Oil dipstick and tube
 

Are there any differences between the years when it comes to the oil dipstick and the tube? It would be nice if I could mix and match the two from any 90-05 Miata, but with the changes made to the pan over the years I'm guessing that there's differences. Especially going from the 1.6 to the 1.8 cars and then again when they changed the oil pan in 01. The tube and dipstick from my 01 are both missing and I want to drive the car today. This is a really stupid problem to have.

The 1.6 dipstick matched my 99 dipstick, not sure about the tube.

a B6 dipstick did NOT match a BP dipstick in my experience. the B6 was considerably longer, so whilst I thought I was above max oil level, I was actually barely scraping min.

Go order the dipstick and tube for a 1999/2000 California model from your local Mazda dealership. You get the awesome unbreakable dipstick. It shouldn't be more than $40 or so for the stick and the tube. 94-05 should all work if you're in a pinch. I wouldn't imagine the 1.6 and the 1.8 are interchangable.

Where does 1 gallon of oil show up on your dipstick at the oil change? Both hit the top of "F" in regards to the 1.6 and 99 dispsticks.

Not a clue, I generally buy 4 litres of oil from CostCo and throw as much in as needed until it hits full.

I only realised they were different when I took mine out and read the handle which stated 'B6'. I took the spare one I had out of my old engine (marked BP), and compared them together, from the stop they're considerbly different in length and the markings don't line up.


Shame as the B6 one has a much bigger and stronger handle so less likely to snap.

If I can't locate the original one by tonight I'm going to order one. The engine doesn't currently have any oil in it so I'll just add 4 quarts and put the dipstick/tube from my 93 in there to cover the hole until it arrives. Might not even matter, I'm sure something else will prevent me from starting her today.

When I got a new dipstick for my 1.8 swap I found 3 different part numbers for the 1.6, NA 1.8 and NB 1.8. I want to say the dipstick tube for the 1.6 I removed did not match the 1.8 dipstick either.

Ok, just measured and the 1.6 dipstick is longer than the 99. I'll get all three out later and take pics.

Might be your answer as to why you're having oil issues on track.

I'm more confused now than when I started this thread.

You're welcome :p

Not sure about the 1.6's, but on the 1.8's, you can use any 1.8 dipstick and tube on any 1.8, as long as both parts (the dipstick & tube) match. The dipstick & tube have to match each other (ie: both NA 1.8), but they do not have to match the block (ie: 2004 NB).

One more datapoint here on 1.6 is different than 1.8.

What oil issues?

I thought you were having issues with oil foaming/spewing out at the track. Could be from over filling if the 1.6 dipstick is shorter than the NB.

I'm an idiot, the 1.6 dipstick is longer, quite a bit longer. I've been about .5q low at best for 2-years. I guess I need to start buying 5-quarts per oil change. I drank all day when I posted that.

Proves how durable your motor is tho really, I mean how hard do you beat on it AND you've been running it a tad low on oil all this time.

Can't change the past now though I wouldn't worry over it :)

UOA data tells me not to worry. I bet another 1/2q will help though...or blow through the breather, lulz.

I have both a 94 and 02 dipstick. they are different. I tried them both on the same 94 car and they read differently.

I was going to say, you either found your oil problem or created one. You are having issues with oil blowing out, aren't you? That's what I remember.

I did but it was a problem with the baffle on the passenger side. I killed that port and all is well.

I wondered about this as well just did a 1.8 swap with mazdaspeed turbo parts. The top plastic part of the 1.8's dipstick was broken off, I must of been too cold to compare the two. But the tube fit with a little caressing. Did the mazdaspeed cars have a seperate part #?

NECRO!!!!

But, I'm currently struggling with this so I'm going the post the data I've found so far for posterity.

In my case, I just bought a 1995. The oil dipstick handle was, of course, broken. But in fine TX style, the handle had been replaced with epoxy and a 9mm shell casing. I'm not into that, so I purchased the correct dipstick for a 1995 1.8 -- part number BPE8-10-450.

Now, the engine in this car had been rebuilt about 3K miles ago with the PO complaining of excessive oil consumption. The engine is a 1995 block (has oil ports on driver's side) with 1999 head and IM (VICS). I "ASSUMED" that the 1995 block retained its dipstick tube and dipstick. But when I match up the new dipstick to the old, the new one is longer. "F" on the new one lines up with "E" on the old one. If the tube is the 1995 version, that means the PO ran severely overfilled. Could this be the reason for the oil consumption?

These are the part numbers from the Mazda part books:

Oil Dipsticks:
90-93: B61P-10-450C (Tube is B61P-10-440) (DIP STICK (B61P-10-450C) - $10.92 - B61P10450C)
94-97: BPE8-10-450 (Tube is BPE8-10-440) (DIP STICK (BPE8-10-450) - $18.24 - BPE810450)
99-05: BP4W-10-450 (Tube is BP4W-10-440A) (DIP STICK (BP4W-10-450) - $19.99 - BP4W10450)

Oil Pans:
90-93 (1.6)
94-00 (1.8 w/o MBSP)
01-05 (1.8 w/ MBSP)

So . . . anyone know how to visually identify the difference between the 94-97 vs. 99-05 tubes?

Incidentally, the 94-97 dipstick ("BPE8" on handle) is nearly a perfect match to the 90-93 dipstick ("B61P" on handle) on my 90. You could safely swap those in a pinch.

Assuming that wasn't rhetorical, yes, it certainly is. You'll burn it off until it reaches about the correct level.


I know the newer dipsticks are longer; is it safe to assume the tubes are as well?

The one from my '96 is longer than the one reading BP4W. Therefore the one for the BP4W requires more oil in the pan to read full. Yes, the full mark of the longer one is even with the low mark of the other.

Like sixshooter said, other way around. The 1.6 and early-1.8 dipsticks are longer. Late 1.8 dipsticks are shorter.

Since the 1.8 used the same oil pan until the '01 MBSP pans, I'm almost sure that the late 1.8 disptick tubes would need to be shorter to match the dipstick. My wild guess is that this might have been an "attempt" to keep the handles from breaking so often.

Just stumbled on this for the first time today... Im kind of concerned. I have a bp4w with an NA8 oil pan, and a NA6 dipstick tube and dipstick. Im not sure whether that would read high or low at this point...

Anyone have some insight? It always seemed to read high, but with the NA8 pan im not so sure what to think.

Put 4 quarts in an empty engine. Note level. Use that as your full level.

I usually put 5 quarts in mine for the track, but I'm not telling you to do it.

Thats what I was going to do. Works out well since im changing oil tomorrow anyways.

Gryff, I would expect the combination of parts you have to read just about perfectly. Sixshooter's 4 qt. test should confirm.

Isn't it 4.5 quarts with a filter change?

Fabulous, I just noticed last night the pan on the spare engine I picked is a BPE8 but it has the "California" braided wire dipstick. No clue on the tube, and its a mutt for parts :facepalm:

Any chance we can use this thread to start confirming and consolidating this info? Confirm the tube and stick PNs and measure the lengths? It would be nice to know what exactly is interchangeable.

On my 1.6, it usually takes just shy of 4 quarts to get to full, including the filter change. Don't know about the 1.8. Works out pretty well, the gallon jug of Rotella usually gives me enough to keep proper levels until the next oil change.

1. Empty oil pan
2. Add 4 quarts (Preferably motor oil)
3. Mark level on dipstick
4. Stop whining (lol)

I drain and dump 4 quarts and monitor level from there.

I do actually have a bunch of dipsticks from various motors in the shop right now. I have a 1.6, a BP4W, and several BP6D sticks and tubes. Maybe if I'm feeling benevolent I'll measure a few of them this week.

^ The Gallon/3.XX quart jug of Rotella T6 adequately fills both my 1.6 and 1.8. Sometimes I have top off the 1.8, but I believe that's due to a leaky cam cover seal and/or CAS seal.

Just order cases of the stuff when its on sale on Amazon (since I refuse to Walmart). The correct answer is Rotella T6.

-Zach

Did you ever end up playing with your sticks and seeing how they fit in all the holes?

When I got my 94 I put my dipstick from my 92 in it since that handle wasn't broken. From what I remember I compared them and they were the same. I never noticed anything out of the ordinary on the dipstick reading when I'd change the oil w/ filter and put in 4 qts.

My NA6 dipstick is different to the BP4W dipstick.
If i'm ok with the NA6 dipstifck in the BP4W
I'm totally overfilled with the BP4W dipostick in the BP4W.

1.6 is definitely different to the 1.8
they both fasten at the same spot on the gearbox metal thingy
dipsticks are different lenths.
Full reference points are in different positions.