Is that bad?

Its only a slight film, is this normal?

 

You should have a breather tube at the back of the engine on the drivers side. Make sure it is not plugged. If it is the engine will try to "vent" out the dipstick tube.

The other reason is excessive blowby - not such an easy fix.

 

My best friend had the same problem you did, we tried clearing the blowby tube with a wire and some starting fluid however, it only worked for about 10 minutes, and then it was spewing oil out of the dipstick again. It was so bad, that it would blowout the dipstick, hit the engine fan, and spray all over the engine compartment, and even out the side of the hood onto the body. We got tired of it so we took the injection pump off to remove the inspection plate. On the inside of the plate there is a screen filter, his was clogged like crazy. We let it soak for an hour in gasoline, and then put it all back together. Make sure when taking the pump off that you pin the pump, and removed it when the engine is at tdc, this way you will not lose your timing. All in all, it wasn't too complicated of a job, it tooke about 6 hours and a case of beer and we were drunk and happy when we were done . Good luck and ask any other questions if you have em.

Bryan

 

Well its only a slight film, not even a drop...

I just remember someone saying something about the matter...

Anyone get a slight film on their handle?

 

I wouldn't worry about a slight film, from the sound of it in the beginning I thought it was spewing out. Mine has a slight film, however at idle I don't see it dripping out.

 

There is a small o-ring that seals and helps hold the dip stick in.
Perhaps yours is missing.
A vacuum leak will cause excess blowby that could add to the problem also.

 

Does excessive blowby mean you are using oil?

Because I'm right at 12 quarts after 2500 miles since my last oil change...

I'm not losing any oil...

Or does it not matter what the dipstick reads?

 

On a gasser, I always thought that excessive blowby means you are using oil because it’s getting past the rings; is this true on a diesel engine as well?

I just got my ’96 12-valve a month ago and I noticed some puffs of white smoke coming from the blowby tube, and the oil fill tube if I open it up. There is no oil coming out of the tube, or any oily film, just white smoke which is barely visible. Is this normal or excessive? I don’t know if the engine is using oil yet. It only has 90k miles.

Also when I changed the oil I added 12 quarts, 1 in the filter and 11 in the crankcase, my dipstick shows about ¼ inch above the fill mark, is this OK? Does everybody add 12 quarts?