Did an oil change this morning after installing the CoolCat oil filter conversion kit, and used an AC Delco PF964 filter. Added the oil and checked for leaks. Ran the engine for a minute or two, and checked for leaks. All looked good. Went to check the oil level, and the dipstick had only a touch of oil at the tip, near the “E” mark. The oil level read the same even before I started the car. I read where dipsticks have been changed throughout the car’s lifetime, so I attached a photo of my dipstick, which I have no reason to think is anything other than stock. Hopefully someone can tell from the pic if it’s the standard dipstick.
OR … help me figure out what the heck is going on with the oil level?
Thank you
Carlo
I don’t have a S2 so can’t say for certain that this is correct or not, but the rubber gasket also looks like it might be too thick. It actually looks like a rubber grommet like you’d stick into sheet metal to protect wiring. Maybe someone else can confirm what if any seal should be there. On S1 cars it’s a piece of felt.
With a bend like that what sometimes happens is that the dipstick, doesn’t pass through the hole in the sump baffle into the oil below, but instead skids across the top of the baffle. Try straightening the lower bend (the one at the 6" mark on your photo) and try again. It should just drop into the sump without any effort.
Funny how when something is correct, it all works as it was intended.
As pointed out, the dipstick was bent, and shouldn’t have been, so with the strength of Hercules, I put it back in shape.
As Erica pointed out, that is indeed a rubber grommet made to act like a washer of some kind. I sliced it in half, and it’s about as thin as a felt washer. It’ll do for now.
So, with the bend straightened, and the grommet altered, my dipstick is reading at the FULL line.
Thank you all for the good and quick help. It’s like having Jaguar specialists/mechanics/technicians on speed dial.
