2005 Chrysler T&C Touring Oil Dipstick Broken in Dipstick Tube

[Ives1]

2005 Chrysler T&C Touring 3.8 FWD, while checking engine oil. The dipstick handle broke off. Have tried everything to try and remove it. Won't budge. Can someone tell me how the oil dipstick tube is attached to the van? Is it screwed in or pressed in? Before I start start twisting it to try and remove the tube. I'd like to know how it was installed to begin with.

Or if someone has a better idea on how to get the dipstick out, all suggestions are welcomed. So far I have drilled a hole through the stick and tried and easy out. But haven't had any success doing it that way. This thing is really stuck in that tube. So I figure the only option left is to try and remove the tube with dipstick in it. Thanks Ives

[82Stang]

The oil dipstick tubes are relatively easy to take out and reinstall. They are held in by one bolt usually midway or down a little from the top, bolted into the head or bracket. Remove that bolt and the tube is just pressed in on the bottom end. When reinstalling though, you might need to clean the area around the bottom hole and use some silicone when reinstalling the oil dipstick tube to help it seal.

[jgeorg]

Just broke the dipstick handle today on my 2006 Caravan. My wife bought a replacement from the dealer and got them to extract the old one. After 1/2 hour and 3 guys standing around no luck. Their explanation is it rusted in?!@#$So now I'm think of dremeling the remaining plastic so I can try to grab the metal with a pair of needle nose pliers. Now I'm thinking to replace the tube but fear it might not come out easily. I'll see how plan A goes before reverting to plan B.

[82Stang]

Try compressed air in the crankcase or pulling the oil pan or super glueing something to the remaining plastic or using a small hook to pull it out etc. If you plan on removing the tube altogether, try soaking it generously with penetrant down at the base for awhile.

[jgeorg]

So with the help of my neighbour -.to bounce ideas off and some tools- a dremel, some dentist like tools and needle nose pliers, got the job done. Here's how it went. Using a dremel, I cleaned away the plastic remaining. Still not being able to pull out the metal as it was still too deep down . I needed to use my shop vac to blow out the yellow plastic dust as I dremeled and gave it a shot of pb blaster. Then using the dentist pick, I cleaned upthe corners. What was left was a profile of a cross. Then with a 1 1/2" long furniture screw, I wedge it into one of the openings of the cross and turning the screw, it pulled the top up enough so I could locked onto to it with needle nose pliers and popped out with a pull. So plan a and b combined to yield success. Here's the kicker. The replacement they sold my wife was too long. So being the argumentative type I gave her my blessing to chew out the parts manager. The service manager couldn't not believe I got it out and they promise to have the correct part this afternoon. I said go for an oil change ----she doesn't trust them, I wonder why! I'm just glad I didn't have to crawl under the car!

[Ives1]

Hi, update on my stuck dip stick. After trying to remove the dipstick tube, I gave up on that idea. It was having a problem removing it. Because it had some type of plastic tie connected to it just below the bolt that needed to be removed. So after trying to get that disconnected with no success. I went back to working on the dip stick. I was able to drill a hole in the remaining plastic on the dipstick and put a course screw in that hole. I then got a long screw driver (3 feet long) and put the screw driver under the head of the screw and and began to pry up on the screw. Eventually the rest of the dipstick started to work it's way up out of the tube.

Went to Chrysler dealer picked up a new dipstick (which was the right length) and problem solved. Thanks again to everyone that came up with suggestions on how to remove it. Ives

[jgeorg]

Glad to hear of your success Ives. I always feels good when I can cheat the stealership out of my money rather than the other way around. It's rewarding if I can figure things out with a little help from my friends! lol