Broken Dip Stick 2005 210 SAN TE

[Airnautique54]

I bought a 210 Super Air at the end of last season with 135 hours. After this year it had 170 so I figured I'd change the oil as part of my winterization. When I pulled the dip stick to check the level to make sure all the oil had been drained the end was GONE!! Side note I should have checked earlier and thought I did but evidentaly I was wrong. Long story short the dealerships in my area wanted $2500 to pull the engine and check the oil pan... Ouch!

So I decided to tackle the issue myself and removed the rear dividers and tanks. The oil pan is bolted on with about 16 small bolts and most are easy enough to get to except the two front on the port side behind the starter. Side note I also removed the knuckle where the easy drain attaches to give the pan a bit more clearance. The gasket is a one piece and luckily stayed attached to the engine block and the pan dropped enough without raising the engine for me to reach in and check for the broken end of the dip stick. As it turned out there was nothing in the pan so it must have been broken from the previous owner, so I reattached the pan, resealed the knuckle and am good to go. But I figured I'd throw this on here as an option if you end up in the same situation and don't have $2500 to go fishing in the oil pan!

[Mahoo]

Was your concern that there might be some pieces of dip stick in the pan that had broken off?

I am thinking that most dip sticks, if they would come loose from the handle, will not hit the crank and most likely just bottom out on the pan and stay there in the tube guide. Now getting it out might be fun. Lube oil analysis can be run on the used oil for about $200 to determine if any water or metals are in the oil. This might have been an easy double check to see if there were any pieces in the oil.

Pulling the pan is the only to be sure though, and I would probably do the same, if it only took a day or two of labor and didn't require pulling the motor.

[Airnautique54]

Yes the dip stick had about 6" missing from the end and the worry way that it would get into the crank and according to the dealers caose $7000+ worth of damage (basically it could have killed the motor) although kudos to the PCM designers because there is a metal shield between the bottom of the pan and the crank. I pulled the tube and found that the dip stick actually should extend about 8" beyond the end if the tube and mine barley extended past the end. Good call on the oil analysis I didn't think of that and I may run it in a couple years just to make sure everything is kosher.