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Healey 100 dip stick

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W

Walker sim

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Hi All,
My BN1 dip stick's, for wont of a better adjective, 'hole stopper', slides up & down the stick. The stick hits the bottom of the sump when I take a reading. Is this normal or should the stopper be fixed on the stick for a correct reading?

Cheers,
Wal
 
Wai--

If by "hole stopper" you are referring to the outer tube into which the dipstick is inserted, it--the outer tube--should not slide up and down, though I don't offhand know how it is fixed to the block. And without removing my pan one would have no way of knowing how far off the floor of the sump the tip of the dipstick rides when fully inserted, though I would bet it should be pretty close to bottomed-out. In any case the important thing is that the dipstick marks conform to the proper oil levels, of course after the filter is full. From memory this amounts to about 6.5 quarts US.
 
Well, as Gilda Radner's character Emily Litella used to say: "Nevermind"....
 
Hi Michael,
My block does not have an outer tube, just a hole in the block. Steve has caught the drift, is the limit piece supposed to be fixed, if so, where?
Thanks, Wal
 
It has been over 45 years since I had a 100 but most all motors I've ever had have a tube (usually pressed in) that the stick goes into - see #91 in the Moss catalog. The fact that you go directly into the block says that the tube is missing. You need to get the tube and press in and then, if you don't have someone near by to compare dip sticks with, give it an oil change and fill with the correct amount of oil and see if the full mark is where you are - if it doesn't read full then you may need to adjust the tube insertion depth. BTW, look at the stick on the Moss drawing (#90) and you can see the washer on the stick just above the dust boot/rubber (#92). That washer is supposed to be brazed in place and is the stop for insertion depth, stopping against the top of the tube - never heard of one that hits the bottom of the pan so that makes me think you may be reading more oil on the stick than you actually have.
I urge getting this sorted prior to driving as you are playing with fire if you don't know how much oil is in the motor.

Dave
 
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SWal--

Go to: https://mossmotors.com/austin-healey-100-100-6-3000/engine-performance/external-engine-100-4
Your engine should have a tube (p/n 91) into which the dipstick (p/n 90) goes. The rubber dust cap (p/n 92) does wind up on or just above the top of the tube but as I think about it there is a solid feeling when I fully insert the dipstick into the tube, telling me that the bottom of the dipstick is landing against the sump, and dust cap merely shrouds the tube against...dust.

I recommend that you get a tube--Hope this helps.
 
I just checked my car and there is no washer brazed to the dipstick nor has there ever been one since I have owned the car. That is not to say that there should not be such a washer but there is no "stop" on the dipstick as mentioned by Red and perhaps the repeated in-out of the stick by previous owners broke the braze resulting in the washer's loss, etc. In any case--on my car at least--the bottom of the dipstick is definitely landing against the inside of the sump which sets the depth of the add/fill marks on the stick which have worked for me over the years.

I am attaching a close-up pic of my stick showing two small holes I drilled at the add/full lines. When oil is fairly new and has not yet picked up a lot of contaminants, etc. it is sometimes hard to accurately read the oil level on a stick. However the presence of oil provides a film that remains in the holes, whether or not the oil is clean, and makes for easy reading.
 

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Well, apparently the 100 sticks don't have a washer, as I said it's been over 45 years since I had one. I looked at the Moss drawing to confirm it's the same configuration and it clearly shows a washer on the stick, however the washer may serve a different purpose.
On the 6 cylinder motors the stick is flexible enough and going in at an angle, so that it seems like it would be a bit variable as to how far down the stick is inserted whereas the washer method on the 6 cylinder is a positive stop every time?
Anyway, sorry for any misunderstanding.
Dave
 
Red--

I agree that the Moss catalogue drawing shows a washer which may be a stop--there simply is not one on my car and there appear to be multiple braze marks on the stick where the two half-oval segments are attached together above the immersion point, I assume to stiffen the stick and form a finger loop/finish off its appearance.

Steve--

My pan is flat and I would think that a dent big enough to make a significant difference in oil level would probably cause different problems such as a hole!
 
I used to work with leaking underground storage tanks. The holes in the tanks were usually right below the port where they would insert the dipstick to measure tank level.
 
FWIW - For grins, I ran this one past Mike Salter, who has decades of experience esp. with 100s. His reply:

"Hi Steve, yes I'm pretty sure it does [rest on the surface of the oil pan]. There is no stop on the dip stick and quite often you will notice a polished area in the sump where it rests.
I also recall inserting the dipstick into a block before installing the sump and went all the way down until stopped by the loop."
 
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