Can't read oil level from dipstick.

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by priusrust, Nov 24, 2024.

  1. priusrust

    priusrust Member

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    Hi. This may be me. I have a 2016, and the dipstick is a long thin rod. The oil is synthetic which tends to stay near translucent. I'm never sure of the oil level! It sort of glistens in some spots up the side of dipstick, but never sure of actual level! On older cars....with standard oil....the dipstick was flat, and you could read the level of the darkened oil. Is it me?
     
  2. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    No, It's not just you. I use one of those brown fast food napkins. Start just above the top, full dot, and slowly slide the napkin down. When you hit the oil level - your napkin will darken, yielding your oil level.
    I've got a 2021 Prime and in EV mode 85% of the time, so it takes a good 4-6 months before I can read the oil level without using a napkin.:(:cry::sleep:

    Hope this helps.....
     
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  3. priusrust

    priusrust Member

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    This is briliant! Thanks! You know, with the incessant over-engineering these days.... (Tesla ,you can program to make farting noise)...and the consequent owners manual thick as a phone book.... Seems like a reliable way to check oil would be a worthy focus of engineers. [also too , make the visor longer to fully block out sun from side drivers side window when you swing it over] Listening prius engineers? Thanks again!
     
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  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Witness Leader

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    What I found to help, albeit on a gen 3, is after removiing and wping the dipstick, wait 5 minutes before reinserting for the check.

    What tends to happen is the initial removal of the dipsick draws oil up the guide tube, which will mess up the edges of the dipstick, make determining the true level difficult. The 5 minute wait gives that oil time to drain down.
    immediate check:
    IMG_6205.jpeg
    Check after 5 minute wait:
    IMG_6204.jpeg

    Also, at least for my Gen 3, the far face of the dipstick (as inserted) is generally clearer.
     
    #4 Mendel Leisk, Dec 9, 2024
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2024
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  5. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    Newer BMW & MBZ don't even have dipsticks any more. You have to rely on their internal sensors.
    I'm an old fart and don't like that! By the time the sensor tells you that your engine oil is low, you could've already damaged the engine or at least shaved a few years or miles off the engines life span. I don't want to grab a laptop and pay a monthly subscription to find out what's wrong or just to check simple things that people should be checking before a long road trip. Those are north of $75K and they're going to nickle and dime you for the entire "ownership" of that car? No thank you!!!
    FWIW; they can disable and turn-off options remotely, if you don't pay. Sorry, If I pay that kind of money for something, It's MINE - I didn't rent it!!!!
     
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  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Witness Leader

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    Then there's property "taxes"...
     
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  7. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    I get street lights, police, schools, roads, fire houses for property taxes - that's a fair trade. IMHO - People who live out in the forest or on large plots of private land, probably feel differently about that.
     
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  8. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    On Gen4 the dipstick goes into the oil on an angle. It's a good idea to check both sides of the dipstick. I know on our Gen4 one side of the dipstick is always higher than than the other side or one side is always lower than the other side, depending on which side one looks at first.

    Watch how the dipstick bends as it goes down the tube. Using a bright flashlight at different angles can help detect where the oil levels are on both sides of the stick.
     
  9. AzWxGuy

    AzWxGuy Weather Guy

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    All of what has already been said, and something I tried which has worked well. First, clean the end of the dipstick to get it all shiny. Then take some very fine grit sandpaper and carefully un-shine both sides, including the area in between the dots and a little ways up. This will give the oil something to adhere to. And I went a step further and took a file and rounded out the edges on the end of the dip stick so they would quit binding in the dip tube.
     
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  10. priusrust

    priusrust Member

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    Just don't get the lack of engineering attention to this issue. 1) most importance maintenance issue is making sure you don't run low on/overfill oil + 2) it is extremely hard to accurately read engine oil (so easy to overfill with impossible to decipher oil level) = engineers focused on programming your car to literally make a farting noise [see Tesla]. .........I suspect this paucity of engineering common sense coincided with legalization of marijuana. Have any studies been conducted?
     
  11. AzWxGuy

    AzWxGuy Weather Guy

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    If you are asking this about the Toyota engineers in Japan, recreational MJ is illegal there while medicinal was passed in 2023. Of course anyone with the means, financial and otherwise, can acquire whatever a person might want in modern cosmopolitan Japan. Still, there is a strong work ethic there and a strong commitment to company rules. But weaknesses are everywhere these days. Hard to say if the engineering of the dipstick on these engines ended up as an afterthought. Everything in the engine compartment is precisely fitted into the minimum amount of space. Back when I was monitoring oil use in my 2008 and 2011 I created a little paper graduated scale that broke up the distance between the two dots on the dipstick into values I could use to compare oil use rates. Can't find my little paper scale at the moment, but I seem to recall something like 1.6 quarts between the two marks which I then graduated into ounces. I was careful to maintain oil level in between the two dots because I never knew how much oil was left in the sump below the lower mark before the pickup tube pulled air. Never had the oil light blink indicating air intrusion. Did manage to reduce oil burn somewhat with various high mileage oil blends. Back to the problem of measuring, I suspect the end of the dipstick enters the sump oil pool near the center of mass, and even at an angle will show a reasonable approximation of oil level. Keep the level between the marks and it should be good. Sorry about the TL;DR
     
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  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Witness Leader

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    With 3rd Gen at least, the dipstick pips are about 1.5” apart, and per owner manual correspond to 1.5 liter oil.