Too short oil stick?!

[RazorWing]

89 B3-E-series auto trans.
My oil stick isn't reading anything. I thought I was out of oil, since I've been getting lifter noise, so I took it to the Jiffy Lube, and they said it was full. It still doesn't show up on my stick, not exactly sure why. BBandit got one of his own and matched the two, and they're the same size, but for some reason I'm not getting oil on the stick.
Is there a different sized one somewhere? Any suggestions? Thanks!

[georgeb]

Make sure it's on level ground. I would drain and refill with 3.6 quarts and see what it says.

[Damkid]

^^yup that's what I'd do

Personally I'd never go to jiffy lube in the first place though, but to each their own

[DriverOne]

^^yup that's what I'd do

Personally I'd never go to jiffy lube in the first place though, but to each their own

Until I get a chance to show her the Way of the Festiva, she's stuck with the BK Oiler. We tested the car on level ground, and then with the nose downhill. In order for her to be going through the kind of oil that would be coming out of that car, she'd have James Bonded my driveway.

[Movin]

Lifter noise can happen before it runs totally out of oil because as the
oil level drops the pump starts to pull more suction...and old parts
are not air tight anymore. The air bubbles vent through the lifters
and the lifters don't like that job!

[WmWatt]

I run my car up on ramps to change oil The dip stick doesn't show anything until it's rolled back down on the ground. I use a large (1L) measuring cup to measure what gets put back in.

[Bert]

The last thing I would be doing is presuming my dipstick was too short. You'll literally want to get to the bottom of this in a hurry; engines typically function better when they have the correct amount of oil in the sump. Too low is bad luck as is too high.
Get the front up in the air (make a temporary ramp out of lumber and blocks) crawl under and drain out what's in there. Don't bother with removing the oil filter. Oil should all fit comfortably in a 3.8 litre (one US gallon) jug.
Only then you can start cursing the dipstick while you're out looking for another one.

[Movin]

Paper trail for dipstick...NOT!


fixcerup!!

[DriverOne]

I'll get to the bottom of this! I hadn't thought that it may still not be full... Looks like a job for next weekend.

[RazorWing]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions! Bert, I will definitely give what you said a try. The only reason why I considered the dip-stick to be too short as a possibility is because I had the oil changed just the day prior at a Jiffy Lube, and they claimed the oil to be full. More to reveal after the 11th!

[DriverOne]

Apparently, the oil isn't showing on the stick because it's spinning out of the rear main at highway speeds. A tutorial on how to change the oil in Flit quickly turned into an emergency repair, although the issue we had to address had nothing to do with oil. She had been driving the car around without sway bar bushings on the driver's side of the car. One remained, but naturally pushed the control arm away and was riding behind it. The passenger side was also quickly dilapidating, and so I thought it best to refresh both. We were lucky to find two sway bar rebuild kits on a Sunday, and after a few annoying setbacks, I had the car ready for her to return to AF1: The Badlands. The oil issue may very well become an engine swap, as the time involved warrants it.

[RazorWing]

It's definitely turning into an engine swap. B6, if I have anything to say about it.

[Movin]

PHENOMINAL COSMIC SWAP........YESSSSSS!!