Dip stick?

[Paul B]

Will there ever be an aftermarket mod to install an oil dip stick?
Paul B
'25 limited HO

 

[mikeru82]

I doubt anyone here can answer that with any real knowledge. I do know that some cars without a dip stick at least have a dip stick tube, like Audi. So there are options to easily add one if you want. But the Hurricane engines don't even have a dip stick tube, so it wouldn't be nearly as simple on those engines.

 

[6of36]

Another reason not to get a Hurricane. The whole reason I got a 24, was because they were ending the V8s, due to that idiot Biden. Thank goodness they brought back the Hemi. I really appreciate being able to put in gas that is $1.00 a gallon cheaper.

 

[NorskieRider]

I really appreciate being able to put in gas that is $1.00 a gallon cheaper.

The SO runs on regular octane. Not sure about the HO but I'm sure a little googling will answer that (but then again the Hemi and HO are hardly competitors).

 

[mikeru82]

The SO runs on regular octane. Not sure about the HO but I'm sure a little googling will answer that (but then again the Hemi and HO are hardly competitors).

The HO requires premium fuel.

 

[Cbty2050]

Another reason not to get a Hurricane. The whole reason I got a 24, was because they were ending the V8s, due to that idiot Biden. Thank goodness they brought back the Hemi. I really appreciate being able to put in gas that is $1.00 a gallon cheaper.

You are blaming the wrong idiot. Carlos Tavares is the person who squashed it. He had a choice to build the next gen V8 and went with I6

 

[Maverik259]

Not sure why anyone needs a dip stick in 2026. Haven’t had one in a car I’ve owned in 15 years and never once was I sitting there wishing I had one. Is it more convenient to measure how much oil you put it in? Sure. Then again. The truck takes 7.5q. So what is there to measure unless you think you have a leak. Which the truck will measure for you electronically.

Also not sure how this thread got talking about gas prices lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Eighty]

It’s all fun and games until you get the “Max Engine Oil Level Exceeded Immediate Service Required" message on your dash. And there’s NOTHING you can do to verify if it’s another electronic gremlin or not.

 

[HSKR R/T]

It’s all fun and games until you get the “Max Engine Oil Level Exceeded Immediate Service Required" message on your dash. And there’s NOTHING you can do to verify if it’s another electronic gremlin or not.

Sure there is, do an oil change and make sure you only add the amount required. If it still comes up with that message, it's time for a trip to dealer.

 

[NorskieRider]

In my opinion it's nice to have a dipstick, but that alone isn't a reason to not get the engine.
I've had a couple past cars w/o a dipstick, both BMW's.

Not sure why anyone needs a dip stick in 2026.

Three reasons:

1. To easily verify what the sensors are telling you. Having owned an Audi with it's propensity to burn oil AND mis-report because sensors fail and under-report how much oil is in the crankcase, it's common to overfill and destroy engines. Can't do that with a dipstick.
2. The ability to suck oil out of the engine when doing a change. Granted, this is more useful when the filters are on top of the engine too, on vehicles which also require raising them and removing underbody panels and skid plates. Doesn't really apply to our RAMs but it's still a reasons for some vehicles to have them. My Subaru's and Audi's did, oil changes were a breeze, with no mess, because they have dipsticks. It's also useful to suck out a little bit for analysis without having to drain it all out the drain plug.
3. Schroedingers Oil Check: If you don't know if there's oil in the engine you don't know if it's safe to start it to get the ECU to check the oil. You'll need to drain the oil to see if it has oil. Then put oil into the engine. With a dipstick it's much more convenient to just check the oil.

I was going to add #4 - to smell and feel the oil. But modern oils do such a good job of containing dispersants and particles etc. that us humans can't really tell anymore.

It’s all fun and games until you get the “Max Engine Oil Level Exceeded Immediate Service Required" message on your dash. And there’s NOTHING you can do to verify if it’s another electronic gremlin or not.

Well, you can drain the oil and measure how much comes out. That was the prescribed method for checking the engine oil level on my 535ix. It's stupid and inconvenient when a dipstick would have been a simpler solution.

But, as I stated at the top of this post, the lack or presence of a dipstick is rather inconsequential to choosing which engine you want. Fuel type, power delivery, reliability, cost, etc. are all more rational aspects. Then there's also the irrational aspects: sound, vibrations, tradition, self-identity, etc. I love my Hurricane SO, it has quickly become one of my favorite engines. It's quiet and powerful, smooth at any RPM. Would I want it in my Corvette? Nope. That thing is supposed to rumble, snort, shake and threaten to overpower the chassis and remind everyone that it has a V8 and three pedals. But in the truck? Nope. My truck is too big and heavy to have any pretensions about performance. It's a tool for hauling and towing and comfort and the Hurricane is perfect for that and whether it has a dipstick is such a minor issue, even though I wish it had one.

Ooops. Sorry. Got off on a little rant there.

 

[HSKR R/T]

In my opinion it's nice to have a dipstick, but that alone isn't a reason to not get the engine.
I've had a couple past cars w/o a dipstick, both BMW's.



Three reasons:

1. To easily verify what the sensors are telling you. Having owned an Audi with it's propensity to burn oil AND mis-report because sensors fail and under-report how much oil is in the crankcase, it's common to overfill and destroy engines. Can't do that with a dipstick.
2. The ability to suck oil out of the engine when doing a change. Granted, this is more useful when the filters are on top of the engine too, on vehicles which also require raising them and removing underbody panels and skid plates. Doesn't really apply to our RAMs but it's still a reasons for some vehicles to have them. My Subaru's and Audi's did, oil changes were a breeze, with no mess, because they have dipsticks. It's also useful to suck out a little bit for analysis without having to drain it all out the drain plug.
3. Schroedingers Oil Check: If you don't know if there's oil in the engine you don't know if it's safe to start it to get the ECU to check the oil. You'll need to drain the oil to see if it has oil. Then put oil into the engine. With a dipstick it's much more convenient to just check the oil.

I was going to add #4 - to smell and feel the oil. But modern oils do such a good job of containing dispersants and particles etc. that us humans can't really tell anymore.



Well, you can drain the oil and measure how much comes out. That was the prescribed method for checking the engine oil level on my 535ix. It's stupid and inconvenient when a dipstick would have been a simpler solution.

But, as I stated at the top of this post, the lack or presence of a dipstick is rather inconsequential to choosing which engine you want. Fuel type, power delivery, reliability, cost, etc. are all more rational aspects. Then there's also the irrational aspects: sound, vibrations, tradition, self-identity, etc. I love my Hurricane SO, it has quickly become one of my favorite engines. It's quiet and powerful, smooth at any RPM. Would I want it in my Corvette? Nope. That thing is supposed to rumble, snort, shake and threaten to overpower the chassis and remind everyone that it has a V8 and three pedals. But in the truck? Nope. My truck is too big and heavy to have any pretensions about performance. It's a tool for hauling and towing and comfort and the Hurricane is perfect for that and whether it has a dipstick is such a minor issue, even though I wish it had one.

Ooops. Sorry. Got off on a little rant there.

For #3 on your list, if it has oil when you shut it off, and there isn't a big puddle under the car, it's a pretty good assumption that the oil is still in the engine. And with a lot of people always remote starting their vehicles, they obviously arent concerned with that.

 

[OldMarine]

For #3 on your list, if it has oil when you shut it off, and there isn't a big puddle under the car, it's a pretty good assumption that the oil is still in the engine. And with a lot of people always remote starting their vehicles, they obviously arent concerned with that.

you never heard of a car "burning oil"?.....and no, it isn't always a big blue cloud coming out the back. Sometimes they burn slowly....and you don't see it.

 

[mikeru82]

In my opinion it's nice to have a dipstick, but that alone isn't a reason to not get the engine.
I've had a couple past cars w/o a dipstick, both BMW's.



Three reasons:

1. To easily verify what the sensors are telling you. Having owned an Audi with it's propensity to burn oil AND mis-report because sensors fail and under-report how much oil is in the crankcase, it's common to overfill and destroy engines. Can't do that with a dipstick.
2. The ability to suck oil out of the engine when doing a change. Granted, this is more useful when the filters are on top of the engine too, on vehicles which also require raising them and removing underbody panels and skid plates. Doesn't really apply to our RAMs but it's still a reasons for some vehicles to have them. My Subaru's and Audi's did, oil changes were a breeze, with no mess, because they have dipsticks. It's also useful to suck out a little bit for analysis without having to drain it all out the drain plug.
3. Schroedingers Oil Check: If you don't know if there's oil in the engine you don't know if it's safe to start it to get the ECU to check the oil. You'll need to drain the oil to see if it has oil. Then put oil into the engine. With a dipstick it's much more convenient to just check the oil.

I was going to add #4 - to smell and feel the oil. But modern oils do such a good job of containing dispersants and particles etc. that us humans can't really tell anymore.



Well, you can drain the oil and measure how much comes out. That was the prescribed method for checking the engine oil level on my 535ix. It's stupid and inconvenient when a dipstick would have been a simpler solution.

But, as I stated at the top of this post, the lack or presence of a dipstick is rather inconsequential to choosing which engine you want. Fuel type, power delivery, reliability, cost, etc. are all more rational aspects. Then there's also the irrational aspects: sound, vibrations, tradition, self-identity, etc. I love my Hurricane SO, it has quickly become one of my favorite engines. It's quiet and powerful, smooth at any RPM. Would I want it in my Corvette? Nope. That thing is supposed to rumble, snort, shake and threaten to overpower the chassis and remind everyone that it has a V8 and three pedals. But in the truck? Nope. My truck is too big and heavy to have any pretensions about performance. It's a tool for hauling and towing and comfort and the Hurricane is perfect for that and whether it has a dipstick is such a minor issue, even though I wish it had one.

Ooops. Sorry. Got off on a little rant there.

I would go ahead and add #4 to your list, but is more important later in a vehicle's life. Visual inspection is easy to do with a dip stick. A suspected head gasket can be confirmed by looking at the oil to see if there are signs of coolant. An oil level sensor will do nothing for you in that scenario.

 

[HSKR R/T]

you never heard of a car "burning oil"?.....and no, it isn't always a big blue cloud coming out the back. Sometimes they burn slowly....and you don't see it.

Once again, if there was no oil pressure issue when you shut the vehicle off, there won't be one when you start it. If anything it will be better because oil would have drained back into the pan making the level slightly higher. You will have more issues with low oil level while driving than sitting at idle .

 

[BowDown]

you never heard of a car "burning oil"?.....and no, it isn't always a big blue cloud coming out the back. Sometimes they burn slowly....and you don't see it.

Burning or using enough oil to impact the amount of oil in the oil pan is gonna smoke and smoke alot. The only way you're slowly burning oil and emptying an oil pan while showing no signs of smoke is if you're going 15K+ miles or years between oil changes

 

[BowDown]

I would go ahead and add #4 to your list, but is more important later in a vehicle's life. Visual inspection is easy to do with a dip stick. A suspected head gasket can be confirmed by looking at the oil to see if there are signs of coolant. An oil level sensor will do nothing for you in that scenario.

I don't disagree with that but think about things from the general public's perspective rather than the enthusiast; how many buyers actually open their hood and check anything?
I'd bet everything I own that 95-99% of the auto driving population NEVER looks under their hood much less check the oil dipstick and stellantis realized this.

I'd also bet that the system employed now cost far more than a simple dipstick so it wasn't done for riniancil reasons, it was likely done to alert idiot drivers of a problem before it was a more expensive problem for the very same reason above, no ones checks their oil level

 

[1791]

why not both? 90k for a tungsten throwing in a dipstick is the least ya could do. i doubt it would get used but still just throw one on there.

 

[BowDown]

why not both? 90k for a tungsten throwing in a dipstick is the least ya could do. i doubt it would get used but still just throw one on there.

The price of the truck is completely irrelevant. I don't get why people include the price of the truck as some factor to how it should work or what it should have. The hurricane block in the 40k truck is the same as the 90k truck.

 

[HSKR R/T]

why not both? 90k for a tungsten throwing in a dipstick is the least ya could do. i doubt it would get used but still just throw one on there.

There are far more expensive cars made without dipsticks.

 

[Cbty2050]

Can't do that with a dipstick.

Yes you can over fill an engine with a dipstick, if you think a dipstick is going to save from over filling or under filling you are mistaken.