Let's get this out of the way: 1992 F-250 7.3l non-turbo diesel, automatic, may or may not make waffles for me if I ask it nice enough.

Anyways, today I wanted to check up on my oil level, because I'd rather this truck not blow up. The dipstick felt pretty stuck in there. Using the kind of logic only an A-student in college can use, I decided more force was needed. The stick eventually came out after a huge fight (still intact), so I wiped it, stuck it back in (this was a huge chore), and then when I tried to remove it again, that's when it snapped.

Maybe 4-5 inches of dipstick came out, mostly what looked like a tube part. The rest of the dipstick is still in the tube going to the engine.

Took it to the mechanic, and he told me I'm just gonna have to replace the whole thing. He also thinks that this was the wrong dipstick for the truck. Oh well.

Now I'm looking for a replacement dipstick and tube. So far, all I've found is the universal stuff O'Reilly has. Anyone have any experience using these, or would I be better off going to Pick-N-Pull? And, speaking of the junkyard, do I have to get the part from a diesel specifically, or can I get the dipstick stuff from a different engine like the 460?

Anything else I should worry about related to this?

 

Just find a junkyard and get one out of the same IDI diesel engine. It most likely wasn't the right dipstick if it didn't want to fit correctly.

Did you get the remnants of the dipstick out?

 

Nope, it's still in there. The mechanic tried to use a magnet pen thingy to get it out, but the dipstick is wedged in the tube pretty good. At the very least, it shouldn't fall down in to the engine and cause havoc (I hope).

 

You may have a hard time putting in the dipstick that's supposed to be there if that one is still in there. You may be able to drop the oil pan and pull it through. That's what I'd try.

 

I was hoping to just replace the entire tube, with the dipstick. I don't know if that'd be more work or not though, I'm not very mechanically inclined.

 

Yep, that's also an option. I'd probably drop the oil pan because it's probably not a bad idea to clean it out anyhow. Not hard to do, pretty much straight forward.

 

i don't have much help on this subject but i just wanted to say i love your screen name lol

 

Check with the local dealer, you'd be surprised what's still available.