Back when I worked at a BMW store we had to, after changing the oil, start up the vehicle and get it up to temperature before it would give us a reading. Several times the vehicle caught on fire for some reason during this process. So fucking stupid.
The real reason is that owners would not reseat the dipstick properly, which would cause a vacuum leak and a lean fuel mixture that would trigger the CEL.
But you can’t expect Jalopnik writers to know basic facts like this.
The real reason is that owners would not reseat the dipstick properly, which would cause a vacuum leak and a lean fuel mixture that would trigger the CEL.
That is absolutely piss-poor design. But definitely a BMW thing to do.
I mean, easily catching fire is a thing since German tanks in WWII, so yes.
My wife has a 2016 Honda Odyssey, and having grown up working on cars because my dad was a mechanic, I was shocked to learn that there is no transmission fluid dip stick. It’s considered a closed system and never needs to have the fluid changed, allegedly.
It’s a lifetime fluid! For the life of ur transmission! If it’ll make it to 100k miles they could care less what happens after that. When your 16 odyssey needs a transmission at 130 are u gonna put 6k into it or go buy a other car?
My wife’s electric car doesn’t have a dipstick.
Unless you’re sitting in it. ;)
reinventing the wheel in the DUMBEST way possible at best.
planned obsolescence when the sensors inevitably fail at worst.
This is a reactionary response, you’re just arguing, slow down a bit.
Do you see a value in a check engine light that tells you something is wrong in between full inspections? This is similar, this is telling you there isn’t enough oil and damage is occurring before you get a chance to inspect the dipstick.
It’s not planned obsolescence unless they also make it unreasonable to service. We already expect to routinely service engines, and they are already very complex and full of sensors, sure this is adding to the complexity but it’s relatively pretty minor.
The argument being made, and I agree with it, is that the benefits of an additional long-serving sensor way outweigh the con of having one additional sensor in your car. You get early warning before damage occurs, you get built in fraud protection when you’re changing your oil at a shady chain, you eliminate a direct access port for dirt to contaminate the oil.
all the things you said are good provided the dipstick is still there. cost nonwhitstanding.
which is already a thing in some cars.
a lot of the ones that get rid of the dipstick (its semi-common on transmissions now) end up being disposable.
friend of mine had a ford like this. and it cost more than the car to fix after only 10-15ish years of use. its terrible.
friend of mine had a ford like this. and it cost more than the car to fix after only 10-15ish years of use. its terrible.
Yeah, that’s just how it goes as the engine becomes more complex, leaving a dipstick there is not gonna change that…
.
No, see, they just relocated the dipstick. You can locate it just behind the steering wheel, right above the driver’s seat.
PEBKAC.
PEBCAC (car and chair lol)
Why the clickbait? Just put why in the title or post description
New Cars Don’t All Come With Dipsticks Anymore Because Of Digital Oil Level Measurement
Let me guess, this Digital Measurement is only availible to CeRtIfIeD tEcHnIcIaNs iNtO wHoSe aSsHoLe we pUsHeD oUr fInGeR at lEAsT 30 Cm?
Well, currently it’s available on the dashboard. So no, no quite. But eventually, yeah it’s pretty easy to predict it’s heading the way you were thinking, just give it time.
I’ve wondered this for a while and this seems like a good time to ask: Do electric cars use motor oil in the same way as an internal combustion vehicle? Like do you need to get oil changes in an all electric the same way and have a need for a dipstick?
Nope. The only fluid I worry about in my EV is windshield wiper fluid.
No brake calipers or power steering onboard?
Hmm do brake calipers age? You’re not really using your brakes during normal driving.
Power steering and other hydraulics would need changing eventually.
Brake fluid is hygroscopic and will accumulate water over time despite being in a nominally sealed system. Water in solution with brake fluid noticeably lowers the boiling point which leads to issues under repeated braking (e.g. down long steep hills) as the fluid boiling means you lose braking capacity in that circuit.
You should ideally be changing the brake fluid every few years (2-3 being the typical recommendation) and that applies even if the brakes are used less often.
You can use DOT 5.1 to significantly increase that wet boiling point, but it’s expensive for normal car use. I usually use it in my motorcycle, since I’ve experienced brake fade on that before, and it’s… Not fun.
DOT 5.1 to significantly increase that wet boiling point, but it’s expensive for normal car use
Huh? In here you can get DOT5.1 for the same price than DOT4. Roughly 10€ per litre, depending on brand and how big bottle you get.
Seems like 60k miles for brake fluid replacement and 80k miles for low conductivity coolant replacement. Then also replace the normal coolant at 120k miles. This is for an Ioniq5.
I feel like most electric cars don’t need to use brakes going downhill. The regen is heavy enough to maintain a reasonable speed.
And the blinker one right? EVs still have that afaik.
Got my mechanic to replace the transmission fluid in mine after 80,000km, cost $90NZD
Eventually, you’ll have to top up your blinker fluid as well.
Electric cars do have oil that will ultimately need changing but it’s less exposed to contaminants than the engine oil in a internal combustion engine and therefore will last a lot longer. EVs typically have a reduction gearbox and differential and these will require oil changes in a similar fashion to a manual gearbox or differential in a ICE vehicle - i.e. barring exceptional circumstances it will last long enough to get out of warranty but don’t believe it will never need changing.
It still has oil in the transmission. And yes, you are supposed to change it occasionally because its high slip friction oil that burns over time.
I’m not sure if this is universally true but I’ve never seen a fully electric vehicle that uses motor oil. Hybrid vehicles with an internal combustion engine and an electric drive train would still need it, of course.
Not having to take my car for oil changes is bliss.
There’s still hydraulic fluids and transmission oil in EVs but by the time you need to change that most people are long out of warranty and likely already onto their next car.
So strictly speaking there is oil and fluids that need replacing but like its such a long life span.
i have oil in the differential that needs occasional replacement
I hate all these automatic sensors in new cars. I don’t usually buy new cars, I get ones that are a few years used. Almost all of them have a light on the dash for a “tire error” because the stupid sensor has died and no one in their right mind wants to spend $300 to replace a thing that tells you your tire pressure is low. Plus, the things die in a few years anyway.
I just do the Homer Simpson solution and put a bit of black tape over the tire error light.
$300? A TPS sensor replacement should cost like $75 including the sensor itself.
About $300 is what the mechanics in the area usually charge. The dealership is more.
They are like 50 bucks for all 4 tires on ebay. Just get a wheel shop to install it.
or…just look at the tyres ?
Yeah bro let me just eyeball the difference between 32 psi and 36 psi with my fucking laser eyes.
$70 at Discount Tire.
Each?!?!
Fuck that. I’ll pay $300 for the set and let them do the work for me. LOL
Yeah, that’s pretty cheap. Is your $300 number for all 4? Because that’s more expensive than Discount Tire’s price…
A tire pressure sensor sensor? And the tire pressure sensor sensor includes the sensor itself? 😉
TPMS = Tire Pressure Monitoring System
So yes, “TPMS sensor” is a valid term.
Because manufacturers are scummy, that’s why.
If you can’t check the oil, you can’t complain to the dealer can you ? Once the warranty’s over good luck proving anything.
They’re not that dumb.
Sounds like a scam by big oil to sell more oil.
This proactive approach helps to avert potential engine damage
Ah yes, the old “you’re too stupid to do anything by yourself, so we kindly prevent you from trying”
I would argue that it adds a new failure point, and a catastrophic one at that.
Yes, many hunans don’t monitor their oil properly. I’ve seen some destroy engines because they thought the low oil light could be ignored for a week.
Even if you still had the dipstick, owners would become reliant on the sensor and grenade the engine when it gets it wrong. Remember how Teslas had hoods that flew open while driving? The problem wasn’t the latch. The problem was owners relying on a crappy sensor.
I mean, I honestly don’t have a problem with a notification telling me I need to top off my oil, or telling me I’ve driven enough that it is time for the scheduled maintenance. I just also want to be able to manually check the oil level with a dip stick.
This is why it was removed from auto transmissions, people would overfill their transmissions and it would froth up and burn out the clutches.
To be fair, when you drive a dangerous vehicle on a public road, you’re not only putting yourself in danger…
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t ever trust people to do their own repairs, but just thought i’d play devil’s advocate
I mean, yeah, most people probably don’t know what they’re doing but does that mean that no one should be able to fix their own stuff any more?
Just forcing more people towards mechanics. Can’t see levels or if there might be an issue with a lubricant, so if you burn up a transmission, guess you gotta buy a new one.
I don’t like it because:
- I want to look at the oil and smell it, not just check the level.
- I don’t know the failure modes for the sensor, so I can’t trust that the absence of a complaint from it means the oil level is correct.
Exactly
Right now there is no better detection system than in
- Seeing the oil level
- seeing the oil color
- smelling the oil content
- feeling the oil viscosity and any contamination
my 2008 BMW doesn’t have a dipstick
My cyber truck doesn’t have a dipstick and I’m mad as hell about it. I bought it to feel like more of a man and I feel like less of man without a dipstick.
I thought the dipstick in a cybertruck is usually found behind the steering wheel
it’s still got at least one or two USB ports, you could still plug in Lil trythis
my 2008 BMW doesn’t have a dipstick
Sure it does, it is in the driver’s seat.
Wrong. That’s dipshit. Subtle difference.
it’s a sweet silver E93 with no damage and still under 75k miles. It’s a sweet transformer!
It only cost $12k but looks and drives like a $50k car
I’ve had a car with where the oil pressure sensor failed; combine that with an oil leak, and you quickly have a major problem. So, what happens when the sensor telling you the oil level fails? A dipstick is extremely unlikely to ever fail to work correctly, so…?
You would think an engineer would understand this… I assume this is a decision from management.
The Engineer was also told they would get a bonus if they could make maintenance more common and more expensive under the guise of improved technology.
Engineers are people like everyone else and some people have no qualms fucking over other people for money.
“Grok told me this was the right thing. Nom nom, this superglue bathsalt pizza is delicious”
