Fix for DipStick ???

[BearKiller]

Since I have owned our 129, 12-HP Kohler, about once every third mowing, the oil dip-stick will jump loose and allow oil to get slung all over everything before I can see that it has happened.

Each time it has done this, I spend the rest of that mowing session with one eyeball constantly on the dip-stick.

Well...., it did it twice this morning before I was even 1/3 finished, so I parked it and took the dip-stick in the shop for an examination.

What I thought was an O-ring on that rubber plug must be made permanent onto it, as I cannot get it to come loose.

I could see no feasible means of squishing the old rubber plug to a slightly larger diameter.

My temporary solution was to stack four O-rings over the rubber plug and above the integral "O-ring"

The tightness of these four O-rings seemed to squish the rubber plug to a larger diameter, thus tighter fit; it no longer has a bit of up-and-down wiggle room along the shaft.

Also, the O-rings are just a smidgeon fatter than the integral O-ring.

It now fits quite a bit snugger and maybe it will stay sealed; it is too hot out there to worry with it now.


All that rambling aside, what have you guys done to fix a loose dip-stick ?

Thanks for reading.

[BigMike]

Sorry different kind of dip stick

[BigMike]

The cause is blow by past the rings,the fix is a rebuild.
A spring from the loop on the dip stick to a fixed point on the engine/tractor will solve it....for now.

[BearKiller]

I may have plenty of blow-by, but that old worn-out dip-stick just sat in the tube and jiggled around; there was no friction/snugness whatsoever.

I am gonna try your spring idea just to be on the safe side.

As tight a fit as it now has, if there is blow-by and nowhere else for it to go, it will shoot out of there like a missile.

Thanks for the idea about using a spring !

[ksanders]

Do you have the dipstick under the hood or the cam cover one? If it really is just worn out there's plenty of good used ones floating around. I probably have 15 or so somewhere and sure others here have more than that.

[mmzullo]

If there's that much blow by shouldn't it becoming out the valve cover also? Maybe that plugged?

[BearKiller]

My dip-stick resides down low on the left/larboard side of the engine; it is accessible without raising the hood; it is also the only place I have found to add oil.

Just to be clear, the stick has never completely came out of the tube; it just jumps loose such that oil can escape.

I looked through my accumulated junk --- I mean treasures --- and found a good prospect for a hold-down spring and placed it on the work-bench for if/when the stick jumped loose again; I have not as yet resorted to the spring, but it is ready should I need to.

With a weather eye on my O-ring improved dip-stick, I undertook to finish the remaining 2/3 of mowing; I managed to finish the job with no dip-stick episodes.


As for blow-by, I am sure there is some; but, I do not smell it like I do in old worn-out R-model 237 Mack dump-trucks and Ford 6.9/7.3 diesels, so it must not be excessive.

I will update after several more mowings, but I think for now I have cured the problem.

Thanks.

[JLazar]

Bearkiller,

I had the same situation happen to me a while back, on my 1450. Looked under the hood and seen oil all around. I just turned my dip stick around the other way, and it seats tighter in the dip stick tube. Has not happened since. Blow by seems like it could be a cause. But I know my engine is pretty tight. It will use no oil after running out a full tank of gas, maybe 4-5 tanks before I need to add oil.

The spring idea from Big mike was a help for me too!