Q: Oil dipstick is stuck

asked by on October 17, 2016

Today while driving, the temperature gauge started to fall up and down - when arrived home, I tried to remove the oil dipstick to check the levels, but it will not come out! It will only pull out about two inches, and then it is just plain old stuck. Oil was last checked about three weeks ago, no problems removing dipstick.

Stick will rotate, and push back in just fine, but it won't come out more than the first few inches. I am afraid this is masking a much deeper problem!

What could have caused this, and how do I get it out?

My car has 215000 miles.
My car has a manual transmission.

The oil dipstick has small rivets in it toward the bottom which can sometimes make it difficult to get out depending on the angle or curvature of the oil dipstick tube that leads down to the oil pan. Sometimes wiggling it back and forth slightly will help to get it to come out. If not successful, you may want to have a professional from YourMechanic come to your home to further inspect the car as this may be a sign of a larger issue.

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