Went to the local ford dealer today to buy a new dipstick tube. I found the original tube broken a couple days after the dealer last worked on it. Anyway, the guy in the service center said that installation was simple and if I would by the tube they would install it for free. An hour later the service rep comes up to me and says I have some bad news, your tube was corroded and broke off, its going to cost your $400 to remove your oil pan and drive the remaining piece out. It was obvious that the tube was in good shape and that the lube tech had cut the tube with a chisel or something. Any ideas on how to get the tube out when its broken flush with the block? 2000 ex with the v10.

 

Yea, you have to drop the pan and get it out from there.

 

I'm confused, that should be a two piece dipstick tube. Which piece did they break, the upper or lower? In order to get it out all you have to do is remove the top bell housing bolt on the passenger side. You will need a long extension and a 5/8 swivel socket.

 

Then if it were me, I'd continue to persue the dealer to fix it at their cost. If the service manager resists, then ask to speak to the dealership owner. If the owner doesn't resolve it, then call a local TV News Station and see if they'll do a story on it. Locally we have several stations that do some kind of 'consumer assistance' spots and generally the retailer (what ever they may be) will jump thru hoops to resolve the complaint just to prevent bad PR. For something that is under $100, I probably wouldn't go to that extreme, but $400 buys a lot of gas... though not as much as it used to.

Just my $0.02...
- Mark

 

The vehicle is 8 years old, and stuff like this happens. Did the tech chip away at the previous appointment or was it part of him trying to remove it? If he cut at it trying to remove it for replacement, I would be hard pressed to make the dealer pay for the work. I would go home, try to drive a punch at the side of the old tube to get it to warp inward. Once the tube piece's OD shrunk, I'd pull it out with pliers.

 

Actually it's only a one piece tube. Looking at the tube it looks like he took a cold chisel to it. The metal was in good shape and paint was intact. The tube was crushed in two different places and the mounting bracket was ripped off. I will be calling the manager tomorrow to see if anything can be done. If I do need to pull the pan, how far does the engine have to be lifted to clear the cross member with the pan? Thanks for all the replies.

 

oil tubes just dont corrode in 8 years,sounds like the tech screwed up

 

If the mounting tab is ripped off, and theres no corosion anywhere on it I would say they gave it to a rookie tech and he goofed it up.


I agree with trying to get something to bend the tube inward on itself to try and pull it out, but you risk getting metal in the oil pan.

 

I just did this job myself about three weeks ago on my dad's X, and I can tell you from experience, it is a complete bugger of a job! His dipstick tube had literally rusted in half where it goes between the block and exhaust manifold.

There's really no easy way to get to the tube where it goes into the block, as the oil filter adapter blocks all but about 25% of any way to get to it. My first attempt with a chisel didn't go well...I broke the tube off about 2" above the block, and yes, the metal that far down the tube was in fairly good (but not great) shape. Even then, I could barely get on it with a short pair of vise-grips. I then somehow managed to get a bolt threaded into the top of what was left of the tube. I managed to get a chisel under the lip of the bolt, and could hammer the tube up and out...until I broke the head of the bolt off! That was pretty much the end of day one.

The next day I started in again with the vise-grips, but that was proving to be fruitless after a couple hours. I had enough...I went for broke with a long pry bar and a big hammer, figuring I was either gonna drive what was left of the tube out, or I was gonna break it...at that point, I didn't care which happened. I must have been lucky, as the big pry bar drove it out just a little at a time. I thought I was gonna cry, I was so happy...

I also had to fab a bracket for the tube, as the head of the bolt holding it to the side of the block had naturally twisted off. All told, I had the better part of about 10 hours in it, just to replace a stupid dipstick tube. Now, I'm not trying to make excuses for the techie that worked on it (I'm a former employee of a Ford dealership...I've seen some winners come down the pike), but it's a bear of a job for ANYONE to do with the engine still in the vehicle. I agree with trying to get the dealership to eat that $400 since technically it IS their fault, but $400 to drop an oil pan is asinine. Maybe try to get them to come down (WAAAAY down) on that price, or see if you can get some kind of free service down the road, or something! Never know what might work...

Sorry for being long-winded...
Pat

 

Thanks for all the help. We'll see what happens.