dcdyd

Hi, I have 08 RX350 brought last October. Since then I found out that the engine oil indicator/stick is very hard to use comparing to 98 Explorer I used to drive.

For RX350, every time I like to check the engine oil level, I had to pull the stick out many times in order to have a clear reading. Sometimes I can't get a clear reading without doing that for 10 times or more. The problem is that the tube that hosts the stick is too narrow, when the stick is pulled out, the stick touches the wall of the tube and the oil on the stick gets spread. When you get the stick out of the tube, you can't clearly see any oil level. So I had to clean the oil on the stick and put it back and try it again and again and again.

I just don't understand how Lexus can't make it better.

When I was driving Ford Explorer, I only had to do twice for each time. The first time pulling it out to clean the stick and the second time you can clear see the oil level on the stick.

Does anyone has the same experience?

Adamjeeps

A trick I sometimes use is to roll the dipstick from its side onto the flat part onto a piece of paper towel. You can usually see a line where the oil stops on the dipstick and know if you are where you need to be.

arnieosp

iTrader: (1)

I had the same problem on both of my Lexuses. I took some 600-grid sand paper and sanded the "indicator" portion of the dipstick, but in an "across" direction, not "up-down". Now that surface is dull, and shows oil lot better then the shiny surface did.

dcdyd

It is not the surface that bothers me. When I pull the stick out of the tube, somehow the oil is spreaded because the stick touch the tube. So the line indicating the oil level totally disappears.

I will try what Adamjeeps and arnieosp suggest and see whether it works better.