Is it just me or is the dip stick horrible in every way. Its hard to get out. Its so damn crooked I feel like its a maze down there and by the time its out theres oil everywhere. How am I supposed to read the oil level??! I tried 3 times and gave up. Its even hard to put back in. Ok, I feel better now. Whats your techniques?


Jason

 

The design sucks. It is hard to tell how much oil you have left in the pan as the oil gets everywhere. I wonder if the other VQ35 equipped cars has the same dipstick design.

 

My G35 and Murano have the same idiocy.

 

The INANE dipstick design is the worst feature of my Z that I have found. What slack-jawed retard of an engineer designed it and what dumber-than-a-bag-of-rocks product manager accepted it!?!?!?

What REALLY bugs me about it is that the dipstick has a crazy shape and the lame-azs guide is pretty complicated. In other words they spent money making it suck! The presence of the guides tells me that they knew there was an issue and this is the best solution they could come up with.

If that is true, I hope those engineers were fired before designing anything else on my car.

My old 1968 convertible solved this problem in a high tech manner. (prepair to be dazzled with technology!) There was a metal tube from the oil pan the top of the engine compartment. That's all it took! Pull stick out, read oil level, pop stick back in.

Maybe one of the gifted machinist-types on this forum can help. Can someone design a product to fix this problem?

If you build it, we will buy it.

 

AMEN!

 

And here i thought it was just me!!! when i did my oil change i couldn't get a reading, ever. It was pissing me off! so i spent a half hour going through all the manuals and books that came with the car to find out how many quarts it takes. finally found it took 5 and i was good to go. What a pain in the Azzz though!

 

Yes it is a crappy configuration. The problem is fitting all the external engine junk into a small space. The down tube has to dodge a bunch of functional things, so some poor bas... had to come up with this convoluted POS to fit into the space. Too bad. If you noticed, you cannot check the automatic transmission fluid level at all- there is no dipstick!@()*%&(_*!#%(_*%. Incredible, eh?

 

I think Nissan gets the NEGATIVE BENCHMARK award for the dipstick design! I remember the first time I pulled my Z into the garage and pulled the dipstick out. 10 minutes later after finding the trouble light and plugging it in I found a way to get the dip stick back in. Wow, it's tough to imagine designing it any worse. It looks like the last thing they did was figure how to put a dipstick on and then discovered there was no place for it.

The worse part is even though its tough to get in and out its this poor routing that seems to strip the oil off enough so that its very hard to tell what the oil level is....

 

Just a thought guys. If you take the dipstick out and take some very course sandpaper to kind of texture the end of the dipstick, it may create enough porosity to hold the oil in place a little better. I did this with my Accord, and it seemed to help. Oh yeah, make SURE you clean the dipstick off thoroughly before replacing it, so as to avoid any sand in the pan.

 

Well, I've found that I don't burn oil between oil changes, so I just don't use the damn thing. The first time I pulled it out was at night, took me 10 minutes with a flashlight to put it back in. You guys are right, a real crappy design.

I just hope I don't start burning oil, because that dipstick is useless, you might say the guy that designed it is a real dipstick.

Lou

 

BAD JOKE.....

Guys cain't you find a hole in the dark?
not many dates?

 

Just wow @ this thread.

 

G35 Coupes have the same issue....it sux.

 

Take out the stick holding it at the lowest end, sliding it up in between your fingers (but not to the measuring point, use a clean towel). You'll need ample light to see the oil level... and it's probably easiest to flip your wrist back and forth to see the level (similarly to how you would read a mercury-based thermometer). It takes awhile but it can be done. It's also best when done after the engine has been sitting for a little while (or else the entire stick is oily no matter what you do).

 

Since we are swapping tips, I do have a system that helps.

When I stop for gas I open the hood, remove the dipstick, clean it off, and lay it on the engine. I also remove the oil fill cap.

Then I leave it alone and pump the gas. By the time I come back to the engine the oil has settled down and it is much easier to get a reading.

I think leaving the stick out and the cap off helps the oil settle down quicker. (I noticed my mechanic does this whenever he checks oil on any car).

Just be sure to replace the stick AND the cap before closing the hood.

 

What could happen to the engine if it was over fillled with oil?

KJ

 

Too high of oil pressure can cause multiple engine problems. Don't overfill your oil, it is usually worse than running a little low.

 

the older versions of the vq have the exact same dipstick. we get maximas and altima v6's in the shop all the time and after i bought my car i was hoping nissan might actualy decide to change it. oil changes on the vq are such a pain doing what andyb and and vincenzobar do is the best alternative.

 

The best time to read the stick is the next morning (at least that's what I do with my '02 Maxima)...don't feel bad the dipstick in my '01 Vette has the same problems...you just have to wait until the oil has a chance to completely reach the oil pan...checking it even after 15 minutes of rest will do no good.

 

as long as you put in 5 qts of oil you should be save right?