Hi I have a quick question - what would happen if I didn’t reseat the dip stick all the way after checking the oil? Also I assume a gentle push to reseat the dipstick is enough to fully reseat it.
Thanks
Nothing to worry about. Just recheck the oil level, reseat it properly and drive on. I’ve seen dipsticks that get extremely hard to seat and remove. If it does not seat right, clean off the area that it seats on. If that don’t work replace the dipstick. Over time, heat can distort this area. I’ve seen people leave it so long that the loop handle breaks off, and they still don’t replace it and just use pliers to force it out.
You should be able to tell if the dipstick isn’t seated properly. If you feel too much resistance pull it out, rotate it 180 degrees, and reinsert it.
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But nothing bad will happen if I don’t reseat it all the way but don’t realize and later drive the car with it still unseated right?
You might lose a very small amount of oil but really it is not that difficult so I wonder why this is even a problem . Is this your first vehicle because you had a thread about tire inflation that most people would not worry about either.
Somehow I don’t think the word perfectionist is the right word.
And intellectually curious…
If you had oil leaking out of the dip stick tube, you would see it covering the engine around the dip stick. No oil loss, no problem.
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