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Dipstick melted....

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rival

15+ Year Contributor
246
99
Dec 12, 2004
aiken, South_Carolina
So not sure if this is the correct place to post this but haven't heard of anyone else having this problem.... I recently did a track day at Roebling road and the rubber or plastic piece on a 1g dipstick that seals to the dipstick tube disintegrated and fell down the tube into the oil pan... apparently the heat between the exhaust runners where the dipstick sits gets too hot. The manifold is ceramic coated. I am curious if anyone has had this happen or has any ideas of a solution... I was thinking about a billet handle if there is one... or a universal flexible dipstick to route it somewhere away from the exhaust... anyone have any ideas?
 
I had it heat wrapped before but wasn't happy with it.... got really flaky and if you brushed against it it would just flake off the manifold... and I was considering the billet handle from frontline fab but wasn't sure if the O-rings they use to seal would get too hot and fail as well...
 
I would probably look at making a heat shield for the area if you are seeing temps that high. Not necessarily on the manifold, but protecting other components in the area. If it is getting that hot, any hoses, sensors, electrical wire/connectors are also at risk. If you have relocated such items, you could get creative for the dipstick. you could make a round tube that connects around the handle portion that extends an inch or two down. I should be a slightly larger diameter so that is is not directly touching the dipstick. You could then wrap that with gold reflecting tape. Using the F&F dipstick may transfer heat more so than what you already have.
 
A manifold blanket is the real answer to the problem, but I also got the FF handle for peace of mind after melting mine. In my experience, even good ceramic coating is inferior to a nice blanket.
 
Its specifically called "turbo manifold blanket" its not heat wrap at all. Its on eBay and runs about $80~120 or so.

And yes I ran my car without the factory heat shield and if you pop the hood on a hot day after some boost you can feel the heat come at you right away

This would work fine if the OP was running an OE/FP style manifold. From the OP's build, I noticed a tubular manifold with the dip stick between runners.
 
Do what i did and bent the dipstick tube. Leave it bolted to the block and heat it up with a heat gun. Then bend it outwards towards your p/s pump. Once you warm the metal up it moves around pretty easily and doesnt kink( unless you try to go 90 degrees).
 
This would work fine if the OP was running an OE/FP style manifold. From the OP's build, I noticed a tubular manifold with the dip stick between runners.

Ok ok, so he should put a factory exhaust manifold back on, and put the stock turbo back on, and then put the stock heat shields back on. :p
 
I say re-rout it. When you do modifications, you have to make stuff work. You are no longer able to run heat shields, so the dipstick can't handle it. Up to you if you want to shove a metal one in, or simply bend the tube. Iv'e found that most aftermarket sticks aren't accurate and I have the dremel a line on myself to match the factory stick. Thats my .02.
 
^^^ THIS
This is how I ran my dipstick. No way it would last in between glowing red runners. Yes it is highly modified, by hand, carefully taking the bend out of the tube with a tubing bender. I had to clear a WG also but it works fine in that position.
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You know a heat shield can be anything that deflects the heat. obviously its not going to be easy to make one for that jumble of exhaust but you could do it. I used a bread pan bent a bit to fit and secured in place with steel braided cable. Bread pan value village 7$, steel cable and crimp 7$ walmart, carabiner steel with screw style clasp home depot 4$.
 
You know a heat shield can be anything that deflects the heat. obviously its not going to be easy to make one for that jumble of exhaust but you could do it. I used a bread pan bent a bit to fit and secured in place with steel braided cable. Bread pan value village 7$, steel cable and crimp 7$ walmart, carabiner steel with screw style clasp home depot 4$.

Have an engine pic of the setup?
 
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this is currently the exhaust setup minus the heat wrap, it all flaked off so I had it ceramic coated.. I have been working on a heat shield for the sake of all the other components like power steering, alt. etc.. but as far as the dipstick problem, it started to get brittle with the heat even when I had the wrap on it because as you can see its in a terrible spot.. I may try 1990TSIAWDTALON's idea and bend the tube forward, but that may not be enough... keep in mind that on the road course I am in boost for good amounts of time for prolonged periods of time, so there is a lot of heat created. I haven't had any issues with engine temps or oil temps, just the dipstick...
 
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This is before my suspension upgrade and upper strut brace. Budget heat shield haha, really I was like spend money to replace the factory heat shield that wont work when I get a FP exhaust mani would be silly. The hood would burn my hand after some driving around without any heat shield, now its warm, but not even hot. Using a turbo blanket might be a decent idea if its of good design and wont trap moisture. That steel cable is taught! I mean I crimped it kinda short so I had to really pull it into place. With tin snips and a welder I would modify it to bolt into place, which I will likely do at some point.
 
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gotcha, and I will prolly make something similar, but with my original issue, if I place a heat shield over the manifold, its just going to trap heat around where my dipstick currently is. (see pic above) so I need to either relocate it or modify it somehow so after the heat shield is on its not going to melt the plastic/rubber of the dipstick..
 
gotcha, and I will prolly make something similar, but with my original issue, if I place a heat shield over the manifold, its just going to trap heat around where my dipstick currently is. (see pic above) so I need to either relocate it or modify it somehow so after the heat shield is on its not going to melt the plastic/rubber of the dipstick..

they make sleeves out of the Silver heat wrap, alternatively I have made covers for stuff out of the Silver / sticky backed heat shield wrap stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/Thermo-Tec-13575-Adhesive-Backed-Barrier/dp/B00029KC2K

it's good for about 2000f ambient, won't work direct contact but you might get away with it and a metal dipstick
 
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