From: adrian@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid   
      
   When I first got my Toyota Hiace with a D4D turbo diesel, I was amazed   
   to find that the oil dipstick didn't work.  No matter how I tried to use   
   it, the 'business end' always came out smeared with oil and completely   
   unreadable.   
      
   Several online discussions mentioned this problem, with users strongly   
   divided into two camps: those who had nothing but trouble and those who   
   had none.  There didn't seemto be any obviously-identifiable factor   
   causing the problem, but someone mentioned that he had found twisting   
   the bottom two inches of the dipstick strip slightly gave a partial   
   cure.   
      
   I tried this on my vehicle, the degree of twist being a compromise that   
   still allowed the strip to flex around the bends of the guide tube   
   without getting jammed edgewise-on.  To my surprise, it worked and the   
   dipstick is now sufficiently smear-free to be readable.   
      
   The probable cause of the divide between working and non-working   
   dipsticks then dawned on me:  The guide tube on a non-turbo D4D is   
   fairly straight; whereas, on the turbo engine fitted in the Hiace van,   
   it has an 'S' bend to negotiate around the turbo unit.  In flexing   
   around the bends, the dipstick slides against the walls of the tube and   
   the oil mark is smeared.   
      
   It would be interesting to test this theory by asking members of this   
   group with D4D engines to say whether they have experienced dipstick   
   problems and whether these were with turbo or non-turbo versions fitted   
   to the Hiace van.   
      
   --   
   ~ Adrian Tuddenham ~   
   (Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)   
   www.poppyrecords.co.uk   
      
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