[Ned74]

Hi All,

I have a problem with my new Sandero Stepway TCe90 Laureate which is quite worrying.

My car is just a couple of weeks old and today I checked the oil for the first time and was horrified to see that the dipstick was rusty for about 1 or 2 inches of its length at about a third of the way down. Also the dipstick itself had many places where the silver coating (plating that I assume is there to stop it rusting) was missing.

Not only this, but after I had cleaned the rust off the dipstick as best I could, when I put the dipstick back in it became clear that the inside of the dipstick tube, that carries the dipstick down to the sump, was also corroded as the stick scraped rust from the inside of the tube which then came back out on the end of the stick when I tried to check the oil level.

My questions are as follows:

Has anyone else seen this sort of problem?

Can the particles of rust that will undoubtedly have gotten into the oil do any damage to the engine?

I will obviously get it to a dealer to rectify the problem and I am wondering if a replacement tube and dipstick plus an oil and filter change will be enough to sort this?

Comments from people with the technical know how on how the rust (and I guess 'shed' coating) may affect the engine would be more than welcome.

Also, as I have no experience of Dacia/Renault dealers would I be best to go to the dealer or should I contact Dacia customer services directly?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Royale431]

Hi there - sounds odd. No personal experience, but just looked in to say, you should definitely contact your dealer first.

 

[carlos]

Mines always been ok on my tce and checked every Monday morning, could it have been sat for a very long time???
Mines been sat for a month without use before now, but still no rust in there.
I'd guess the tube is a part of the engine and won't be changeable, like hi royal said take it back, there must be moisture building up from condensation, possibly faulty seal on the dipstick rod. I've never seen rust on any parts like that, that includes cars, ancient hgvs, forklifts etc... The oil inside would generally stop the corrosion in its tracks.

 

[sydmichel]

If the protective coating on the dipstick has broken down, the rust could be caused by electrolysis action between the dissimilar metals of the tube and the dipstick. If so, it will only get worse. Best action is to replace the stick and keep it oiled (no pun intended).

 

[chrisl300]

I think "Rusty dipstick" is going to be my insult of the month.

As in "What a Rusty Dipstick that guy is!"

 

[nightsuperstephen]

Don't even go there

 

[chrisl300]

[cough]

 

[Dizplay]

Ned, kindly let us know how this turned out?

The dipstick on our TCE90 is clean and has a light film of oil. I don't think its stainless steel though.

I would expect that some of that rust might make its way into the engine but I think the filter would catch it before any damage is done. Perhaps the tube can be replaced? I know for a fact that on some cars the tube can be unbolted easily. At the very least the dipstick and oil w/ filter should be replaced.

 

[alfitz]

[splutter]

Is that a technical term?