The plastic end has dropped off my dip stick so I wonder if there is an alternative, without the plastic end, which fits ? One which is longer that needs shortening and notches grinding for max and min would be OK

Buy a proper one, they are not expensive , between £8 to £10. Then you've got the right one .

Crikey, I'm tight, but the quick fix at the time was the shaft of a kid's plastic paintbrush handle - heated the wire and pushed it into the cut off handle. Marked a notch where the oil level was and that's been that way for 5 years. Doesn't say too much for the original Citroen effort!

(07-11-2020, 07:27 PM)oilyrag Wrote:  Crikey, I'm tight, but the quick fix at the time was the shaft of a kid's plastic paintbrush handle - heated the wire and pushed it into the cut off handle. Marked a notch where the oil level was and that's been that way for 5 years.  Doesn't say too much for the original Citroen effort!

Funnily enough, I did exactly the same thing yesterday, unaware of your post.  It works.

Top Tip: Before your dipstick breaks/falls apart whip it out and take a few measurements like length, distance between high and low level markings, distance between underside of handle and high level mark, distance between bottom of plastic handle and top in insertion tube. Put these in your phone or the back of the handbook and with a bit of welding rod or wire coathanger you can always rig up a temporary one with a pair of pliers and a roll of insulating tape to seal the top of the tube.. Learnt this trick many years ago whilst working/sailing on boats.

Was it just me that thought the OP was going say they needed a longer one as it didn't reach the oil anymore...?

(16-01-2021, 12:40 PM)RattyCortina Wrote:  Was it just me that thought the OP was going say they needed a longer one as it didn't reach the oil anymore..

Did cross my mind 
Had a mate years ago who bought his first car -had an A series engine - we told him to top the oil up. He took the filler cap off and just poured and poured trying to get it full ...........

Plastic has all died on mine too.

Yes i am also tight so just leave a spare pair of pliers in the car and grab it with them when i need to check the oil.