Originally Posted by Idaho A4

So the finish this saga, the mechanic would not give up. he finally dropped the pan and pulled the crank. one cylinder had a worn rod bearing (where the rod is connected to the crank.) he gave me the parts. he replaced all the bearings on the crank. that has done it. no problems since. this can all be traced back to a few years ago, I believe. the first time the oil light came on and the car nearly stopped running, literally. my wife was two driving days from home. the oil pickup tube was changed and the junk in the pan was stuck to it. oil was not being pulled through as needed, probably starved one cylinder of a little oil. I have the junk that was in there. some of it was the little orange tabs that are found along the length of the dip stick. for some reason these nubs have fallen off.

any one seen a dip stick fall apart? a friend just bought an 03, the first thing I looked at was the dip stick, the handle or pull ring was broken off, the plastic on these can't take the environment found in the engine or even under the hood. probably the heat.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. so, when your check engine light comes on, go deep, drop the pan and start as deep in the engine as the oil gets pumped. in the end it will save you money and time.