Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

On removing the dipstick on my newly acquired S3 Elan it came out curved .It was quite difficult to remove, so I straightened it and put it back in but on removing it again it had bent again! I can't think of anything that could be doing this apart from possibly a badly fitted sump baffle, any ideas ?

Maybe its had additional baffles fitted to stop oil surge.....

Welcome to the forum.
If the dipstick tube is not bent and is inserted to the correct depth in the front cover, the end of the dipstick just kisses the central oil baffle in the sump when fully inserted. The correct dipstick has the Ford part number stamped on it (105E 6752B) and it's pretty stiff .. I'd be surprised if you could bend it just by pushing it in, even if it is contacting the baffle.

Not been replaced with a flexy one from some other car has it? I don’t have a picture of the complete dipstick to hand at the moment but I’m sure someone else will be able to post one so you can compare.

Please see the pic, this is after one insertion, it WAS straight when it went in, (not difficult to do over a block of wood and a pair of pliers to do the last bit of straightening) The pic sent by 'oldelanman' (thank you for the welcome) taken from inside looking at the backplate was really useful but confirmed that there can be nothing doing the bending other than an extra baffle which has been fitted and not checked out. It is a 105E 6752B.

'69S4' Thanks for suggestion, but dipstick is standard.

Anyone any other ideas?

Well there's no doubt it's bent, something clearly is not right !
I guess it could be an additional baffle in the sump and if so I would expect the stick would go almost all the way in before making contact and any resistance is felt - is that what happens ? If it binds up sooner I would suspect the tube is bent, possibly where it enters the boss on the front cover... may be worth checking that. The tube normally points to the gap between the fan belt and the generator adjuster bracket, if yours doesn't it may indicate it's bent.

Thanks olderelanman, I'll see if the dipstick tube is bent tomorrow .

I have bent a dip stick just like that. It happened when I replaced a front cover with a new one and the dip stick tube hole was at a slightly different angle. The dip stick was no longer aligned with the hole in the windage tray I added as part of the sump baffle system and was bent when pushing it in. The dip stick is close to the cam chain and if bent can come in contact with it.

cheers
Rohan

Thanks for that. It is probably the same as yours - rebuilt at some point with an extra baffle and hasn't quite got the clearance it had before.