From: adrian@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid   
      
   Shinnokxz  wrote:   
      
   > On Sunday, March 11, 2018 at 11:38:53 AM UTC-6, Adrian Tuddenham wrote:   
   > > 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.   
      
   > sounds like a funny engineering problem   
      
   It's the sort of niggling oversight that catches out even the best   
   engineers from time to time.  I wonder if Toyota garages have noticed   
   the problem and dutifully reported it back, or whether they were afraid   
   of being laughed at - after all. "dipstick faulty" on a dealer feedback   
   form does sound as though it was intended to be a joke.   
      
   --   
   ~ Adrian Tuddenham ~   
   (Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)   
   www.poppyrecords.co.uk   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)