Can you touch your dipstick when hot, how tough are you???

[richparker]

I’ve seen a lot of posts in this forum and have over heard a lot of people talking about how one should be able to grab their dipstick ( ) while the engine is at full operating temperature. Are you tough enough to grab and remove yours???

With the on set of summer I’ve noticed my oil temps hanging out around 220* on a more consistent basis. Ray has posted some good stuff lately about oil and the temps it can and cannot withstand. Thanks Ray! So, a few times last week I pulled over when the oil temp has hit 220* and took some readings with my IR gun. This is what I’ve found; oil temp gauge reading 220*, IR gun confirms the oil temp sender is at 220*. Sump plate at 175*, case (around the dipstick) 200*, oil exiting the case to my External cooler 200*, oil reentering the case from the external cooler 180*, oil filter 190*, the external cooler 160* and the dipstick at 180*. These temps are on my T1 2275cc with a T4 cooler upgrade, velocity ring, all German tin, external oil cooler with 180* T-stat and filter. This engine also has working OG flaps and T-Stat. So, I have all the proper cooling parts in place.

At 180* I am not tough enough to grab, pull out and hold my dipstick. The American burn institute says skin will get a 3rd degree burn at 155*. I have never been able to grab the dipstick on any T1 ACVW I’ve ever had at full operating temperature.

So, why do people tell other people that you should be able to grab and remove you dipstick at full operating temperature and if you can’t your engine is over heating? Maybe I’m just not man enough to hold a 180* piece of metal in my bare hand. Are you able too???
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’63 Deluxe Build

[telford dorr]

Not really. At full operating temp, it hurts. On the other hand, if you can hold the dipstick, your oil is definitely not too hot...

[Waiting for someone to inevitably make a joke out of "I am not tough enough to grab, pull out and hold my dipstick"...]
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'Experience' is the ability to recognize a mistake when you're making it again - Franklin P. Jones
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When you're dead, you don't know you're dead. The pain is only felt by others.
Same thing happens when you're stupid. - Philippe Geluck
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[Jetfxr69]

Didnt realize that doing that was a toughness challenge. Ive been doing it since I was a kid, cause thats what the old man told me to do. I cut my teeth (10 yrs old) on a ‘62 corvette rebuild with the old man. I regularly do that to my bus after shutdown on a long run. As soon as I shut down I pull the stick and grab it, also noticing quick level, color, and smell. Then after about 5 mins, I recheck the level. I dont have any of those fancy gauges to look at. If it sounds good, I hammer it. When the bottom drops out, we swap in another engine and pound the shit out of that one.
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‘77 westy Seamus
‘76 tintop Crusher
‘77 westy The Judge
‘72 tintop bastard westy Hudson

[FLUX]

This is exactly what I've always thought. Ive never been able to hold my dipstick from my beetle or bus after a long run. Then I added GOOD gauges (Dakota digital) and find that my temp was running pretty much normal. That's also why anytime someone "thinks" their motor is running hot I highly advise them to add /check with a gauge before spending money on things they don't need.

[skills@eurocarsplus]

i literally grab shit out of the oven without mitts on. freaks my wife out.

i have zero feeling in my hands anymore. like mr deeds toe style


Link

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[aeromech]

[Xevin]

Perhaps a new “Feats of strength festibus” this year
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[skills@eurocarsplus]

[Manfred58sc]

Trades work knocks out your hands at about age 45. I have to look at everything I install, no more going by "feel". I recall saying ouch to the dipstick about 25 years ago, now...could not tell you one way or the other. If shit is smoking off the engine from the leaks, your too hot.
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Fat chick owner/operator

[sodbuster]

No bragging no examples no stories. just yes. Yes I can.
It's a good way to check your engine temp on the road if you have no oil temp gauge.

[my59]

The third day pot washing in a commercial kitchen was torture. After a week, not a problem. When I was promoted to cooking, carrying smoking hot pots and pans around was no problem. That was a long time ago, and friends who still cook for a living chuckle when they see me grab a dish rag to move a saute pan.
Hell, I thought that was why one keeps a rag in the car.
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my59: Well son, my grandfather died before I got to drive it, so does that answer your question?
our79: sunroof bus w/camper interior and 2.0 FI
Other:'12 Jetta, '77 Benz 300D, and a 74 MG Midget.

[a-marshal]

I thought mine was pretty hot, I could grab it and hold it ... for a while.
I was cooking my heads, the rebuild got a save my bug temp sensor that would trigger on any longish run.
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-Ob. vehicle info....
1973 Westy w/ '74 1.8 liter / PDSI (type3?) carbs / 009 distributor / pertronix

[Abscate]

It’s useless to compare across people since nerve health and pain tolerance vary so widely. If you test it when known to be good, you can use it as a gauge for overheating though.

I just a non contact thermal sensor , though. Good for radiators, sticking brakes, coolant hoses, too.
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[Bulli Klinik]

I've always just spit on the case. Water boils at 212. If its popping on boiling, too hot.
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I've never met a Bus I didn't like.
Mike K
Bulli Klinik
Colorado Springs

[khalimadeath]

[nemobuscaptain]

[richparker]

[Xevin]

I’ve never had a dipstick loop burn my fingers. Type1 or Type4 stock engines. I’ve felt the uncomfortable heat from the dipstick which reminds of walking across a street barefoot as a kid.
Wiping off the dipstick, sure that has given me a “Wow” but it’s so quick to wipe off it still doesn’t burn my fingers.

In my 1974 bug owners manual. It says to wait 5 minutes to check oil so the crankcase levels out. It doesn’t mention the possibility of burns if you pull the dipstick at any timeframe. Seems like many gas station attendants back in the day (When it was common practice to check oil during fill ups) would have some scars. I doubt all of them used a rag to pull the dipstick

In my opinion. I believe the loop and the metal used in the dipstick was designed to prevent people from scolding themselves. Think of cookware with “Stay Cool handles” This pan pictured, is aluminum, cladded/laminated in Stainless steel. The aluminum is the what makes the pan react to heat up and down. The stainless steel handle attached to the pan doesn’t get hot enough to scold a person by design from the stove top because of the shape and metal used. However you put that pan in an oven at say 375* for 20 minutes. The handle will burn you good because the radiant heat from the oven beating down on the handle. So in VW terms. Could a really hot dipstick not only heat up from the crank case but maybe from a hot engine compartment (Like an oven) as well? Just spit balling an idea. Ray will be along with real scientific information soon

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