So my 78 year old mother went to the quick lube place recently and they told her that her dipstick was bent and the straightened it out and sent her on her way. THEY NEVER PUT IT BACK IN!!

Some time after, she filled up at the full service station and they told her the dipstick was laying in the engine and then they spent an inordinate amount of time trying to put it back in.

Yesterday she gets groceries, comes home and car is actively leaking oil when running but not when parked.

I looked at it today and there was about 1/2 cup oil on garage floor. There is a trail of oil drips from the community post office box to her driveway. Pulled the car out of garage 15 feet and it dumped another cup out.

I checked the oil and it seemes full but here's the deal-it was REALLY FULL and the dipstick location is way way down inside the engine. Impossibly far!!!

I have never seen one so inaccessible. I am female and busted every knuckle checking the oil and then blindly guiding the dipstick back in up to my shoulders in the engine. It would not stay seated and sprung back up a bit.

Decided best to tow to dealer tomorrow instead of dumping oil for 15 miles driving it.

After doing some research, I wondered if it is supposed to be bent and the idiot at Jiffy Lube straightened it resulting in it not staying in?

Is it supposed to be bent and fastened in??? Spring up out of the hole? did anyone have this car??

My dad passed last year so we are navigating this issue without context and whether she needs a new car or hang up the keys. Or something stupid like a new dipstick for $20. Thank you!

New dipstick is $11 on RockAuto

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/lexus,2009,rx350,3.5l+v6,1442327,engine,oil+dipstick+/+tube,5558

Try that first but oil leaks can get bad fast.

Are you sure you're not looking at the transmission dipstick?

Thank you-i am certain it is oil dipstick, first it is where my mom said it was, second it matches the picture online (long with yellow loop) third it had motor oil on it and was beneath engine/beside the oil tank. Transmission ds is on the right a bit.

What I am wondering is if there is supposed to be a taller tube that is missing from the assembly or if this is normal that it is invisible down there on the 2009.

RTFM update-photo shows stick standing up reachable. Ours is missing the whole shaft and the stick was buried inder the engine in a little tube. Lord knows how we have no shaft but still have the stick...

Ugh. The shaft is generally removable, although what crazy reason anyone would have for taking it off is hard to imagine. Possible that one of the geniuses broke it off, and depending on where (midway up the shaft? Right at the engine block?) could be less or more expensive to fix.

I could see how having the dip stick shaft removed would cause a big oil leak. Towing to shop is the right move.

So you have no dipstick tube???

Correct. We cannot fathom how someone broke the tube off but saved the dipstick, but I put nothing past quick lube places.

Before we tow it to shop, my husband (who is already RockAuto's Most Valuable Customer) is ordering a dipstick tube but of course there are two separate assemblies for that model year so we have to figure that out.

From what I could feel, there is a bit of a stem sticking up but I could not tell if it is threaded or not because I could barely touch it will my fingertip.

Emotional Support Cobra said:

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Correct. We cannot fathom how someone broke the tube off but saved the dipstick, but I put nothing past quick lube places.

Before we tow it to shop, my husband (who is already RockAuto's Most Valuable Customer) is ordering a dipstick tube but of course there are two separate assemblies for that model year so we have to figure that out.

From what I could feel, there is a bit of a stem sticking up but I could not tell if it is threaded or not because I could barely touch it will my fingertip.

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Order both and return the one that isn't a match. Worst case you eat return shipping.

Picture update from faithful son-in-law.

I didn't quite grasp the details of how it got to this point, so I had to go see for myself. Picture below shows the approximate location where the dipstick handle should be. Superfluous modern engine cover removed for clarity. Obviously the dipstick isn't there because it is way down under out of view.


It is hard to see, but the arrow points to the top of what remains of the dipstick tube. A little research found that these Lexi had a two-piece tube, a short tube that comes of of the crankcase and a longer tube that comes to the top. We are still baffled what happened to the tube, but I personally suspect it had been this way for a while. New tube is on order and should be here in a couple of days.





Screenshot of the online parts book.

austinag1997 said:

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Ugh. I have a Porsche 986 Boxster. Bent dipstick that I was unaware of. Went to mechanic for an oil change. Comes into the lobby and says come see this.

Removes the dipstick and reinserts it.... car started spontaneously. I tried it. Same result. Thank goodness the car was in neutral. End result... diptick punctured the dipstick tube and was grounding on the starter.

Can't make this **** up.

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Likewise. Everything I touch in that car I presume will break under the slightest touch ('98-25 years old). The dipstick tube is not a repair I'd look forward to... anything that snakes around that already tight setup.

Will I see you over on 986forum dot com?

I ordered from Lexus parts online, and of course the parts system is just confusing enough that I got the wrong part :blackeye.

Apparently Toyota's part system is that multiple different parts will have the same number, and the distinguishing factor is the model and/or VIN. Example, look at how many parts are labeled 11452

Burdizzo said:

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I ordered from Lexus parts online, and of course the parts system is just confusing enough that I got the wrong part :blackeye.

Apparently Toyota's part system is that multiple different parts will have the same number, and the distinguishing factor is the model and/or VIN. Example, look at how many parts are labeled 11452

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11452 is the casual number. You need to order by VIN to get the part that starts with a 9 and has the hyphen in it for the correct part.

I cut out the confusion and went to the dealer this morning . Gave the parts vato the VIN and had him pull up the screen so I could point to the part I needed. Should be here next week.

JamesPShelley said:

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austinag1997 said:

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Ugh. I have a Porsche 986 Boxster. Bent dipstick that I was unaware of. Went to mechanic for an oil change. Comes into the lobby and says come see this.

Removes the dipstick and reinserts it.... car started spontaneously. I tried it. Same result. Thank goodness the car was in neutral. End result... diptick punctured the dipstick tube and was grounding on the starter.

Can't make this **** up.

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Likewise. Everything I touch in that car I presume will break under the slightest touch ('98-25 years old). The dipstick tube is not a repair I'd look forward to... anything that snakes around that already tight setup.

Will I see you over on 986forum dot com?

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I may have been over there.

Epilogue

Dutiful son-in-law installed a new dipstick tube on the car. It included a new bolt (with loc-tite) to secure it to the block. However, that did not address the oil leak. When we started the car, it leaked a significant amount of oil while running. How it never ran dry is a miracle. This leak must have started really close to home.

After digging around for about 30 minutes I decided the most efficient way to find this leak was for it to be on a lift and have two people working together (one to start it and another watching for the leak). I didn't really have time for that , so as much as it pained me I advised MIL to have it towed to the dealer.

Turns out these models of Lexus had a service bulletin out for oil cooler hoses that would get hot and crack. There was a recall that expired in 2021. Amazing coincidence that the lost dipstick tube and oil leak happened near the same time.
Otherwise the dealer would have fixed this leak on their nickel. Probably for the best. They had it fixed within a couple of days and did a bunch of other cleaning and updating which made my MIL happy.