Update: Dipstick REMOVED!

[Ramblin Fever]

4" of it to be exact.

It was trapped at the end of the dipstick tube just barely entering the top of the oil drain pan.

In the end, before deciding as to WHOM exactly to send the truck to, it ended up with Vern. Just before the tow truck driver took off he asked if we were "sure" we wanted it to go to the dealership; obviously the word of "stealerships" versus "dealerships" gets around.

He was afraid that this "dipstick" in the tube would turn into a convienent engine failure type scenerio if sent to the dealership.

Thank you all for your help. Word of wise, carefully inspect your dipstick's around the "full" mark hole for any kind of weaknesses developing.

[amigo-2k]

good deal. Thanks for the update and keep her going!

[rodeo02]

Don't hold out on us after all this! How'd they get it out?
Glad you are back in action.
G/luck
Joel

[tomlcollins]

I wish I had been on here in the past couple of weeks, may have been able to save you some money.
I was faced with a similar situation in the past, however in my case I was battling the pipe that hooked up to my toilet to reclaim a pair of pliers and my capability to flush.
You can go to a hardware store and buy a FLEXIBLE, long (about 3 feet), and skinny (more than skinny enough to fit in the dipstick tube) tool that has a syringe type mechanism on one end and a STRONG four pronged claw on the other. I've never seen this tool in an auto parts store, but it works exponentially better than an extendable magnet.
Your other option would have been to take out the dipstick tube, although I'm not really sure if this is possible on Rodeos or not. After doing that a long pair of needle noses would probably have done the trick.
Hope you didn't pay too much!
Tom C

[Ramblin Fever]

Wasn't too bad actually, $75 bucks - figured it be a LOT more as complicated as Isuzu engine's can be.

Ended up removing dipstick tube, and it was on entry into the oil pan - thank goodness it hadn't, didn't want to have to drop the pan just for that.

There's a stupid awkward angled bolt on the side of the head that releases the tube - however, after working on it for 8hrs with every damn tool we could possibly use, we gave up. The bolt wouldn't budge at all.

She's back on the road - new dipstick on order.