Oil Dipstick

[Craigars 84 Vette]

The bubbas I bought my 84 from said the car took 9-10 quarts of oil. The pan looks stock, had to replace head gasket seals midway between NY and MS and spent a ton of money. The oil temp seemed really high. What are the odds that this car just simply has the wrong dipstick? Can anyone tell me how long it's supposed to be? This'll solve one of many mysteries with this car. Thanks

 

[corvette66]

Couldn't tell ya how long the dip stick should be, I have seen a few over the years. Some dip sticks enter the block at the oil pan rail, some enter from the pan itself, and some even go down through a weird slot in the block. Check to see where you stick goes.

The car shouldn't take more than 5.5 quarts roughly. My car has a 7 quart "kick out" racing oil pan, an oil cooler, and a 1 quart oil filter and I only use about 9.5 quarts.

So 9-10 quarts would be way over the top. But you already know that. I know how you feel, I had a nissan Stanza back in the day, I told my girlfriend to add a little oil, and she dumped in a whole gallon that I had in the trunk. Drove the car for about 10 miles before the motor went up in smoke. Blew everything. I couldn't belive it when I drained the oil out of that sucker. Had almost 9 quarts in it. Amazing it ran as long as it did.

good luck
dan

 

[Craigars 84 Vette]

Thanks Dan! I measured mine and it's 20 1/2" (excluding the handle) I'm told by a parts dealer that the correct length should be 23 1/16" ( " " " ) Somebody else said theirs is 24 1/4".. LOL this is crazy!!!! Either way mines too short. I'll have to measure the tube next and do a comparison there.

 

[corvette66]

the stick on my 1980 is 21 1/2 excluding the handle. Seems they are deff diferent generation to generation.

 

[Edmond]

The bubbas I bought my 84 from said the car took 9-10 quarts of oil.

That in itself would've made me not buy the car from them.:L

 

[Craigars 84 Vette]

Was blinded by trust (Friend of My Brothers) Town mechanic said everything looked good although they too were puzzled about the amount of oil. Not very good mechanics!
I personally don't know much about mechanics yet (not my field of expertise) LOL Should have followed my gut feeling but trusted the seller because he was a friend of my brothers. Once Bitten, Twice Shy All in all it's a nice car, just needs work. Could've gotten a better deal locally. I'm A Fool! Does anybody know the correct size of the dipstick?

 

[tdonlin]

Just went out and measured my 84's dipstick.
23 inches minus the handle
26 inches with the handle

 

[speedmaster4]

common to have both the dipstick tube and dipstick changed, replaced by parts of incorrect length ....best to drain the crankcase and refill with 3 quarts of oil (verify with your owners manual if possible, most early c4's get 4 to fill, one more if filter is changed), mark ''one-low'' level on current dipstick with a center punch, add last quart and punch mark at ''full''....if current dipstick is too short, many gm ''shoe-boxes'' at the j-y have much longer dipsticks than vettes and correct upper seal, minimal $.

do not run with oil ''over filled''....rotating crank/rods immersed in oil will beat the oil into froth, oil supply to bearings will cease, all stop.

 

[Craigars 84 Vette]

Dipstick

Thanks for the info. I'm going to measure the tube today. Can you give me an idea of how long it should be if my stick is 20 1/2"?