MK5 Golf GTI

All Things Mk5 => Mk5 General Area => Topic started by: pudding on February 25, 2022, 07:26:26 pm

Title: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: pudding on February 25, 2022, 07:26:26 pm
So you know how supposedly the yellow dipstick is a fix for the old orange one that crumbled to bits and fell into the sump?

Turns out it isn't. I suggest keeping an eye on yours. I think I will replace it every 2 years as a yet another TFSI consumable item  :grin:

I also discovered the supplied O ring is slightly too small and causes a small vacuum leak.  I fitted a larger one and it seems to have cured some snatching/surging I was experiencing at very light throttle below 2000rpm. I'm investigating silicone O ring options as they're less prone to deterioration compared to the standard nitrile rubber o rings.

It may seem like the o ring was doing it's job going by the colour difference before and after the ring, but believe me, there was oil on top of the dipstick tube, meaning boost blew it past the ring.

The cracks you see here resulted it those bits separating and falling off with gentle pressure. They were destined to end up in the sump, so I caught it at the right time.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51903819478_661d3d0f9b_k.jpg)
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: stealthwolf on February 25, 2022, 07:49:52 pm
@vRSAlex (https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=1981) will probably verify I’ve had two dipstick replacements (orange and yellow). Don’t know why they crumble.
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: pudding on February 25, 2022, 08:22:47 pm
I've already passed this onto Alex but cheers  :happy2:

They crumble because of the acidic vapours over time and they crack because of the side loadings when pulling it out/putting it in.  Plastic simply has no place being in areas subjected to fuel, oil and constant heat cycles. Probably why the MK8 has gone back to a metal sump  :grin:

If someone like Alex could come up with an ally cap with a decent sized silicon O ring, we could simply remove the dipstick completely and just pop it in occasionally to check the level.  This would completely remove the risk of bits falling into the sump.  The little guiding ball half way down the stick also falls to pieces.

I've seen the metal dipsticks from ECS tuning and Racingline, but neither of them have the tangs to latch onto the guide tube.  I don't know what kind of blow by pressure you'd need to back the dipstick out, but clearly VW thought that was a risk, hence putting said tangs on the stick.

Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: LC5F on February 26, 2022, 01:38:04 pm
That's not ideal - I would suspect the tube is also the same material as the dipstick handle.
Likely that it will be failing too, but internally where you can't see
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: ljc19630 on February 26, 2022, 02:08:09 pm
Thanks Kev, great info as ever!
I’d replaced mine prior to the hybrid turbo build, but will defo keep an eye on this

Cheers
Louie


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: GreigC on February 27, 2022, 07:17:41 pm
Yeah… think mines seen better days…not even a seal on it! worth changing the filler neck also? Or just the dip stick?

(https://i.postimg.cc/yYBfBt8r/6-E9-C0-F37-77-D2-4328-AFC9-7-D318-E890891.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/LhCk3yfz)

(https://i.postimg.cc/4N5W3PK4/902304-E8-DE63-444-D-BA50-0-B9292-F0-A8-AD.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/crvR9QMP)
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: Lewo on February 27, 2022, 10:45:15 pm
Makes note to check in the morning..... Cheers Kev.
have already broken one of the tabs.....
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: pudding on March 04, 2022, 10:31:03 am
I think I'm being way too obsessive over this, but I found some suitable O-rings -  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CVHLBYJ/ref=pe_27063361_487055811_TE_dp_1

The stock one is...

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51916249572_104afe4865_k.jpg)

The fitted diameter of the silicon O ring is 1mm tighter on both the inner and outer diameters....

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51917216751_c776b94a82_k.jpg)

Compared to the first pic in this thread, you can clearly see the bigger o ring is going to seal a lot better! 

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51917543279_535fcd16ca_k.jpg)

Probably a complete waste of time but I feel better about a tighter seal in any case, and only a few quid for an experiment  :happy2:
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: pudding on March 04, 2022, 10:31:45 am
Yeah… think mines seen better days…not even a seal on it! worth changing the filler neck also? Or just the dip stick?

(https://i.postimg.cc/yYBfBt8r/6-E9-C0-F37-77-D2-4328-AFC9-7-D318-E890891.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/LhCk3yfz)

(https://i.postimg.cc/4N5W3PK4/902304-E8-DE63-444-D-BA50-0-B9292-F0-A8-AD.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/crvR9QMP)

I would change the stick and the guide tube mate  :happy2:  You can see in your pics that oil has made it's way out past the dipstick, so you've got a small vac leak there.  And all the missing bits are chilling out in your sump!
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: GreigC on March 04, 2022, 07:01:25 pm
I bought genuine dipstick and tube… I undone the tube nut looked about how to remove it and by looks of it the tube requires a bit more effort to fit so I’ll do that another time as it’s not cracked. I can tell the new dip stick has a seal it clicks into place when pushed in. (Plus the fact it has a seal) 😂


(https://i.postimg.cc/vmXMS5Qr/1-EA6-A629-7562-4750-B71-F-6-F71-A93710-EB.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/1ggL8nVX)

(https://i.postimg.cc/pLb292GF/3-E7-BCB9-B-2-F88-45-C9-A280-D00011-B5470-C.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/HVzGRCCY)
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: LC5F on March 06, 2022, 12:21:38 pm
Did an oil change yesterday and there definitely is a big gap around the OEM o-ring - group buy of bigger ones anyone?

Interesting that there seems to have been 3 colours of tube, my original was orange, the genuine replacement about 1.5 years ago was yellow and now there seems to be a 3rd colour of French mustard that GriegC has above, but his original looks to be the same colour.

As we are comparing dip-sticks and tubes here's mine being double yellow, being a bit camera shy:
(https://i.vgy.me/nAyZQj.jpg)



Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: GilesWoodward59 on March 06, 2022, 01:58:41 pm
Think mine has seen better days…

Didn’t even realise it was supposed to have an o ring seal as the break is so clean!

(https://i.postimg.cc/nzWGvSCd/6859-C958-A049-4-C5-D-A966-90-ED09962-EBB.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/r0S4TJGW)
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: Dan_FR on March 06, 2022, 10:01:36 pm
My yellow one lasted about 6 years of me taking it out and checking it weekly, before I noticed cracks and pieces wanting to break off. Original orange one was on 8 years, but I doubt the original owner checked it as often as I do
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: pudding on March 07, 2022, 09:09:46 am
Yeah that's how long my first yellow one lasted. To be fair, £14 every couple of years is cheap insurance to stop bits falling into the sump.

Did an oil change yesterday and there definitely is a big gap around the OEM o-ring - group buy of bigger ones anyone?

Yeah I don't get that.  Maybe other engines aren't as sensitive to slight air leaks as mine, but it's definitely driving better since fitting the bigger O ring.  It's more at the lower end of the rev range, <2000rpm. It was just flat and felt like the lambda control was doing wild plus/minus adjustments, which is a strange kind of surging, almost like the handbrake is being pulled, released, pulled etc etc.
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: pudding on March 12, 2022, 12:01:58 pm
A few hundred miles post bigger O ring and no oil sitting on top of the tube.  I'm calling that a fix  :smiley:

Out of interest, I checked the dipstick on our TDI and it's same situation. Oil misting around the dipstick area and loads of oil blown past the o-ring  :grin:

I don't know how big of a deal it really is tbh, but it seems crazy VW fitted an o-ring there that is too loose to do anything  :grin:
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: LC5F on March 12, 2022, 03:27:41 pm
It could be some fiendish Wolfsberg engineering to provide a place for a small leak to keep vacuum from spiking???

I'm tempted to change mine too @Pudding (https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=10733) what are the specs for the O-ring you got?
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: pudding on March 14, 2022, 08:40:23 am
God knows!  Reminds me of my old VR6 oil filter that had an O - ring on it, which served absolutely no purpose!

I just used the ones in the link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CVHLBYJ/ref=pe_27063361_487055811_TE_dp_1
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: jacksosi on March 22, 2022, 11:00:45 pm
We never touch ours, isn’t that is what the oil warning light is for?

May I show you my ring (oooh matron!) ?

(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220322/390a75c5499691dbadc7fa664a49a882.jpg)


Are there bits missing?

What replacement should I buy?
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: pudding on March 23, 2022, 09:00:21 am
We never touch ours, isn’t that is what the oil warning light is for?


 :doh:
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: jacksosi on March 23, 2022, 10:24:02 am
We never touch ours, isn’t that is what the oil warning light is for?


 :doh:

Ok, well she's done 95k trouble free miles with that approach, and drives lovely, so  :P

Any thoughts on my Qs?
 - Are there bits missing?
 - What replacement should I buy? ...or perhaps I just need to add an O ring?
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: LC5F on March 23, 2022, 10:33:14 am
Any thoughts on my Qs?
 - Are there bits missing?
 - What replacement should I buy? ...or perhaps I just need to add an O ring?

Yes - there is bits missing from your dipstick and will be in the sump -the missing part would hold the o-ring
At the very least replace the dipstick, but consider the tube as well.

BTW - my low oil warning doesn't work, so don't just rely on that.
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: pudding on March 23, 2022, 12:34:33 pm
BTW - my low oil warning doesn't work, so don't just rely on that.

Yup.

Low oil also increases the potential for running bearings dry round fast sweeping corners.
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: jacksosi on March 23, 2022, 05:20:58 pm
There seem to be lots of places selling replacements, where are you guys getting then from so I don't buy a dud?

I have found this one for example : https://www.autodoc.co.uk/ridex/15783237

Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: GreigC on March 23, 2022, 06:50:27 pm
These guys only sell genuine parts:

https://www.coverdalecarparts.co.uk/product-page/2-0-tfsi-dipstick-06f115611f

Also where I got mine.
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: mjmallia on March 24, 2022, 07:45:58 am
I go direct to the source, which is TPS for the VW Group.

Use link to find a local dealer. Some are non trade friendly

Mine is in Poole, but I know them all there being an ex HQ employee

https://tps.trade/

They supply trade and also the VWG Dealerships
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: Dann on March 24, 2022, 09:30:52 am
Should probably check mine.
I've not actually checked the oil once since I bought it back in December (it was serviced in Jan)
But then again, it's not even used a tank of fuel since then
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: jacksosi on March 24, 2022, 10:40:31 am
Actually, bearing in mind the bits have already fallen off, is is better to just leave it rather than buying another and risking parts of one that falling off too?

I guess that comes back to the original point of is the seal good enough  :thinking:
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: mjmallia on March 24, 2022, 11:06:37 am
With the dipstick marginally out on mine, the engine idle is crap.

The system is in a vacuum state and any leaks will affect the efficiency of the engine.
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: pudding on March 24, 2022, 11:27:37 am
Should probably check mine.
I've not actually checked the oil once since I bought it back in December (it was serviced in Jan)
But then again, it's not even used a tank of fuel since then

Oil level checking should obviously be proportional to the car's use, so that's fine.  Well done for actually providing some context, which people rarely do one forums  :happy2:

I do 500 miles a week, so I check the oil once a month......hence spotting things early, like crumbling dipsticks.
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: pudding on March 24, 2022, 11:33:49 am
Actually, bearing in mind the bits have already fallen off, is is better to just leave it rather than buying another and risking parts of one that falling off too?

I guess that comes back to the original point of is the seal good enough  :thinking:

Bits are in the sump and you have a vacuum leak, which you seem completely indifferent about, but keep posting about it regardless.  God people are weird these days.
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: jacksosi on March 24, 2022, 11:43:48 am
Actually, bearing in mind the bits have already fallen off, is is better to just leave it rather than buying another and risking parts of one that falling off too?

I guess that comes back to the original point of is the seal good enough  :thinking:

Bits are in the sump and you have a vacuum leak, which you seem completely indifferent about, but keep posting about it regardless.  God people are weird these days.

Did you get out of the wrong side of bed  :confused: :grin:
It's a forum and I'm simply asking questions.

You have already said your new one has broken, so I'm just considering whether getting a new one myself is a good idea if the chances are that it may break and add more plastic in the sump.

The vacuum part I have no idea about, and I am not aware of any performance degradation, but the general opinion seems to be that it is an issue, so on balance I think I will get a new one.

Peace  :drinking:
Title: Re: Yellow dipstick - check yours
Post by: jacksosi on March 24, 2022, 07:27:12 pm
These guys only sell genuine parts:

https://www.coverdalecarparts.co.uk/product-page/2-0-tfsi-dipstick-06f115611f

Also where I got mine.

Ordered, thanks