diesel. Today, I went to check the oil level and found the dipstick seems to be severly bent inside and cannot come out all the way. It seems to catch on something is is pretty bent.

Any suggestions for how to safely remove it out of the engine without harming anything?
 

gpd955

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Feb 22, 2006
1,164
Catalina 310 Cape May, NJ
This may be hard to describe but if you can get another dipstick or dipstick-like object (e.g. A wire fish) and slide it in next to the stuck one on the side that you think is bent, you may be able to manipulate it enough to get it to clear around whatever it can't get past. Just try to gently pull on the dipstick as you gently push on the other object.

Don't know if it makes sense how I described it. I assume you tried twisting it around to try and free it up.
 

MrUnix

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Mar 24, 2010
626
Hunter 23 Gainesville, FL
I have a Universal 25XP diesel. Today, I went to check the oil level and found the dipstick seems to be severly bent inside and cannot come out all the way. It seems to catch on something is is pretty bent.
I've never seen a bent dipstick except in cases where the engine has gone south and thrown lots of large metal chunks all around inside. If your engine is running fine, then I can't imagine how it would become so bent out of shape that it would not come out. I can think of a couple of ways to go about removing it though, and my first choice would be to give it a good hard yank. It's just a thin metal strip that protrudes into the block.. and the block isn't going to break! With enough force, the dipstick should bend back into a shape that will allow it to come out. See if you can get a pair of vice grips on the thin metal portion, not the finger ring. If that doesn't work, I imagine that the stick is inserted into a tube outside the block, and usually those are just force fit with an o-ring or threaded into the block. Try to loosen the tube and pull it out enough so you can see into the block and perhaps determine what is catching and how.

Cheers,
Brad
 
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