# Honda Civic (06) Dipstick

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/honda-civic-06-dipstick/81027>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** civic, honda\
**Created:** [August 23, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/honda-civic-06-dipstick/81027 "2013-08-23T21:55:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ibekarl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ea5d25/32.png) [@ibekarl](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ibekarl)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/honda-civic-06-dipstick/81027/1 "2013-08-23T21:55:47Z")

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I have a hell of a time reading that cheesy orange plastic oil dipstick–unless the oil is dirty. Does anybody else have this problem, and if so do you know of a solution?

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**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/honda-civic-06-dipstick/81027/2 "2013-08-23T22:11:26Z")

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If your oil is clean, it can often be hard to see on any dipstick. I hold it up to the light and slowly rotate it at various angles until I can see the light reflect off it.

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**Author:** ![ibekarl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ea5d25/32.png) [@ibekarl](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ibekarl)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/honda-civic-06-dipstick/81027/3 "2013-08-23T22:17:22Z")

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That doesn’t work very well on this dipstick. On the steel dipsticks it’s easy to see, because the oil is much shinier than the dry steel, but the plastic dipstick is always shiny. But that just gave me an idea–perhaps I will try solvent cleaning the dipstick and then seeing if I can abrade off the gloss with a piece of fine wet or dry sandpaper.

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**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/honda-civic-06-dipstick/81027/4 "2013-08-23T22:45:34Z")

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While all my vehicles have a steel dipstick…my lawn mower and snow blower have the plastic dipstick. The oil is harder to see…but I don’t have a problem.

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**Author:** ![art1966](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/77aa72/32.png) [@art1966](https://community.cartalk.com/u/art1966)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/honda-civic-06-dipstick/81027/5 "2013-08-24T00:29:07Z")

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I thought I had learned this trick here: Just lightly lay the dipstick flat against a (sort-of) clean paper towel or rag. As the oil wicks off onto the towel, you can see where it started on the dipstick.

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**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 8:13am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/honda-civic-06-dipstick/81027/6 "2013-08-24T08:13:37Z")

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The stick on my Lincoln is made of the same cheesey plastic. Maybe if they had used a color like black or dark gray the oil level would be more noticeable.

The engineers who thought up the stick on my son’s Camaro should be taken to the woodshed. Three feet long and with spirals like a barber pole in one section. It usually spirals the oil level off…