(EDIT 2013-03-11 DO NOT REMOVE THE PROTRUSIONS MENTIONED AS THEY ARE THE FACTORY'S INTENT)
Howdy Folks:
While servicing my 2002 XKR Merc tranny today, and having the pan removed, I checked to see if my Ebay $26 dipstick (that had purchased a few years ago to service my wife's 06 Charger RT) could be inserted far enough to bottom out on the pan. It turned out that the tube is a reduced diameter near the end of insertion, resulting in stopping 3/4 inches shy. The fix was to carefully grind 2 protrusions (about 1/16") at the arrows in the attached pic. Lesson learned>> Make sure your dipstick really does bottom on the pan to prevent major detrimental overfilling.

 

This is on purpose, you shouldn't have grinded it off!

It’s just how you measure your engine oil where you check the level from a certain point, not how deep your pan is.

You are now 3/4" low

 

Howdy Avos:
After searching the internet, and seeing that you have been down this road before, sadly I agree with you. The misinformation out is that they refer to contacting the pan when they really mean contacting the stop (see attached factory procedure #5 near top of page). I cannot thank you enough! I even inserted it back into my wife's Charger RT and it went deeper and flattened out.
Now, I think my warning should be to those that are using something without a "stop" such as the 4 foot plastic tie.
?Does anyone have a suggestion to build back up my ground down "stops"?
Again thanks.

 

Maybe JB Weld if it can take the temperature.

 

Howdy:
Thanks MR, I had thought about an epoxy, but did not know how well it would bond. I was afraid that it may chip off in the pan. What I did just do was use a black plastic tie as a plastic weld rod and fashioned a new stop. It seems to have good bond (penetration). Luckily, I marked the dipstick at the top of tube for both vehicles before I did the grinding. I am confident that it is within 1mm of what it was before. I do not think temperature will be a factor as the dipstick does not remain inserted, but as a precaution, I do have a label above where it hangs on my garage wall to check the stop each use. Again Thanks!

 

Ahhhh man, I managed to go past that point of the stop after fiddling with it..... sounds like mines low :/

 

P-Rock:
I hope that my original post did not contribute to your "fiddling" with the dipstick. If I did, I apologize. I will see if I can "Edit" my original post.
I really like these trannys, even though they're not the quickest or most fuel efficient, still it is my understanding that they can handle around 700HP.

 

Not at all good sir! I did this a year ago cause the shop had a mark on it. When it stopped, I got it to go further without making it curve flat.

 

And definitely, they are some tuff trannies

 

Thought this might help. Don't try to make this tool. They are cheap on ebay and the downside is too great. Look on the RH side of the top of the bell housing. The level is not measured from the bottom of the pan so don't modify it.

 

DR D
can you remember the length of the dipstick in the XKR (from bottoming at correct level on diamond point in tube to top of tube ) as I keep getting different pressure points and not knowing which is which.
regards

 

Hello rrosscoe:
I do not know if I ever measured the length. What I did do was to "tick mark" the dipstick length at the top of the tube before I mistakenly ground off the moulded plastic stops. That mark later allowed me to repair my boo-boo. Regardless, the purpose of the proper dipstick is to measure the distance between the fluid level and the factory stop that is above that level at a specific temperature.
I am not familiar with "getting different pressure points and not knowing which is which". My dipstick does not stop till it contacts the factory stop.
Are you using a dipstick like Excalibur2012 shows on PDF in post #10? That is similar to mine and it does have the stop "ears" on it.

 

Hi DR D,
thank you for quick reply, the pressure points I mentioned is there are two distinct points that the stick stops one is 25" in and the other is 35" (approx) and the dipstick dimensions shown shows the stick length as 35 3/4" all the information I have seen shows the stick sticking out by about 6" so is my stick hitting the botton of the pan and bending till it hits the side (at35") or is it hitting a bend and not in the pan at 25", that is why I asked if you still had your measurements as to how far into the tube your dipstick goes to the correct reading level,
hope that makes a bit more sense.
Regards
rrosscoe

 

You may be able to force your dipstick beyond the stop and bottom out or flatten out on the pan. Recreating my measurements, I have come up with these:

• 45.5" stick length (I also use it for my NAG1 Dodge Charger)
• 26.00" from tip to top of my 2002 XKR tube
• .235" OD metal coil
• .325 effective stop outside diameter. (Caliper reading at widest points)

Your 25" reading is suspiciously close to my 26.00" reading. (I also measured my Dodge Charger at 33.53")
I would be curious as to what your dipstick effective stop outside diameter is. Unfortunately, I do not know the inside diameter of the stop tube in the transmission itself.

 

Right, sorry for delay, now my measurements are similar to yours, my stick measures
. from tip of stick to top of tube as near as damn 26"
. the length of stick in pan is 2.3/4" as per ATSG drawing and now i have (i think ) the correct level of oil as per the temperature graph relating to oil temp to oil level so my problem is solved i hope. I had in fact put to much oil in to start with that is why I could not clearly see the level mark and it was confusing me (easily done these days) so I drained some out till I had a clear mark on stick and started from there thats the problem when you do not know how much you have lost to leak.
so thank you for your time and correspondence hope this confusion helps others as there is a lot of conflicting advice out there.
regards
rrosscoe

 

Glad to help. There is much well meaning but incorrect info about this across Chrysler, & Mercedes forums. (Hopefully, since Avos corrected me on this post, this Jag forum is not in the mix)
I continue to check my dipstick stop to insure that I do not go beyond that ~26" (~33.5 on my Charger)

 

I had my transmission pan off yeaterday and shoved the dipstick ( or oil measuring tool ) down as far as it would go to see what it looked like from the bottum. It's blocked from going all the way. If it feels like it's bending, it's not. It's just stopping where it's supposed too.

I have to pull the damn pan off tomorrow when I get off work and I'll try to remember to take a photo...

 

+1 Appears that you have an appropriate measuring tool as opposed to the long plastic wire tie or such. Maybe (fwiw) while you are at it, you could get a pin gage reading of that stop inside diameter if it is possible.

 

I'll get the measurement tonight when I get off work. Here's the photos of the dipstick bottumed out.







Mercedes Benz transmission oil measuring device (dipstick)

 

And here's the measurement...