Defective dipstick 1998 Avalon

WHY? What does that have to do with how oil finds its way to the oil pan?

Obviously there are only two ways to get a higher reading. Add more oil or ... push the stick further down into the oil. Thats it. Now if his engine is "making oil" then one has to consider oil dilution with gasoline or water (condensation or coolant).

OR, oil is splashing up the dipstick tube, and he needs to wipe the stick clean then check a second time. Either way, there is nothing wrong with his dip stick that I can see from here. Remember the joriginal complaint, oil is on the side of the stick, not cleanly collected at the tip somewhere in the vicinity of the oil level lines ...

I didn't really take it that way. He said "I seem to get a long thin trail up about half the length of the dipstick, instead of a nice solid reading at the bottem where it's supposed to be."

To me that means the dipstick tube has some oil along the walls and is making the dipstick oily along the side. If the engine was overfilled the dipstick would have a solid line reading higher than the normal level. Besides, he isn't even putting in 5 quarts.

I'd be inclined to add another half a quart and start it up for a while then let it sit and take another reading. If he ends up being overfilled he can always drain the oil. At least he'll know the dipstick isn't defective in some way.

Maybe I'm just reading too much into it.

Wow!...this is the first words I've seen from philip in about a week!...I killfiled him awhile ago, I hadn't ever done that before and was amazed at the number of posts that it deleted (I think it was 4660 or so - mind you I never 'time expire' any posts). I guess he's still an arse by the tone of this exchange,

I'll guarantee that he'll not admit his error here, oh well

"Splashing up the dipstick tube" comes under the heading of "adding more oil."

Splashing is not a factor ... unless you are checking the oil with the engine running. Do you do that?

Good ol Gordie. Simple minded fellow about most things is he. For sure Gordie can't bear review of his beliefs.

For reasons similar to why a radiator drains faster with radiator cap off than on (assuming hoses are in place).

regards A.G.

I welcome you to flesh out the similarity ... it eludes me.

I was alluding to the possibility of pressure blowing oil up the tube. I just found this with a quick search:

Thank you. The above link should be withdrawn because it is flawed.

A clogged PCV by itself will not cause the crankcase to pressurize. Why? Because all positive crankcase ventilation systems ALSO have a fresh air inlet (breather) at a port located between the air filter housing and the throttle body. So for pressure to build, both this fresh air inlet AND the PCV would have to be clogged.

Next, with the engine stopped and having allowed to sit for a couple of minutes, there will be no pressure in the crankcase even with both PCV and "breather" clogged. So, there will be no pressurized oil traveling (blowing) up the dipstick tube.

Considering the OP's car is a V6 Toyota engine ... one of those often abused with oil changes at intervals inappropriate to the operating conditions, it might be sludged. This special consideration would prompt me to pull off a valve cover and inspect for sludge .... sludge that might also be present in the lower end of the dipstick tube. If this is the case, the OP has a much larger issue at hand. :^(

-Philip