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Crud on the oil dipstick

June 26, 2010, 09:10:26 pm

I should have taken a picture of this.... it is hard to describe, but here goes.  I checked the oil on our Cummins (ISL400) today and the end of the dipstick (maybe the bottom 2 inches) had, in addition to the black oil, some grayish crud on the edge of the dipstick.  This was there when I pulled it out for the first time.  When I wiped the dipstick off and checked the oil level again, it was much less apparent.  I looked like some water emulsified in the oil.  We have been camped out on Hood Canal, WA for three weeks with a lot of rain.  The trip up here from Bend was very wet also.  The oil level was very close to where it was before we left bend. 

Any thoughts?  Problem?  Should I turn on the engine heater to cook off some of the moisture?  I have looked at a lot of dipsticks over the years and have not seen anything like this.

Thanks in advance,

George

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Re: Crud on the oil dipstick

Reply #1 – June 26, 2010, 09:58:59 pm

Hi George,
    I suppose that it is possible that the foreign material on the edges could have come from condensation in the dipstick tube itself.  HOWEVER, considering what the drastic consequences could be, I would either pull a sample of oil, or have someone pull a sample of oil, and have an analysis done on it before I started it again.  The cost of the analysis would be cheap for the peace of mind it would bring, and cheaper yet if you catch something going wrong.

Good luck,
LynnD
'01 GV

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Re: Crud on the oil dipstick

Reply #2 – June 27, 2010, 12:06:08 am

Thanks Lynn.  I just went out and looked again.  The oil dipstick looks 100% normal.  Maybe it was something on that ~5' long tube that leads to oil pan.  I will keep an eye on it and might get an oil analysis done.  Its always "something!"

George

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