Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Well, so far so good. My '67 Elan Coupe is running pretty well these days
(at last) after demanding lots of work throughout the Spring.

However, an oil change yesterday triggered a suspicion, probably unfounded,
about the dipstick. As usual, it seemed that the engine was 'topped up' with
far less oil than the rated capacity. (Yes, the oil was hot, car was level,
filter was refilled, etc.)

I'm hoping someone on the list can take a minute some time & measure a
standard twincam dipstick & post the results. Mine measures 18 7/8 overall
and 9 1/2 inches from the seating surface to the full mark. The dipstick
tube extends 2 7/16 from the block.

Thanks.

John C

John...

My 69' has the same measurements - EXCEPT only 9" from seating surface to
full mark. The dip stick is original and has a FoMoCo part number
105-E6752B.

Skip

John,
Just checked my (still) disassembled TC and found the dipstick tube to be
sticking up 2 15/32 inches, (close enough) but my dipstick is 19 5/8 inches
long and 8 7/8 inches from the stop to the full mark. Hope this helps.
Stan

-----Original Message-----
From: John Coelho <[email protected]>
To: Elan List <[email protected]>
Date: Sunday, August 29, 1999 2:41 PM
Subject: [lotuselan] Elan dipstick

John,
Correction on the dipstick measurement; the overall length is 18 5/8, but
the other measurements are correct. Sorry about that!
Stan
-----Original Message-----
From: John Coelho <[email protected]>
To: Elan List <[email protected]>
Date: Sunday, August 29, 1999 2:41 PM
Subject: [lotuselan] Elan dipstick

Thank you to those who responded to my request for measurements of some
twincam dipsticks. For the record, the range was from 8.75 inches to 9
inches (measured from seating surface at the dipstick tube to the "Full"
mark.) My own car is clearly out of spec here - way over 9 inches.

The dipstick tubes themselves had no significant variance.

Thanks again.

John C.

That is really useful data... my thanks too!


It's possible that what you have there is a cross-flow dipstick.
My Elan has a similar problem, and Clay Vizralek told me that he
thinks it is actually a cross-flow dipstick. A quick fix (which
I have yet to implement) might be to drain it, fill it carefully
to specified capacity, and then pull out the existing dipstick,
and remark it to the oil level observed.

A quick run on a bench grinder beforehand would remove the (wrong)
existing markings.

Regards,
Erik Berg
Los Angeles

who said that he'd calibrate any twincam that was new to him, using the
method you suggest, before trusting the 'Full' mark. I did this with mine
today and it was almost an inch (shudder) off. Could'a been expensive....

Thanks.

John C