ummm.....whats with the plastic dip stick................are we the only cars that have a COMPLETELY PLASTIC dip stick? wtf?

Plastic...metal....does it really matter? Both tell you when you need oil. LOL

I agree - yellow plastic dipstick - why yellow, oil is yellow - makes it hard to read.
Would be nice if a chrome (or just metal) dipstick were availible.

i like yellow i think it makes it easier to read and real ppl just uses there fingers to tell if the oil is still clean or not ;)

after a long period of time the plastic dipstic will crack and will go in to the crankcase and will screw up your engine. they should have put a metal on in there un the first place

after a long period of time the plastic dipstic will crack and will go in to the crankcase and will screw up your engine. they should have put a metal on in there un the first place
Maybe after 50 or so years :roll:

Um, yeah, there's been a few advancements in plastic over the last 50 years. It's yellow so it's easy to find the handle, color coded to tell it apart from the tranny fluid, if equipped with auto.

When's the last time you had a dipstick problem? heard of someone with a dipstick problem? Only one I've ever seen was old metal ones that were rusty or metal/plastic ones that the handle breaks loose...
Are you looking at other cars to see what they are using? Do you really think Toyota would put something in there that they think will cause a problem?

after a long period of time the plastic dipstic will crack and will go in to the crankcase and will screw up your engine. they should have put a metal on in there un the first place
plastic is a great cheap alternative

plastic = lightweight, duh

So, how much weight savings are you gonna get between a metal and a plastic dipstick? Pocket change would offset that...

Do you guys realize how many different varieties of plastic there are? By manipulating it, they can give it all sorts of properties.

Take UHMWPE, for example. That will be harder and last longer than some metals. I doubt they used the same formula that they use for coke bottles or beach toys...

Since when has engine oil been yellow. It's a clear light brown then as time goes on it turns to a dark brown maybe black.

i was joking about the lightweight issue... :eyebrow:

Don't let your oil turnn black. Change it early and often.

i'm just saying that it is not yellow any time while in the engine.

plastic=lightweight + low cost=low sticker price. Isn't this the reason we purchased the car?

I always thought motor Oil was a nice golden color.

golden brown color like honey, unless you use hydro oil in an oil change which is clear :roll: :oops: :lol: i did that to a few things at work :lol:

So, how much weight savings are you gonna get between a metal and a plastic dipstick? Pocket change would offset that...

Do you guys realize how many different varieties of plastic there are? By manipulating it, they can give it all sorts of properties.

Take UHMWPE, for example. That will be harder and last longer than some metals. I doubt they used the same formula that they use for coke bottles or beach toys...

yes toyota just threw in a plastic dipstick and didn't think about the future........

:blah:

lol....i wasn't expecting to get this big of a response....anybody know where i can get a REAL DIP stick.....my buddies at jiffy lube laugh at me :(

you can go to somewhere and have them engrave the letters *T R D * in bottom of the dipstick where it measures the oil over and over again so it's easier to see where the oil goes up to because of the indents and everybody at jiffy lube will be like "OMG DUDE YOUR CAR CAME STOCK WITH A TRD DIPSTICK!!! OMG OMG OMG!!1111111"

Go to autozone(or similar)
Remove stock dipstick
Take stock dipstick into store, ask associate if he has a metal dipstick this size.
If not get one thats longer and use metal snips to cut it the correct length and an engraver to engrave the proper lines.

.....my buddies at jiffy lube laugh at me
It's not because of the Plastic Dipstick.

why are you guys making such a big deal out of something that won't be seen but every three months. It's just a dipstick why spend money on something that won't add hp or torque or even make your car look any cooler.

My Dipstick gets seen every night, and the one on my xA gets seen at least once a week.

I painted mine to match my car, at least the handle part.

So people will take out the dip stick to see it or what. All they see is the handle anyway. So paint the handle and drop the whole subject about the plastic dip stick. Unless you have money to burn. Just use the dip stick that the engineers from Toyota decided would work for the car.

after a long period of time the plastic dipstic will crack and will go in to the crankcase and will screw up your engine. they should have put a metal on in there un the first place

Yes. Because everyone knows, Petrolium products are highly corrosive to other Petrolium products.

Plastic isn't a bad alternative. Oil turns black when it needs to be changed.

And if it's really that big a deal, get an aftermarket dipstick, or check your oil with your fingertips as suggested above.

[quote="Yes. Because everyone knows, Petrolium products are highly corrosive to other Petrolium products.[/quote]

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