Saildrive Dipstick head sheared off!

[BobsFolly]

Title says it all really ?

I've managed to shear off the head on my Volvo 120s saildrive dipstick, mid summer cruise of course. Hopefully attached pictures paint a thousand words!
Any suggestions as to how to remove the remaining part if I can get a replacement.
Perhaps gluing the head back on to remove it? Or tapping a small screw in. I'm afraid of pushing the remaining part of the dipstick into the leg, then I've got much bigger problems !
Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks

Bob.

 

[Boater Sam]

Superglue.

 

[jwfrary]

Feel for you,

Might be best trying to make a slot in to top and using a flat blade screwdriver to extract

May be possible to gently make the slot with the screw driver gently heated up.

Edit: Scrap that thought it's a push in type one isn't it! Maybe the screw epoxy method suggested below is better

 

[Daydream believer]

Cannot tell from that where the dipstick actually is
Is the dipstick the hex headed bolt in the second picture? if so why not just unscrew it with a spanner?
Or is it the brown bit surrounded by the silver section lower down in the picture? In which case, why not undo it with a set of needle nose pliers?

 

[typhoonNige]

Happened to me a few years ago. I drilled trough the sheared off part and into the dipstick and used a self tapping screw and quick set epoxy to put it back together. It was strong enough to unscrew it and it held until a new one arrived.

 

[BobsFolly]

Thanks all, sorry limited internet connection here to reply.
I'll go with the drill and epoxy a screw solution I think when I get back to home base. I'm hoping as the threads are still in that the dipstick wont go further in but may reattach the head with 2 pack epoxy glue to secure it in the interim.

Thanks all

Bob.

 

[Martin_J]

Same happened to me checking oil level the night before a direct sail from the Solent to Cornwall.
That same evening I drilled into both parts, tapped a thread in each and fitted a threaded stud.
I then messaged a friend in Cornwall who managed to get a new dipstick from their local dealer that next day so I had a new part upon arrival.
That was about five years ago and that new replacement dipstick is still in one of the spares boxes

PS - Once the top part had broken off, pressure was taken off the threaded part so it wound out quite easily, I think with a couple of pointed screwdrivers pushing it around.

 

[Martin_J]

Thinking about it again, I possibly threaded the lower hole, drilled right up through the lower half of the handle, screwed a stud (cut off bolt) into the lower part and then put a nut across the top of the stainless stud to tighten it up.

 

[Moodysailor]

Yep, it happens - they can snap off.

Tease it our carefully - now that the o-ring is off, it might turn OK with a flat blade screwdriver, other than that you'll need to "sailorise" something (some good suggestions above). Once out, get a strip of something and mark it up to the level on the dipstick. Spares maybe hard to get, so you may need to sailorise a dipstick and use a wooden bung in the top to keep you going until you can fix it or get a replacement.

Whatever you do, don't lost the rest in the transmission, otherwise that will really put a damper on your holiday. I've seen that done!