Does your car have a dipstick?

[conny]

I take it you don’t have auto wipers/lights, central locking, ABS, SRS, fuel injection, electric windows, air bags, servo brakes, power steering, catalytic converter and prefer conventional points and condenser ignition and to operate the choke yourself on cold mornings then?

Oh, those were the days!
My Zafira has tyre pressure sensors and they are a bloody pain! Not many garages, (even tyre replacement places), have them as a stock item andthose that do sometimes don't they need a re-coder to programme them!
My back left one often comes up with a warning, (flashing tyre wich eventually goes to a steady one), and when you press the menu button it says back left. Carry on driving and it will go out, so you check the pressures via the menus, and they are all balanced!
But apparently it is an MOT failure if they are not all working. @Mottie, is that last bit true?

 

[Notch7]

Only when I’m driving it

 

[Mottie]

My back left one often comes up with a warning, (flashing tyre wich eventually goes to a steady one), and when you press the menu button it says back left. Carry on driving and it will go out, so you check the pressures via the menus, and they are all balanced!
But apparently it is an MOT failure if they are not all working. @Mottie, is that last bit true?

No. Can only be failed if the TPMS (on a car registered after Jan 1st 2012) shows a system fault. It can’t be failed if it’s just telling you that one or more tyre pressures are low. You can get a 'minor' fail if it’s obvious that a tyre is under inflated though. A minor fail or any number of minor fails won’t result in a mot failure.

 

[carmanmemoranda]

I take it you don’t have auto wipers/lights, central locking, ABS, SRS, fuel injection, electric windows, air bags, servo brakes, power steering, catalytic converter and prefer conventional points and condenser ignition and to operate the choke yourself on cold mornings then?

Before you put dipstick into this category.

Imagine the car has had a bad oil leak, let's say a filter seal failed. Without a dipstick you have to run the engine up to temperature and on level ground before you can check the level and find out how much to put in.

I don't think it's a good idea to do that if the level is low. With a dipstick it is easy to see where the level is and can add oil safely

Progress? Possibly it's advancing backwards !

Nothing wrong with having the info available electronically, but it doesn't always work as it should.

 

[conny]

No. Can only be failed if the TPMS (on a car registered after Jan 1st 2012) shows a system fault. It can’t be failed if it’s just telling you that one or more tyre pressures are low. You can get a 'minor' fail if it’s obvious that a tyre is under inflated though. A minor fail or any number of minor fails won’t result in a mot failure.

I think the actual wording that comes up is, 'Service Tyre Module'. Click the menus button on the stalk and you get a 'plan view of the 4 wheels with the pressures showing at each one. The back left, (or nearside rear to give it the correct terminology), will show 3 little dashes when it's not registering. Odd thing is, it can be like that when I start off, then, if I am doing a longish journey of about 40 miles, it will sometimes go out and when I check it shows the same pressure as the others. Still a pass/minor?

 

[Mottie]

Minor.

 

[Doug99]

Does an MOT include a road test during which the tyre pressure sensors will give a reading?

 

[Roy Bloom]

Does an MOT include a road test during which the tyre pressure sensors will give a reading?

Do MOTs still require a road test?
I thought they'd finished.

 

[Mottie]

Does an MOT include a road test during which the tyre pressure sensors will give a reading?

No. Not allowed to take on road unless the brake tester has failed mid-test or cannot handle the vehicle and you have to use the backup decelerometer. Nothing else can be tested on the road.

 

[diy_fun_uk]

I take it you don’t have auto wipers/lights, central locking, ABS, SRS, fuel injection, electric windows, air bags, servo brakes, power steering, catalytic converter and prefer conventional points and condenser ignition and to operate the choke yourself on cold mornings then?

I'd assert this has almost nothing to do with my underlying point. I already said one obviously expects and welcomes progress and of course, these things are subjective. Personally, I'd put the removal of a manual dipstick in favour of an electronic/sensor solution into a different category than all the things you mention and of course I wouldn't want to return to things like a manual choke. However I still maintain quite a few car owners including me like having the option to manually check oil levels as part of our regular checks. I get it'll be an ever reducing issue due to ICE vehicles being phased out, however to me it's a change that didn't need to happen.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

If it's one or the other then, overall, it's probably better to have a sensor than a dipstick, for the simple reason that most never check theirs and many won't even know it's there.

I bet lots of cars have suffered wear or damage as a result of low oil, even though checking the dipstick would have avoided it. Although you could say it's tough for those who don't check, anyone else could also be buying their car used and not know it's been running dry. So a sensor should ensure that used cars in general are less likely to have been ruined.

This thread has taught me why my car says "Oil level OK" when I start it. Good to know it's checking itself. I do also have a dipstick though, so best of both worlds.

 

[Mottie]

Had one today with a sensor and no dipstick. Audi S5. Said oil was low and to add 1 litre. I was servicing it anyway so when I filled it with oil, I started with 5 litres and kept topping up until it told me the level was at max. It took 6.8 litres. Quite a good idea - as has been said, plenty of people never check their oil and plenty more wouldn’t even know how to. On this car, you could check your oil level, in the dark, in the cold, in the rain wearing your finest clothes and do it all from the comfort of the drivers seat. What’s not to like about that?

 

[diy_fun_uk]

Had one today with a sensor and no dipstick. Audi S5. Said oil was low and to add 1 litre. I was servicing it anyway so when I filled it with oil, I started with 5 litres and kept topping up until it told me the level was at max. It took 6.8 litres. Quite a good idea - as has been said, plenty of people never check their oil and plenty more wouldn’t even know how to. On this car, you could check your oil level, in the dark, in the cold, in the rain wearing your finest clothes and do it all from the comfort of the drivers seat. What’s not to like about that?

A dealership and/or independent garages dream, punters who don't lift the bonnet from one year to the next.

Let's agree to disagree, I prefer having the physical dipstick and I'm not alone

KEEP THE DIPSTICK ... KEEP THE DIPSTICK ... KEEP THE DIPSTICK !!!

 

[Burnerman]

Dipstick every time!
I do recall one engine where the dip stick end used to fracture off.....the PSA Tu petrol I think it was.
John

 

[carmanmemoranda]

Dipstick without exception.

Electronic sensors as an addition if wanted.

As i said before, you cannot check the oil without running the engine if its done by sensors. And with a leak, it's dangerous. Seen engines written off by it, audi!