Help!!!!!!!! Oil dipstick tube

[nmtechie]

I have a 1988 Ford Festiva L. Tonight when I checked my oil the dipstick and the tube came out of the engine. The only thing holding into the engine is the dipstick itself. The tube has a smaller end where the dipstick fits in and the part that broke off is wider. Isn't it supposed to get smaller?

Is there an o-ring or a fitting that is supposed to be there? Right now I have a bunch of garbage ties holding it upright and there doesn't appear to be much oil loss or anything.

I thought about making a plug of some sort to plug the hole and then put then dipstick and tube in when I need to check the oil. I called several auto places and 1 told that it should have an o-ring/nut there, the others said that it would have to be welded.

Is the car driveable as long as I make sure I don't lose oil? My sister has to have an ultrasound next week for ovarian cancer and I have to be mobile in case she needs surgery.

[mechanicaldj]

as long as oil is not leaking out, you are fine

[Pgh5spd]

Interesting problem. I gather the end of the dipstick tube broke off from fatigue where it goes into the block? I've noticed the dipsticks on my early ('88 & 89, anyway) Festiva have gotten hard to remove. I have to hold onto the tube and onto the "cap" of the dipstick. It never used to be this way on these same cars. I haven't looked at it closely, since I'm mainly driving a '93, but I suspect that whatever the sealing material inside the cap is has absorbed enough dirt or whatever over the years to swell enough that it grips the tube too tightly anymore. Might be worth trying to soak the dipstick in cleaner to see if you can wash any material out of the dipstick cap liner material.