What would cause the bottom of the dipstick to mangle?

[olly]

As the title says, What would cause the bottom end of the dipstick to mangle/bend up? At first I suspected a rod smacked it, but there is nothing coming out into the oil pan or out of the block. I've seen where dipsticks shoot out, but not the bottom end bending up. Anyone ever had this problem before? Could a spun bearing cause this?

 

[RoasT BeeF]

Perhaps someone put a jack under the oil pan?

 

[blackGSX2g]

Perhaps someone put a jack under the oil pan?

Wouldn't that mangle up the oil pan a whole lot more than the dipstick?

 

[RoasT BeeF]

Yes. As well as possibly damaging the pickup and causing oil starvation....

 

[olly]

The oil pan is fine. This happened while going down the road. at 30 in 3rd gear. At first i suspected major bottom end issues, but I'm not sure now.

 

[BISHILVR]

if its the right dipstick for the car and the thing is'nt going too far down into the pan for some reason or another then you have some serious issues down south......

 

[91talontsiturbo]

i highly doubt its a spun bearing cuz you would deff. hear that (loud a$$ anoying knock) in i think the only way it would be able to magle the dipstick is if it threw a rod believe me i've had plenty in my 17 years weird dont ask , but i think BISHILVR might be right about the dipstick not bein the right one or unless sumhow you might have broke it? in it went in to deep just be thankfull it didnt catch enything in totaly F#%K up ur internals , jus try a new oem dipstick in see what happins couldnt hurt

 

[olly]

You can definatly hear it, a terrible metal on metal clank, I just can't see any evidence of the oil pan being messed up. I drained it and pulled it off, not all the way off, didn't have time to remove exhaust and the cross member, but i couldnt find a rod in the pan. I figured if i had thrown a rod and it did get the dipstick, wouldn't it have got the oil pan too? or poked a hole in my block?

 

[BISHILVR]

You can definatly hear it, a terrible metal on metal clank, I just can't see any evidence of the oil pan being messed up. I drained it and pulled it off, not all the way off, didn't have time to remove exhaust and the cross member, but i couldnt find a rod in the pan. I figured if i had thrown a rod and it did get the dipstick, wouldn't it have got the oil pan too? or poked a hole in my block?

not neccesarily, bad things can happen without showing signs on the outside, a rod bearing could be gone but maybe it has'nt broken the rod just yet, start digging in there and have a look around....maybe your oil pickup fell off and is being hit by the crank, never know...............

 

[91talontsiturbo]

when you checked the oil did you happin to notice if there was eny signs of metal in it like a darkish gray sort of, try to get a screan in filter it in see what you can find , thats the easyest way you can find if sumthings messed up but only if you have regular oil changes in all i think

 

[olly]

I've still got the oil, its to dark to check it right now, but i did take the valve cover off, and noticed that there was some oil in there, and i ran my finger through it and there was definatly some metallic dust, i doubt that is normal, but i am also really new to these cars.

 

[91talontsiturbo]

the metallic like dust you found was probaly just signs of wear & tear over the years and you car probaly hasnt had a oil change in a while, but if you were to find maby like little(real small) pieces of metal shavings...thats bad, in anuther thing if ur car has had a resent oil change i'd look into that , try starting it and listen to the moter w/o the dipstick in or have you already tryed that, sorry if you already mentioned if you did i dont exactly read every post sumtimes its a habit

 

[91talontsiturbo]

ok aunther thing when your just cranking over the engine can you hear the clanking sound by eny chance?, useualy when you got a spun bearing it will knock just a little bit when first started while idleing or will only do it when you get in high RPM's, still dont have a clue about how the dipstick got tore up thow , when you have a spun bearing it still only moves just a tiny bit and if it was a thrown rod it probaly wouldnt start up at all or just run on 3cyl's

 

[olly]

its not operable anymore with the valve cover off, but, when it was, everytime the starter turned it over you could hear it, then it would fire, and the motor would shake like crazy, which i assume ment it was only firing on cylinders. Just checked the oil, and its black as night. I tried to remove the spark plugs and number 1 is stuck tight. all this happened after an overheat, is it possible that my head warped causing me to skip a tooth or two and bent valves and smashed the number 1 spark plug, and valves running into pistons is the metal on metal noise i hear? and that would explain the shaking motor, but not the dipstick...?

 

[92awddsm]

The plug wont come out because a rod broke and when the piston hit it, it mangled the bottom of the plug. The clanking you hear is the rest of the rod swinging around on the crank bashing againt the dipstick and block but still too short to hit the bottom of the pan. Pull the pan completely off and you will see this yourself.

EDIT: you also broke the oil pickup off and destroyed the main girdle on the 1 and 2 main caps.

 

[BISHILVR]

you maybe blew a head gasket and hyrolocked the one cylinder which bent the rod, then the bent rod broke................

 

[olly]

is there any chance the block is salvagable or is it all new motor time?

 

[91talontsiturbo]

rip it apart in find out, whats the worst that can happin now (knock on wood)

 

[olly]

The cause of the mangled dipstick is a siezed rod bearing which broke off the rod cap and smashed it into the dipstick. I have pictures of the carnage if anyone is interested.

 

[BISHILVR]

The cause of the mangled dipstick is a siezed rod bearing which broke off the rod cap and smashed it into the dipstick. I have pictures of the carnage if anyone is interested.

Ka-douche', there went the bottom end huh??? Actually, I bet the pictures are pretty tight and if you dont mind maybe you could post one up for us.

 

[olly]

Here are some nice pictures of engine destruction.
On the left is piston, bearing, and maybe some shaved crank?
Stuff I pulled out of the oilpan

rod thru block

Whats left of the piston



at least the piston stopped before it could smash into the cylinder head eh?

 

[RiceKiller_TSi]

Welcome to the 4G63 rebuild club.
I'm 65% done with mine.