[C38] Oil Dipstick

[Les]

On Thu, 2008-01-24 at 14:49 -0800, Larry Malmberg wrote:
> Hey all, we have the typical Universal 3 cylinder diesel on board Hassle.
> The darn oil dipstick is in the most inconvenient location imaginable for
> removal and replacement.  Have any of you come up with something that's a
> bit different and/or useful for the dipstick??

I replaced the engine but it is not much better on the new engine
either.  The problem is that the engine slants to line up with the shaft
on all boats.  Thus the oilpan's deep end is opposite the access at the
front (on sailboats like ours anyway).  I had thought of using a bit of
tubing and running it from the bottom of the pan, along the bottom of
the pan keeping it basically level with the back of the pan, and putting
the dip stick on the front where I could get to it.  

	But this would introduce a failure point in the oil system that could
be catastrophic, in other words a crack in the brazing or bending of the
tubing, or one resulting from vibration (ever notice any of that) might
let all the oil out and murphy says that would only happen at night, in
a storm, in a narrow channel, with an aircraft carrier bearing down on
you, the kicker fell over the side, and the sails shredded ;-)  

After the consultation with Murphy, I decided to just live with it.

Regards,
Les H