Broken dipstick before and after

[Trogdor]

Picked up a 95 YJ 2.5. super clean, 2nd owner, low miles, no mods. Broken dipstick. Got it home, pulled the dipstick tube, that's crazy... Then dropped the pan and found some extras! Looks like this thing had been eating dipsticks for years. Glad it never digested any of em. Don't ignore missing dipstick ends.

Rubber down friends.

 

[Gilaguy23]

As they say...Only in a Jeep. Thats weird for sure. The tube rubbing on the crank I assume?

 

[Flyer58]

Yes, but the cam shaft. That happened to me after rebuilding the engine and the dip stick tube got slightly bent, causing the tube to hit a cam lobe.

I could barely hear a tick, tick, sound and thought it was a lifter at first. I used a stethoscope and found the sound was coming from the dip stick. Once I removed the tube and bent it back away from the cam the ticking stopped.

 

[Gilaguy23]

Yikes, good thing you found that.

 

[Trogdor]

This seems plausible, its really the only way that I could see a dipstick breaking. It seems like the tube exits the block well below where the cams are. Im starting to wonder what the diptube length is for a standard YJ 2.5. When I look at the state of things now with the pan off, I don't see how the dipstick could come anywhere near the cams. maybe the crank, but the cams are several inches above it. I hope I figure it out. I guess the alternative is just using the dipstick to check the oil when the engine isn't turning.