No dipstick??? WTF
 

Last week I was changing the oil in our Land Rover LR4 (Discovery 4). No issues, everything went as planned since we owned an LR3 before so fairly similar procedure except for the filter. I get to the point to check level after adding 8 litres and can't find a dipstick anywhere. I'm sure I amused the neighbors looking all over for the stupid thing.

Some internet research later and a look thru the manual and I confirmed that there is no dipstick. Huh? How in the name of all that is holy am I supposed to check the oil level?

It gets better. To check the oil level, you access a menu in the display screen that takes you to service menu and buried in there is oil level display. No you can't have this display all the time, you can only check it after the vehicle has been turned off for about 10 minutes because otherwise the level will not show up. Oh it will display the gauge but no reading will be given.

Worst of all: up to the time I changed the oil there were no warning lights for low oil level. When I measured out the oil I took out of the vehicle I was around 4 litres short. Hopefully this is a bullet dodged. I read a internet post on this where a guy lost his engine same way and it only had 800ml of oil ...no warning light.

Vehicle is running great and I've checked the level a few times since. No issues.

I would prefer a dipstick thank you. This is Land Rover number 5 for us and we love them in case anyone was questioning that or suggesting a brand change.

These kinds of things are intentional so that you have to pay the dealership to maintain the vehicle.

IIRC, Boxsters lost their dipsticks 10+ years ago.

saves $8 per car and increases the likely hood customer will get service at the dealer. The person who came up with it prob got a promotion. It is pretty common these days actually.

Our 2017 Macan has no dipstick. I think it is nuts. I guess that dipstick would cost 20 or 30 bucks to engineer and put in, so they just don't.

We have not had a first oil change as yet.

Basically the same for my '08 Boxster. No dipstick. If the engine is fully warmed, you have to wait 5 mins to check the level. The manual recommends checking the level when you get gas. It takes 2-3 mins to get gas, maybe another min if I'm cleaning the windows. It sucks to sit around for another min or two to wait for that to finish.

I liked my old 911. Not only was the oil level gauge accurate, but there was also a dipstick. If the car was fully warmed up, I could look at the gauge and know what I would find if I shut the car off and then checked the dipstick.

Yeah, not all new tech is great. This is more about "them" protecting the non-mechanical from themselves. Sadly, I'm not one of them. If there was a way to mod my car to have a dipstick, I'd certainly do it.

If you had an old Farmall you would open the three petcocks on the side of the oil pan, starting with the top one. If you get oil out of the top one, too much kerosene has leaked past the rings - change the oil. If you get oil out of the middle one, but not the top one, oil level is OK. If you don't get oil out of the bottom one, oil level is low. Did you check the oil pan for three petcocks?

My favorite is certain Ford cars from around 2005 with lifetime air filters. Yep, can’t get one from any FLAPs..

Quick FYI on the dipstick issue. The EU countries are moving to it being illegal to change your oil and to that end you must use a sealed extractor to remove the oil. Soon you will see NO DRAIN PLUG on the oil pan and further there can be no access to install a drain plug, with some structural member covering the oil pan to eliminate access.

Welcome big brother!

double WTF

triple WTF


this is the type of stuff that has me terrified of newer cars.

I think some "older" versions of the 911, sold in Europe, didn't have the engine case drilled and tapped for the drain plug - required some sort of extractor. I heard, from friends in Germany, people would go out in the woods and drop the oil, this was one of the reasons for the oil plug delete.

Wish my Cayman had a dipstick. Unless its parked in the same spot every time its checked the dash will give a different reading. First time I backed in the garage instead if nosing in, it was about 1/2 quart low.

I'll bet dealers are kicking and screaming about all electric cars. There is very little maintenance needed. My buddy got a Leaf and after 2 years the dealer made a big deal about bringing it in to change the brake fluid. That was all they did.

I often wonder how accurate is that damn gauge. I discovered that in my Cayman S and went nuts looking for the dip stick.

from Edmunds....

So where does the majority of a dealership's profit come from? It's not from car sales: at least not directly. It's from the service and parts department, which accounts for 44 percent of the dealership's gross profits, according to NADA.

This issue is what crossed BMW off my list last time I was car shopping. I would not buy a car without a dipstick to check engine oil level

my brother (timc) is looking at getting an LR4

Will they be able to sell those cars in the US? Isn’t there some sort of law here that says owners must have the right/ability to work on their own cars and not be a slave to the dealership?

with service advisors who work on commission...the thick plottens.

If you want to find the dipstick, just look over in PARF. Lots of them, just everywhere all the time.

Maybe someone didn't like getting hit.

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This is not new. I had a 2003 MB with no dip oil stick or transmission stick. I had a display to alerting me to change oil and a display for oil level which would only come on when the level (either high or low) was not right. I, too, prefer an oil stick.

Source to back up that claim?
Google comes up completely empty on that.

No dipstick on my previous 2014 Panamera 4S, and same as the new Macan. It definitely takes some getting used to. Luckily I can check the oil level with the car off and it isn't really hidden in the menus. I still do prefer a dipstick as well.... so much quicker than having to get in/out of the car to see the oil level.

Does your car have to sit for 5 mins with the key in and on before it will give you a reading?

In my '08 Boxster, if the car is warm, you have to turn the motor off, then turn the key to on, and wait for 5 mins before it will tell you the oil level. If I had a dipstick, I could do it a lot faster than 5 mins.

But it does make it fun at those full service gas stations, when asked if he can check the oil, I told the pump jocky, "I'll give you $1000 if you can find the dipstick"

The best I could tell, my 997S was burning a little over a quart per 1000 miles, which if I could have been sure, would have been no big deal- however- with no dipstick, I could not monitor closely enough to determine oil consumption was not increasing due to bigger issues.

The car was SOLD the next week. FU computer dipstick.

As an aside- my wife went to buy a new VOLVO engine with no dipstick. Not only was there no dipstick, the computer only registered "full" or "empty"

There was no inbetween.

Deal off.

Also- there were people retrofitting dipsticks into the volvo block even back in 2015.
God bless them!- basically- check to see if your dipstickless car had a dipstick design a dipstick for it. Worth a shot. :D

I'll double check later tonight, but I don't believe I have to wait. If I remember right, I was able to check immediately. Tire pressure on the other hand, I had to hit 15mph before it would give me a tire pressure reading.

The reason for Porsche is overfilling. They don’t want warranty claims for DIY oil changes causing engine damage/leaks. But they would never go to pans without plugs. The extractor method leaves a lot of crud in the bottom and they don’t recommend it.

Actually, air filters have PLENTY of surface area and they breathe just fine when dirty. In fact, they filter out dirt better when dirty. Heavy equipment manufacturers look at air filters on diesel equipment that are clogged with inches of debris, and suggest it be left in service.

My Volvo '15 V6 t5 no dip stick,have to go through the menu to access the oil level,some what involved procedure!:(

Correct but only up to a point. Eventually the filter clogs too much. Air finds a way around bringing dirt with it. You can put a thin smear of grease in air box past filter to see when dirt gets on it. The miles and miles of mountain washboard dirt roads around here don’t do small filter areas any favors. Also, under max power when the EFI runs in open loop (almost all EFI systems) it is expecting to match the pre-programmed fuel maps to a clean filter so economy can suffer in this scenario.

Guys this is nothing new! the 32' Packard light eight we had did not have a dipstick, but there was a gauge under the hood. Ours did not work for the first 25 years we owned the car. Then when we had the motor rebuilt, they fixed the gauge.

You mean it doesn't send you a text telling you the oil is low and precisely how much to add? How archaic.

I think the 911 went dipstick-less in 2005. Only an electronic dipstick.

masraum I can confirm that even without starting up the car I can immediately see the oil level.

it's not longer a true dry sump, so it needs to check with a non running engine so it has a baseline of all oil as it drained to the "integrated dry sump".

First time i hear about it, where did you hear this?

Hmm, I would be much happier with that setup. My minimum wait time is 5 mins. If the car isn't full warm, it takes longer. Consequently, I don't check as often as I should.

I've got the M97, so I'm screwed.
from https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/11-ENGINE-911_Engine_Swap/11-ENGINE-911_Engine_Swap.htm

I have an M97 as well, but I don't have to wait 5 minutes for an oil level reading.
I can get a time out after the engine ran, then i have to wait for it to drain and settle to the sump, That wait can be much longer then 5 minutes.