Maybe I’ve become an old man. Maybe I’m no longer “with it” like all these youthful Tiktokers raised by the internet. I say this because when I think about the 2025 Ram 1500 not offering a dipstick on its 3.0-liter “Hurricane” inline-six engine, it makes me want to yell at a cloud and talk about the good ol’ days before engine covers and zero-weight oil and CVTs and touchscreens for all vehicle functions. A pickup truck without a dipstick — what is this world coming to? Has everyone lost their doggone mind? Man, I really am sounding like an old man.
I recently wrote a review about the new Ram and said it “Is So Good I Don’t Miss The Hemi V8.” But you know what? I change my mind; I do miss the V8. I miss that sound, I miss that parts availability/aftermarket support, and above all, I miss that thin metal tube that presses into that engine block and houses a long rod (well, cable in this case) called a dipstick.
The truth is that the new Ram probably doesn’t really need a dipstick; Ram’s digital oil level-monitor will definitely be easier to use for most people. Here’s a look at that digital oil-level monitor found in the instrument cluster ahead of the driver:
Now Ram drivers will literally never have to pop the hoods of their cars. No more rags. No more dirty hands. Ram is following the “make the engine a black-box to the driver” trend that has been permeating the industry.
Here’s what Ram says about the oil level gauge in its owner’s manual:
The 3.0L engine does not have a traditional “dipstick” and there is no need to manually check the oil level. If it is desired to check engine oil level, it can be seen on the instrument cluster display by navigating to the appropriate screen under “Vehicle Info”.
Use the up or down arrow buttons within the steering wheel controls to find the “Vehicle Info” menu. Then use the right or left arrow buttons until you reach the “Oil Level” submenu. There is a bar on the gauge which shows the oil level. As long as the oil level is between the minimum and the maximum it is safe to operate the vehicle. If the oil level is either too high or too low, a red bar will be illuminated. When the engine is in need of more oil, the Oil Level Warning Light will illuminate. This warning will appear for five seconds. Within the next 300 miles (500 km) you should add 1 quart of manufacturer
Why do I detest this so much? I think on some level, it’s just a matter of me not wanting change. But I also like to look at the quality/color of my oil! And the idea that something could break and I could no longer check on something this critical — something that has huge implications on the longevity of perhaps the most expensive component of my vehicle — it drives me crazy. Hell, even if my battery goes flat I can’t check the oil? [steam billows from my ears in rage].
To me, something so critical has to be basically 100% failure proof. I don’t want an oil-level sensor to fail or a battery/module/screen issue to prevent me from seeing how much oil I have. Being able to check the level and quality of your your motor’s precious lifeblood is something that you must be able to do no matter what the circumstances. It has to be basically failure proof.
To be sure, BMW drivers have been stuck with oil level sensors for years, and those have apparently been pretty reliable, for what that’s worth. To me, as an old man in a 32 year-old’s body, though, that’s not worth much.
There are, of course, some practical benefits to the setup. For one, your vehicle can notify you if the oil level is low, which is, theoretically, better than it waiting for low oil pressure to throw a Malfunction Indicator Light. It could also potentially derate power/throw the vehicle into limp mode based on oil quantity — again, before having to wait for oil pressure loss, which you don’t want. Still, why can’t I have both a dipstick and an oil level sensor? I suspect the driving force here is cost and packaging space.
I reached out to RAM asking them why they went down this route. Here’s what they told me:
“The Hurricane is a premium engine in the company’s lineup. As such, the design team reviewed available technologies to enhance not only performance, fuel economy, and engine operation but also customer convenience. The oil level sensor allows for oil level monitoring for customers that choose not to check their oil level on a regular basis.”
I guess part of me is a little shocked that Ram had the audacity to do this in a pickup truck. Sure, most trucks are street-queens, but the people who use the trucks as trucks — the folks that Ram highlights in its commercials — you just know this is going to bother them. If Ford is sticking with a space-wasting T-handle on the F-150 because customers say they want a chunky shifter, surely truck customers say they want access to a physical dipstick, right?
@huntfordchrysler Replying to @jayja351 we are finally taking a look at this 3.0L Hurricane Inline 6-cylinder on the 25 Ram 1500! #trucktok #trucks #ram #ramtrucks
I’m honestly not sure. What I do know is that some folks on the web aren’t thrilled. Here are some replies to the above Tiktok video by HuntFordChrysler:
- Because dipsticks have been so unreliable we thought we would use a sensor because they never go bad ????
- I think doing away with the Hemi was a big mistake……
- All these manufacturers are making vehicles more and more unreliable
- 30 yrs of dodges…. no more dodges for me or my family
Of course, those types of replies are expected. What surprises me is how many folks are totally cool with this. On a Reddit thread from last month, one users wrote “The RAM 1500 is dead,” but then that person got absolutely bodied by someone defending Ram. Check this out:
Ok, that was an extremely rude comment, and that person needs some therapy. Still, the thread includes other comments like these:
Of course, that Reddit thread also includes plenty of comments decrying Ram’s move. “You won’t see to many vehicles built in 2020 in 2040” writes one user. “If it ain’t broke, fix it till it is, and then we can charge them for it,” writes another. “That’s a 100% deal breaker” quips another.
So there’s a mixed response, here.
Tim Esterdahl from Pickuptrucktalk.com managed to get a bit more info from Ram about the oil level sensor. Per his article, it’s an ultrasonic sensor that can measure level while accounting for changes in oil density as a function of temperature. But beyond temperature and level, the sensor, which is mounted up-and-down in the oil pan, cannot give any indication of oil quality. As for what happens if the sensor fails? “The vehicle can be driven, but error messages will display in the cluster associated with the specific reason for loss of function,” the article estates.
I’m extremely annoyed by this, and in some ways, it feels like it’s alienating key customers, but maybe I’m just yelling at a cloud. What do you think?
Hat tip to whichever reader sent me this tip over social media!
Citroen Sabotaged Wartime Nazi Truck Production In A Simple And Brilliant Way
Citroen Sabotaged Wartime Nazi Truck Production In A Simple And Brilliant Way
Citroen Sabotaged Wartime Nazi Truck Production In A Simple And Brilliant Way
As a mechanic, I want to be able to check oil level, condition and possible contamination instantly, this sort of needless over-technology is stupid. Add a sensor, that’s great, but leave a dipstick – how much could one cost, anyway?
1 bean too many
I would really like a system like this in my vehicle. I shouldn’t admit this, but I have literally never checked the oil in any of my modern ICE vehicles (I consider “modern” to be my vehicles built since 2000; I have owned 3 2000+ ICE vehicles driven for a combined 400,000 or so miles). I don’t check my oil because I have never had any problems with my vehicles, much less problems attributed to insufficient oil. Also, I have never been informed that my oil level is low when I bring it in for maintenance.
While I literally never reach for the dipstick, I frequently look at the gauges. My F250 has a lot of random gauges that can be scrolled through; I regularly scroll through while these from driving. This is all to say that if I had this system, I would check my oil level frequently.
I agree with the commenters who say “why not both”, but if I could only have one, I would go with the electronic gauge.
In the catagory of “I shouldn’t admit this”, the dipstick on my ’95 mustang broke about 2 years ago (fortunately with no pieces in the engine). After months of trying to find a replacement or getting an aftermarket one to fit, I gave up. I keep an eye on the oil pressure, change it every 5-7k and moved on with life.
If it doesn’t have a dipstick it better be an EV. As I don’t trust the sensors as they can fail. I work in R&D for trucks and they literally all have low oil lights on because they just ignore them and check the dipsticks. Yes this is R&D and they are working at getting software and sensors working but it is much lower priority then things like emissions.
Seeing I drive all older vehicles besides my FJ (which is a 2013) and that had a dummy light for oil pressure which I hate because my Cummins and firebird both have pressure gauges which is a much better telling if you have issues or not. All these vehicles also have dipsticks so if you do see low pressure you can check the stick to see if the level is low and that is what is causing pressure issues or if it may just be a bad sensor.
An electric car should really have a dipstick or sight glass for the gearbox oil.
This is just another step on the “we’re not building things to last, we’re building things to make money” campaign trail that ostensibly EVERY business is on now. They put a tremendous amount of effort into making sure that the product lasts JUST long enough so that the people are actually buying them new are very happy, and the rest of us po’ folk buying up as second third and subsequent owners are left holding that unpleasant bag of “we don’t give a fuck about you” residue.
That all being said, I have two main points to make about this:
1) DT is 100% spot on with being pissed about being unable to monitor your engine oil QUALITY. I like to refer to an oil change interval as an ever-evolving metric, dictated by how healthy the inside of the engine remains. When a vehicle is new, your engine oil will stay cleaner, longer. As it wears, it will deteriorate more quickly. Monitoring your engine oil CONDITION regularly will help determine what that new interval should be and when you should enact it.
2) People are lazy slobs and never pop the hood unless it’s by accident when reaching for the parking brake release (are there any mechanical ones left?) or fuel door/trunk release if they happed to be situated close by. Most people are content to just drive from one oil change to the next in the bliss of ignorance. It still runs, so it must be fine, right? Never mind that most contemporary engines, you know, the ones with tiny displacement, forced induction, tighter manufacturing tolerances than we’ve ever seen dictating the use of thinner oil than we’ve ever seen (0w8, anyone?), operating at higher normal temperatures than we’ve ever seen (yeah because cars are the REAL polluters out there! Let’s get’em!) burn oil. Like a quart per thousand is not uncommon, folks.
My 911 has both a dipstick and electronic graphic monitor. Why can’t we do that? Oh yeah, see the opening comment.
Yup this is the same with the stupid lifetime trans fluid trans (looking at my FJ) this seems like it will turn into oh you only need to change your oil every 30k miles type deal.
I’m in the “why not both?” camp. As long as the vehicle is under warranty, technology is great. Old-school manual technology looks much more appealing once you’re past the 10-15 years / 150K-200K miles mark.
As long as there is a redundant low oil sensor. So, one sensor with a potentiometer to tell you the level, another contact sensor at the critical point as a back-up to tell you it’s critically low.
Then, if one goes off you can always double check the other. So there is no worry of over-filling if the sensor goes bad.
VW would find a way to daisy chain them together in such a way that if one failed, it would cause the immediate failure of the other…
Why not both? This is an engine replacement waiting to happen. Just dumb.
Funny van trivia of the day: My 1989 USDM Delica (the Mitsubishi Van/Wagon) has what they call an “electronic dipstick” in the manual. It’s a dash light attached to a float in the oil pan which simply lights up when the oil level crosses what would be the ‘add’ mark on the dipstick on level ground.
They did this presumably because the engine is under you so it saves a step of having to pop the lid open and check the dipstick every time. It’s just an on/off thing, and will obvious trigger if I park it sideways on a hill, but the thought is there.
My concern isn’t day-to-day level checking.
My concern is service time. “Dump x amount of oil in and start” is great until you pull a boneheaded move like forgetting the oil pan plug.
Difference is, with a dipstick I know my error before I roll the engine over instead of running it dry. There’s a reason we preach “pull the dipstick before starting after service”.
While that’s not something I’ve done, as someone with ADD, this is an important point!
I wrenched on heavy diesels for 18 years. I did it in a 15L Cummins ISX early in my career, 42L into the pan and back out into the drain pan. Between the oil filter, fuel filters, coolant filter, hydraulic filter, and grease job, I forgot to put the plug back in.
I’m sure the bottom of the oil pan was squeaky clean after I wasted that much! (42L as the normal initial fill).
Whoa, that’s a lot! I’ve only ever changed oil in regular passenger vehicles which are, of course, a lot less involved (and a lot less of a potential mess). I check other stuff while I wait for it to drain, but I can kind of compartmentalize that as separate from the main task and, as one of my coping skill for ADD, I run a check of everything in order—three times—as if I’m instructing a complete moron (because I kind of am) to head off what I might have missed due to lapse of attention or external distractions. Luckily, mechanics is one of the few things that I can mostly keep concentrated on (there’s a reason my standard is 3 times and not just 2).
Underrated comment-not a proffessional wrench but this is advice my high school shop teacher drilled into me and I still follow.
My sister has a Renegade. It didn’t burn enough oil to qualify for a warranty engine replacement. The software ‘fix’ didn’t actually fix the issue so every 1000 miles she adds a quart.
With that history in mind, a level gauge is way more useful than a dipstick. Guessing they’re planning on this engine burning oil too.
Much ado about nothing imo. Obviously “why not both” is the best answer, but if I have to choose just one I would rather have a sensor. Can you imagine if you had to check your fuel level with a dirty, stinky piece of metal instead of with a convenient gauge? The thought is ludicrous. An oil level sensor will almost certainly help more people than it inconveniences.
High end cordless vacuums can automatically adjust their power these days for peak efficiency with a little sensor that tells the motor how much dirt and debris the vacuum is sucking up. Lots of debris = more power, less debris = less power and a longer battery life. It seems like an extra sensor like that could be added to measure particulates in the oil pan to give you an oil quality indicator too. That would be pretty rad.
That is exactly how petrol levels used to be checked. Can you imagine the outcry when cars got fuel gauges and manufacturers stopped providing fuel level measuring sticks. Anyone with an old MG knows what I’m talking about.
I know. My point was that it is an inconvenient way to do it, and we have improved our methods with better technology since then. If missing dipsticks are such a big issue, we might as well complain about not being able to crank-start our cars by hand while we’re at it.
Ability to start with a poor battery is a (very small) reason I still drive manuals. I’ve known fuel gauges to fail, but the difference there is that you can just fill up more often to be safe or you run out and you have to walk/tow/phone a friend to put some fuel in. Running out of oil is of far greater consequence and you can’t just randomly add it. Sure, it shouldn’t be consumed that much between changes, either, but that’s unfortunately not the case as a lot of new engines have oil consumption issues and this one is a new one built by Stellantis.
What’s more likely to alert the average driver of a no oil condition? Getting out of their vehicle, popping the hood, grabbing a rag and finding the dipstick,
– plus knowing how to read it in the first place? Or an idiot light and a chime that goes “ding!” when the sensor detects a low level?
An low pressure idiot light followed by knocking is the most likely thing to alert the average driver of a no oil condition or admonishment by a mechanic if they get lucky. Would the regular person who doesn’t think or know how to check a dipstick dive through a menu to read the oil level? To be clear, I’m against removing the dipstick, not against the electronic reading—it’s something I would use myself and the more info the better (though in this misinformation age, I’m starting to question that statement in all circumstances), plus they might as well make good use of these digital displays.
Well I DO complain about not being able to crank start my car. That is an excellent example of another thing that really didn’t need to be eliminated and would be useful to retain for emergency or service use even though it’s redundant.
This is EXACTLY what I want. An oil level gauge identical to my gas gauge. That would be soooo awesome!!!
Letting the fuel tank go dry doesn’t destroy the engine. Huge difference.
The existence of a dipstick does not do anything to prevent a low oil condition. I agree that the dipstick should still exist, but it should be a secondary level of verification after a sensor.
I, too, want the level sensor and the readout. Especially if they include sensors for pressure, temperature, viscosity, acidity, moisture and particulate counts. But they’re not doing all that, and the dipstick is a simple, proven backup.
It does, however, do bad things to fuel pumps.
Hey, I’m first to comment, at least as of starting to type. Someone less long-winded probably beat me to it, lol. I honestly can’t get too worked up about it. If we weren’t trying to go EV it would be a big deal but we might as well get used to the power train being a black box you need special tools and skills to work on. Maybe the tools will come down in price and more people will learn but it seems like there’s going to be a fundamental difference in safety between working on electric vs ICE vehicles.
My son is getting to the age where I can start teaching him about mechanics to see if he’s interested but I’m wondering whether to even bother with anything besides suspension, electrical (sensors and interior) and brake work. Maybe replacing bad cells in a battery pack is within the grasp of some home mechanics for some EV models but for the average amateur it would be terribly dangerous or, for some models, impossible to do safely. And how long will they be made out of individual non-proprietary modules anyway? What does it take to disassemble an electric motor and fix a spun bearing? A press and lathe? Does any of this stuff require a clean room for proper assembly? The cost effectiveness of DIY vehicle repair continues to decline as complexity increases regardless of the power source.
Anyway those are my thoughts. And before I forget for some reason clicking the bell does not bring up my notifications and I can’t find them any other way so if you respond here and I don’t say anything, or if this has happened on previous posts, that’s why. I’m always on mobile so I’ll try to remember to check on my PC and see if it works there.
17th, definitely slow.
My nephew was asking about how engines worked and that would have been a proud moment for me years ago. Today it seems like there’s not much point, especially where, for any meaningful knowledge, there’s a lot more to learn and it’s more difficult to show (yeah, there are videos, but that’s still not the same as seeing and touching the real thing and likely not going to be of the specific car he’d be driving).
A while ago, when I clicked on the bell it wouldn’t work either; not sure what the exact problem is but I’m always on mobile and use Chrome…but use Opera Mini only to check the bell and it works on there
For a fun twist, my bell only works if I don’t have notifications. If I do, it won’t open the popover window. Samsung internet on my phone over here. It used to work, hasn’t in weeks or months.
Ram trucks will still have dipsticks, they’ll just be located in the driver seat. As for their dipstick supply in stock, Stellantis needed them to run the company.
COTD
Ram decided one dipstick per vehicle was sufficient
Got ’em.
I actually agree. I just did oil changes on my S5 and Q7. Making sure the oil level was correct afterwards involved starting the car, letting it warm up, shutting it off, letting it sit for two minutes, then turning it on again to check the screen. So it’s literally like a 10 minute process to check the oil on a cold car, which is just bonkers. Luckily, you can buy dipsticks. Odds are the tube is there, but it’s capped off just like on my cars. I’m sure there will be literally hundreds of companies dying to sell you a dipstick for your new Hurricane.
Also, we haven’t had dipsticks on transmissions in a very long time, either. I wonder how many people said “30 yrs of dodges…. no more dodges for me or my family” when they realized their transmission didn’t have a dipstick. What an absolutely mind blowing thing to make you swear off an entire brand over. I don’t understand how people like this find anything left to buy.
Oof. That’s rough, but it does indeed remind me of this sites comment section any time a screen is mentioned.
I really hope you’re not changing your transmission fluid every 3000 to 5000 miles. Transmissions are also not known for consuming ATF through combustion.
Those two aren’t as comparable as you make it to seem.
I’m just making a point that the lack of a dipstick, one you’ll maybe be able to buy aftermarket anyway, is really taking it to the extreme if it can make you swear off a brand your family has driven (and presumably enjoyed) for the last three decades. Won’t even buy a Dodge if it has a dipstick because this one doesn’t. A friggin’ dipstick.
Gas tank levels used to be checked the same way, with a stick. Or how about water levels in lead acid batteries. All examples illustrate the same point even if they aren’t exactly the same.
Point is, it’s not the end of the world. It’ll be just fine.
Again, some comparisons that don’t quite level out. But I agree that it’s insane to swear off a product over something so small. I’d be irate about it, but it won’t stop me buying one.
VW Beetles had no gas gauges until the early 60s. You had to open the hood, take off the gas cap and stick a wooden dipstick into the tank. They did not get exterior gas flaps until 1968 – you had to open the hood to fill.
Didn’t they also have a reserve tank you could switch to if you ran out?
Not a separate tank, but a reserve portion of the main fuel tank wasn’t used until a valve was turned.
God help the teenager who forgot to turn it back to normal after refilling the tank!
Same as a motorcycle I used to have. Basically 2 separate fuel pickups. One was just lower in the tank. good enough for like another 15 or 20 miles.
I was doing this in 1983, the stick thing.
My VW gas gauge was a liar.
Yep, and the stories of my grandpa being FURIOUS when my mom didn’t write down how many miles she drove his VW in his notebook were hilarious.
She did it kinda on purpose, cause he was an asshole, and deserved to be stranded all over town with an empty tank back then.
I feel like my ability to “be like water” and accept change is often confused on this site for defense of the general enshittification of the world.
It’s not that I am happy there’s no longer a dipstick or I think a sensor is definitely better. I’m not defending them taking away a part that costs $1 to make, but I guess as someone under 40 I’m just used to companies being shitty, things only getting worse while also more expensive, and the consumer voice not really meaning much. This is why almost nothing I own stays the way the manufacturer intended it. I buy the thing that is as close as possible to my ideal, and then I make it my ideal. If I really wanted dipsticks for my Audi’s, I’d just go buy some. I wouldn’t swear off the brand and become irate about it.
No dipstick isn’t what I want, nor are haptic steering wheel controls, but as you said, it’ll be just fine. I am not going to let haptic steering wheel controls or dipsticks take years off my life and I’m not gonna let them stop me from buying a car I like.
That vestigial dipstick tube is there for the dealer to do their oil changes via extractor which, apparently, is the way that Audi’s service manual recommends they do it. It’s much cleaner that way. My Audis all went the way of the digital oil gauge starting with the B8.5 A4. My 2013 Cayenne is this way too. Most DIY types end up just buying the OE dipstick from another make under the VAG umbrella that has this same engine and using it for checking oil levels after a DIY oil change.
I wonder if the warranty dept. was pushing for this change- come in with a blown engine and the ECU has a logged history of low oil quantity, claim denied!
It would likely either significantly derate the engine or prevent it from starting completely if it sees low oil level. Other manufacturers already do that if low oil pressure DTCs set.
I hate not having a dipstick on our BMW 330e. It’s especially annoying when I typically don’t even run the engine much, but the engine has to be on and has had to run for a bit to get the measurement.
After I do an oil change, I have to force the engine to run for a few minutes, just to verify my oil level was correct. A 30 second task turns into about a 5 minutes one, and one that I have to go in the house and clean up before I can do, because I don’t want to get in the car without cleaning up.
Also, we recently had a lot of rain and the car was in a parking lot that flooded with about 14″ of standing water (up past the mid-point of the wheels). I would have like to be able to make sure the oil still looked fine, but I can’t. I’m not really worried about the oil… I was worried more about the differential and transfer case fluids, but it still would be nice to be able to look at condition of the oil. Oh and the BMW dealer told me if the interior stayed dry, everything should be fine and they don’t need to look at it. So we are just driving it as usual and everything seems fine. Another inch of water and it would have been over the sills and flooded the interior.
Oooooh those scare quotes around dipstick burn me up. Yes, it has a slightly silly joke around “check out you dip” but it also dips into the oil (hopefully).
I also like to see oil quality/color, as I put full synthetic in everything, including the truck, and did a low-key test to see how the oil life advertised by mobil 1 (10k) holds up against the recommended change interval (5k). Hint: at least in the truck, it was looking pretty rough at 7500. It might still have been doing its job but I changed it on color alone.
My question is why? Certainly a sensor system can’t be less expensive than a tube. Maybe it can. The thing I think about is maybe doing this allows to them to keep more crankcase pressure for some reason? Or package the engine differently? I dunno. Seems dumb.
Ah, but you don’t need a subscription for a tube. /s
BMW: hold my bier
Having the vehicle computer keep a record of oil level over time seems like it would be internally valuable, even if just to deny warranty claims.
Because most people never check their oil levels. They go by what the sticker says on their windshield, and even that is a pretty generous assumption. This is going to save money by having fewer engines seize due to poor maintenance/low oil levels.
Exactly. The OEMs know what they are doing. 90% of customers don’t even know what to do with a dipstick.
The pro-dipstick camp is probably roughly equal to the pro-manual transmission camp. Basically a rounding error when it comes to total sales.
For the record, I’d prefer a dipstick to keep the sensor honest. But I am also one of these outliers who periodically checks the oil on the dipstick.
The Viper dipstick is so poorly designed and implemented as to be nearly unusable, so perhaps they were workshopping this on “premium” engines a decade ago.
Agreed. Bring back the dipstick! There are absolutely issues that can be diagnosed by just being able to look at the oil on the stick, so why not do both? Stupid bean counters and their cost cutting.
Why not both?
I feel the same way, as a fellow 32 year old, let’s go yell at clouds together.
I had an Audi S4 that didn’t have a dipstick. Of course the sensor got flakey and I started getting scary messages about oil being low during a long trip. So, I did what most would do, and stopped at a gas station and got some oil and topped it off… twice. As you can guess I effectively overfilled my oil which itself can do harm. Just spend the extra $1 and give customers a dipstick!
Same thing happened to my friend’s Audi. Two quarts added before he began to question things.
I embrace my old-man-ness (and while I am a few years older than you, I still don’t consider myself “old”). The A4 Allroad I just picked up as a daily does not come with a dipstick, but it at least comes with the tube, which has a plug at the top of it. So I’ll be ordering one.
I think digital oil levels are great, especially for alerting as you said. But when you need to top up, do they tell you precisely what needs to go in? The dipstick is nice if for no other reason that when adding oil, you can find out exactly how much is in there without getting back into the car and scrolling through a menu.
I’m gonna go yell at some clouds now.
You didn’t just buy my 2018 allroad off BaT did you? Such a good daily. And yes, there are aftermarket dipsticks one can buy to solve the issue if you want to check oil yourself.