Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Couple of questions.

First of all, is this the correct dipstick for the twin cam engine?



Second, if this is the right stick, the bulged spot in the green circle looks like it was put there to stop the stick at the right place when inserted into its tube, but it stops when the weld-bead in the red circle reaches the top of the tube. Where should it stop?

Mine stops at the bulge in the green area.
I think the blob of weld has been added to fix the two parts together. mine has a small pin there.
The centre of the stop bulge is 10 and 9/16ths" from the tip and the dip stick is 18 1/2" long.
I believe it to be correct, up to now anyway.
Hope this helps
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

Agree with Eric about it stopping at the green bulge, and that looks like the right stick to me. As an extra tip, an old spark plug boot slides right on then snugly down the spigot to prevent oil from blowing out of the spigot.

Thanks gents! Eric's measurements agree with my stick. I think mine may have the pin as well, as there is a tiny round spot that is lower than the surrounding surface. There is also a weld-blob on the underside of the hump, so I suspect that the stick has been repaired at some point and that the oil has been over-filled by a quart or so ever since. A few seconds with the rotary-tool should fix it right up.

The Veg wrote:I suspect that the stick has been repaired at some point and that the oil has been over-filled by a quart or so ever since.

.....worth checking that the tube hasn't been pushed in further to compensate. I think it should measure 4.5" from sump face to top of tube on later engines.

SENC wrote: As an extra tip, an old spark plug boot slides right on then snugly down the spigot to prevent oil from blowing out of the spigot.

Good tip. Another option is to shrink wrap the dip stick to make a snug push fit in the tube.

Another vote for the spark plug boot - it really does cut down on the mess. It needs a bit of care putting the dipstick back in as the boot can catch on the fan belt and leave an oily mark but other than that it?s all good

That's a clever idea! I've been using a rather difficult contraption with two sizes of fuel hose

oldelanman wrote:.....worth checking that the tube hasn't been pushed in further to compensate. I think it should measure 4.5" from sump face to top of tube on later engines.

Just so we're on the same proverbial sheet of music, what exactly do you mean by 'sump face?' I have 2-3/4" of tube protruding from the hole in which the tube lives. If this is incorrect, how is it adjusted?

SENC wrote:As an extra tip, an old spark plug boot slides right on then snugly down the spigot to prevent oil from blowing out of the spigot.

Thanks for that! As soon as I have an extra boot I'll do this.

The Veg wrote:

oldelanman wrote:.....worth checking that the tube hasn't been pushed in further to compensate. I think it should measure 4.5" from sump face to top of tube on later engines.

Just so we're on the same proverbial sheet of music, what exactly do you mean by 'sump face?' I have 2-3/4" of tube protruding from the hole in which the tube lives. If this is incorrect, how is it adjusted?

The measurement is vertically from the sump gasket face to the top of the tube, not the length of tube protruding from the boss on the cover. There was some discussion about this a while ago and it seems that only late editions of the Workshop Manual refer to the change in this dimension from 4.1" to 4.5" on Mk 2 engines, my '72 edition and Brian Buckland's book have only the earlier 4.1" figure.




The tube is just an interference fit and is just tapped into the preheated cover, don't know how easy it would be to adjust it in situ ..maybe someone else has done it and can comment ?

....and with Burton?s after market timing chest components the tube enters at a different angle, messing up the measurements. I recalibrated the dipstick with a ?dry? refill with the correct amount of oil.

I think.
It doesn't matter about the angle only the vertical height from the sump gasket face.
Alan

Drain the oil- it pretty much always needs changing on a TC measure out the correct amount of oil as stated in the book. Pour it into the engine (after you've replaced the sump plug) and leave for an hour to drain down completely. Put the dipstick in as far as it will go with normal force, pull it out and note the oil line. Mark the dipstick at that point with a nice groove and Robert is your mother's brother.

alan.barker wrote:I think.
It doesn't matter about the angle only the vertical height from the sump gasket face.
Alan

To clarify, true vertical height from sump joint to dipstick tube top or the length of tube from the sump joint?

In the Burton front timing case, the tube enters at a more acute angle than the original.
If one maintains the same true vertical height (sump joint to tube top) the lower end of the dipstick will rise out of the oil level in the sump, then a fill to the ?full? line results in the sump being overfilled.

That is why I decided to recalibrate the dipstick.

Or am I missing something here?
Malcolm