Checking oil without dipstick ?

[Rick Peterson #25685]

 I have a 28 Cadillac. ..pre dipstick days. It drives me crazy not being able to pull a stick and look for ? is going on with,or in, the oil.  Any tips ?


Thanks, Rick

[Brad Ipsen CLC #737]

I am not familiars with the details of a 28 to know an easy way to do a dip stick.  I am amazed at how automotive engineers keep trying to get rid of the dip stick.  I had a 29 Hudson once that had an oil gauge that was a duplicate to the gas gauge.  You pushed a button to switch the electrical circuit to the oil gauge that then showed the oil level on the dash gas gauge.  Did not work well.  In this case the oil filler was in a straight line to the pan so I just made a dip stick in the shape of a "L" and carried it to check the oil.  The late V-16 does not have a dip stick either.  It has a float on the bottom of a wire that moves a red button in a gauge.  It failed on a trip once and there was no way to check the oil.  To fix it I had to drop the pan.  I have since added a dip stick to that car.  Now in recent years BMW has deleted the dip stick and gone all electronic.  If you get a warning light and think it is in error the only check is to drain the oil and measure it.  BMW message boards show that this is a common experience.  So why have we been trying to get rid of the dip stick for all these years when it is the simplest, cheapest and most fool proof way to verify the level of the oil.

[rick peterson]

Thanks Brad   My 28 also has the cork float on a wire to the pan that is supposed to push up a rod with ball on end to indicate the oil level. Just too scary for me to trust. That arrangement also takes away the ability to that a look at the oil and give it the old thumb and forefinger massage.