Info on Dip Stick from Dealer!!

glasseye said:

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Reading this thread, I'm not sure I trust myself to read the dipstick, let alone pull the valve body.

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It's really not that complicated.

Pull the valve body? I thought that Doktor A's latest advice on that is to leave it alone unless you have symptoms. There is a slight risk of messing something up by pulling that valve body and re-installing. At over 248,000 272,000 miles I have not touched mine, nor do I plan to unless it gives me problems. That said, I'll probably get transmission related codes tomorrow morning. FWIW. vic

glasseye said:

<snip>
Reading this thread, I'm not sure I trust myself to read the dipstick, let alone pull the valve body.

Click to expand...

I feel that way sometimes. If you run across something that makes you scratch your head, film or photograph it. Show it to us and ask your question. I'm sure someone will offer some guidance.

Are there any other T1N owners in your area? I always thought it'd be great if someone had a big garage and time enough to host "maintenance" parties where owners could share experiences, shoulder to shoulder, sharing tips and tricks.

Maybe you can try something like that your home town?

-Jon

Transmission dip stick storage alert: I acquired my MB stick years ago. I keep it in the original plastic bag so that the chances of it rusting is minimized, and I hang it on the wall.

So today I go to get it to check the oil. Whenever I used it last, I/me/myself put the dip stick into the bag handle up. When I pulled the dip stick out of the bag, the plastic end was bent over 90-degrees. Even though I have straighten it out, I don't believe the readings I am getting given what I know (what I put in) and see (no leaks). I suspect that when the end of the stick goes down the pipe, it is missing the guide that Andy spoke about when discussing the transmission valve body.

Moral of the story - when storing the dip stick, watch out for the plastic tip and hang the dip stick from the handle or put into its bag upside down.

hkpierce said:

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Moral of the story - when storing the dip stick, watch out for the plastic tip and hang the dip stick from the handle or put into its bag upside down.

Click to expand...

Not that anyone asked...

Perhaps slip a section of fuel hose or other tubing over the tip/end to keep things in proper alignment while in storage.

That may work over time to restore the proper orientation and operation of your distorted hanging dipstick.
(And, yes. I'm aware of my choice of words on that one.)

vic

i'll share a couple of data points about the dipstick/fluid level method. On my 2007 NCV3, after having dealer service on my transmission, once by Dodge and once by MB, I read my aftermarket dipstick from Europarts, while the engine and trans were still hot.

Each time, the fluid level was between the upper and lower marks of the 80 Celcius hot range.

When Dodge did the refill, the level was almost at the upper 80 degree mark, and when MB did the refill the level was just slightly above halfway between the lower and upper 80 degree marks.

Just had my fluid changed. Tech put in 8 qts and checked. Oil very low on stick ( must not had it in all the way) added half qt. I checked after 55 mile drive in 80 degree temp. Fluid is at the 2nd highest mark. I park my rig on a steep incline with the cab nose down hill while I unhook boat. Fluid drips out the overflow. Have checked again on level, fluid shows a little above half way on stick. I've had Mercedes shop way over fill because there dipstick was so bent up, it was unusable. I can't believe Mercedes uses such a primitive method. Some guys push the stick down hard, others push till they feel a little resistance. It must not be that critical.

rabbitdiesel1 said:

... It must not be that critical.

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It is critical that the stop ears are in proper position on the tube stop.

I've found that on the T1N's there is a couple places where the shape of the long steel tube give a bit of resistance before the actual stop tube. The dipstick needs to get past those or you will get an inaccurate reading.

vic

hkpierce said:

Transmission dip stick storage alert: I acquired my MB stick years ago. I keep it in the original plastic bag so that the chances of it rusting is minimized, and I hang it on the wall.

So today I go to get it to check the oil. Whenever I used it last, I/me/myself put the dip stick into the bag handle up. When I pulled the dip stick out of the bag, the plastic end was bent over 90-degrees. Even though I have straighten it out, I don't believe the readings I am getting given what I know (what I put in) and see (no leaks). I suspect that when the end of the stick goes down the pipe, it is missing the guide that Andy spoke about when discussing the transmission valve body.

Moral of the story - when storing the dip stick, watch out for the plastic tip and hang the dip stick from the handle or put into its bag upside down.

Click to expand...

I was changing and checking my transmission oil today. The plastic end of the dip stick broke off in the pipe leading down to the transmission - who knows how far down. I do not doubt that it was weakened by how I stored it (quoted post above). As the oil is new and I don't think the tip will cause any damage, I do not intend to drop the pan to retrieve it at this point.

You may get lucky, and the tip is stuck in the dipstick tube. That is fairly easy to remove from the trans, 2 bolts on the side of the head, one at the trans, and one of the bellhousing bolts need to come off. You can also try a narrow pair of hemostat like pliers into the bore.

I agree though, you can leave it in there. There is not risk of damage.

hkpierce said:

I was changing and checking my transmission oil today. The plastic end of the dip stick broke off in the pipe leading down to the transmission - who knows how far down. I do not doubt that it was weakened by how I stored it (quoted post above). As the oil is new and I don't think the tip will cause any damage, I do not intend to drop the pan to retrieve it at this point.

Click to expand...

That sucks. It was a plastic German cheese ball design to begin with. My very first forum posts were about MB's over use of plastic.

hkpierce said:

Transmission dip stick storage alert: I acquired my MB stick years ago. I keep it in the original plastic bag so that the chances of it rusting is minimized, and I hang it on the wall.

So today I go to get it to check the oil. Whenever I used it last, I/me/myself put the dip stick into the bag handle up. When I pulled the dip stick out of the bag, the plastic end was bent over 90-degrees. Even though I have straighten it out, I don't believe the readings I am getting given what I know (what I put in) and see (no leaks). I suspect that when the end of the stick goes down the pipe, it is missing the guide that Andy spoke about when discussing the transmission valve body.

Moral of the story - when storing the dip stick, watch out for the plastic tip and hang the dip stick from the handle or put into its bag upside down.

Click to expand...

hkpierce said:

I was changing and checking my transmission oil today. The plastic end of the dip stick broke off in the pipe leading down to the transmission - who knows how far down. I do not doubt that it was weakened by how I stored it (quoted post above). As the oil is new and I don't think the tip will cause any damage, I do not intend to drop the pan to retrieve it at this point.

Click to expand...

REMOVAL OF BROKEN TRANSMISSION DIP STICK TIP
The time finally came to change the transmission oil. I found the end of my broken dip stick sitting nicely in its seat. I tried pulling the plastic tip out with pliers. But the plastic of the tip and seat are too strong to permit that to happen. The tip breaks leaving most of it still in place. It looks like the seat is held in by a bracket with a hole. But that bracket, it turns out, is not part of the plate shown in the picture below. Do not remove this plate as there are a bunch of springs behind it that shoot all over the place if you remove.


What succeeded was using the spring coil of the broken dip stick to forced it up the transmission dip stick tube in reverse. The spring coil does not extend all the way to the beginning of the tube. But it does push the broken tip up enough to extract from there.