ATTENTION ALL DURAMAX OWNERS

[gat75]

Just chg engine oil & filter in my 2009 D/A GMC 2500. Truck has 60,000 miles, purchased new the week before Thanksgiving in 2009.
* Poured in 10.5 qts of oil, (as I always have, per owner's manual)
* Checked oil before startup & found that level indicator was missing from end of steel cable on dipstick.
* Took to local GM dealer
* Was told that dipstick appeared to be broken off & lodged at bottom of dipstick tube.
* SERVICE WRITER told me that broken dipstick WAS NOT covered by GM's 5-year, 100,000 warranty.
* Diesel Mechanic said that tranny would need removal before oil pan could be removed (if piece had fell into pan).
* Mechanic said it would be 19 hours labor to retrieve the piece.
* I then went & read the warranty, it states that THE COMPLETE ENGINE ASSEMBLY IS COVERED BY THE WARRANTY.
* Went back to dealer, they agreed to fix truck.
* Will report back when I get truck back from shop.
* Found out that this is more common than you think. The level indicator is crimped onto the end of the steel cable.

[Jarlaxle]

I had the "loop" of the dipstick snap off on my Magnum, leaving the stick (the whole thing!) stuck in the tube. (Per my wife: my facial expression was truly priceless.)

I took it to the dealer, and nobody had ever seen THAT before...after the service manager and every mechanic in the shop tried (unsuccessfully) to fish it out with pliers, they said they'd have to pull the tube. They wanted me to leave it overnight so they could work on a cool engine. (Which I found entirely reasonable.)

They wound up replacing the dipstick and the tube...the service manager gave me a free loaner (PT Cruiser), all I had to pay for was about $30 for the replacement dipstick. (The car was out of warranty.)

[BurbMan]

Another 6 weeks and you would have been outside the 5 yr warranty period. Glad you were able to get it fixed.

I had to change the pan gasket on DD's 98 Grand Prix 3.8 and when I pulled the pan there was an old time-sert and a bunch of metal shavings in the pickup screen. Not ideal, but the screen was keeping them out of harm's way. 160k miles on the car, uses no oil, who knows how long they have been in there, and what mechanic installed a new time-sert by sending the old one into the pan...

[caberto]

I had heard of this happening with the dip sticks on Duramax trucks back in 2005 when mine was new, so I've always been "gentle" when retrieving the dip stick, no harsh pulls (haha, I just re-read that - no funny comments! :W ). I don't know why they went this route with those tips.

[RZAR66]

I had this happen to me on a new Caterpillar engine a few years ago. End of the dip stick was stuck in the tube. I bought a new dip stick and used that to force the broken piece into the oil pan. I then drained the engine oil into a clean pan and rubbed a strong speaker magnet on the bottom of the oil pan to fish the broken piece out the drain hole.

[gat75]

GM dealer removed dipstick tube, however, did not find end of dipstick in end of tube as expected.
* They removed both pans, found & removed the piece, installed new dipstick.
* When I got truck home, I looked under truck, did not appear to me that the tranny was removed.
* I did see fresh sealant on both of the pans.
* I would have been happy to have left broken off piece in the bottom of the pan, however, the lead mechanic told me he could not guarantee 100% that the piece might cause trouble in the future.
* MORAL OF THIS STORY, CHECK END OF DIPSTICK AT LEAST EVERY OIL CHANGE, (IF NOT SOONER) TO ENSURE THAT OIL INDICATOR HAS NOT "SLIPPED" ON END OF STEEL CABLE.

Even considering this issue, this truck has been very dependable, (Quite unlike my previous 2001 FORD P-stroke that had tranny removed 4 times in 120,000 miles). Not bashing anyone, just stating the truth.

The ford rode better, had better interior, just was not mechanically dependable, (considering I was only pulling a 27.5 mid-profile Prowler part-time).

[Hybridhunter]

ksss wrote:

smkettner wrote:
OTOH I think that item could float around on the bottom of the pan forever without harm.

Now you will have a reassembled lower engine that IMO is more prone to leak. Hand me a new dipstick and I would be on my way.

As would I, I would not let them pull the engine to retrieve that. I certainly would never pay myself to have it done.

Yep. It should sit in the screen forever, no issue. Leave that sucker together.

[ksss]

smkettner wrote:
OTOH I think that item could float around on the bottom of the pan forever without harm.

Now you will have a reassembled lower engine that IMO is more prone to leak. Hand me a new dipstick and I would be on my way.

As would I, I would not let them pull the engine to retrieve that. I certainly would never pay myself to have it done.

[time2roll]

OTOH I think that item could float around on the bottom of the pan forever without harm.

Now you will have a reassembled lower engine that IMO is more prone to leak. Hand me a new dipstick and I would be on my way.

[christopherglen]

I got an oil leak between the upper and lower pans on my 07 classic, they removed the cross member, then the lower pan. In and out in less then 2 hours..

[N-Trouble]

Interesting... I follow Dmax discussion forums fairly closely but have never hear of this happening.

Agree on trying to remove the dipstick tube FIRST before committing to an entire engine dis-assemble.

[badercubed]

ScottG wrote:
The sad thing is they will all try to pull that sort of thing - regardless of brand.

Ehhhh, I'd argue is mainly based on the dealer, not the brand. My dealer tries to do EVERYTHING under warranty.

[bguy]

brownieab wrote:
If the indicator is lodged in the dipstick tube, remove the tube and see if indicator is still there

Yup.

[brownieab]

If the indicator is lodged in the dipstick tube, remove the tube and see if indicator is still there

[ib516]

Glad you got it straightened out.