Aftermarket oil dipstick suggestions?

Like alot of others, I have a terrible time reading the oil level on my 2002. Does anyone know a good oil dipstick to buy to replace the OEM sticks? I've found aftermarket ones, but i cant find any that are specific to the 1st gen tundra. I would think that variations in dipstick length would cause a problem.

 

Why not pick one up at a salvage yard?

 

Am I crazy or did someone on here find their 1st gen actually had the wrong dipstick, from the factory? Like, dipstick was too short.

 

I’ve never had any difficulty reading mine.

 

I recall that. I think it was just an anomaly.

 

It’s somewhere in the hand models archives, I’m sure he touched on the subject

 

Sand with 120 grit horizontally up to the full mark. Insert and remove it quick. You’re welcome.

 

Do you pull it out, clean it off and reinsert? Very much necessary to get a good reading. Once you pull it out again, you’ll see the correct value on one side.

 

This

 

I definitely like the ‘insert and remove it quick’ part. Do that quite repeatedly and I think they put you on a list or something.

 

R.I.P.

 

Are you just having trouble seeing where the oil is? Or is it hard to read because it’s stained brown?

 

Although I have to admit, the dipstick in my suburban with its crosshatch pattern and small drilled holes is easier to read.

 

Park it on a flat surface, preferably overnight, and pull it out and read the inboard side, not the backside that drags the curves on the way out. You'll have a nice level on the stick. It takes a bit of time to get a "proper" reading because the oil takes a while to drain back to the pan. I have a bit of an expert opinion on this because I've owned the truck since new, 23 years or so, lots of oil changes and checks of the dipstick. BTW, the level never goes down that I can see on the dipstick between 5k oil change intervals.

 

Too bad GM didn’t make electronic transmissions as stout as their dipsticks.

 

I bought a 2000 Tundra new. Mine was the SR5 extra cab with 4.7 V8. Owned that truck for fifteen trouble free years. I forget exactly when, but sometime in the first year of ownership a shipping tube was shipped to me from Toyota USA. It contained a new dipstick with instructions to remove and discard the dipstick currently on the vehicle. I forget the difference between the two, but I do remember it was very minor.

 

Sounds like there’s probably a TSB out there for it on just the 2000 Tundra, maybe?

 

It would be just like the one I already have that is hard to read.

 

Yes, hard to see where the oil is on a fresh oil change.

 

I gotcha, honestly easiest way is just use a flashlight if you’re in a dimly lit area

 

Yep, I clean it off and put it back in repeatedly and I just can't see where the oil is. I've tried reading both sides of the stick. Truck is on level ground. I can see that there is oil on the dipstick, I just can't see where the oil stops at its highest point. It needs little cross-hatch marks like other sticks on most other vehicles I guess. I might have to hatch it myself like someone mentioned. I was just hoping that someone had found one that already had that done.

 

It literally takes 3 seconds and all your problems are fixed. 60 grit, 120, 240…any will work.