I recently bought a 2006 Grand Caravan with the 3.8 V6. When I was looking it over I pulled out the dipstick and it appeared to be way overfull. The then owner explained that the dealership had broken the original dipstick and replaced it with one from a 2005. He showed me where they had etched a line into the dipstick to indicate the 5 quart mark. I checked it again after a test drive and no foaming or anything else suspicious so figured he must be telling the truth.
Upon bringing it home I immediately changed the oil and filled up with 4 1/2 quarts (capacity is 5). The oil level came in a little below the etched mark, about where I would have expected for 1/2 quart below full. The OEM dipstick is pretty cheap so I picked one up from the dealership and it is exactly like the one that was already in the van (minus the etched mark of course). So I figured, "Ok he got his story slightly mixed up they broke the tube not the stick no big deal." The tube is even cheaper than the dipstick so today I picked one of those up and it too appears to be identical to the one already in the van. Now I'm not sure what to think. It looks like the dipstick should either be 1 1/2 inches shorter or the tube should be 1 1/2 inches longer. Basicly if the dipstick were accurate the thing would only hold like 2 quarts of oil. How could the OEM dipstick possibly be that far off? Does anyone else find this very peculiar?
Upon bringing it home I immediately changed the oil and filled up with 4 1/2 quarts (capacity is 5). The oil level came in a little below the etched mark, about where I would have expected for 1/2 quart below full. The OEM dipstick is pretty cheap so I picked one up from the dealership and it is exactly like the one that was already in the van (minus the etched mark of course). So I figured, "Ok he got his story slightly mixed up they broke the tube not the stick no big deal." The tube is even cheaper than the dipstick so today I picked one of those up and it too appears to be identical to the one already in the van. Now I'm not sure what to think. It looks like the dipstick should either be 1 1/2 inches shorter or the tube should be 1 1/2 inches longer. Basicly if the dipstick were accurate the thing would only hold like 2 quarts of oil. How could the OEM dipstick possibly be that far off? Does anyone else find this very peculiar?
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