2004 a4 3.0 dipstick problem..
 

ok, was checking oil on my 3.0 and after I put the stick back in, and pulled it back out after wiping it, the indicator on the bottom separated from the actual stick as i pulled it out at about 3/4s of the way up the tube, but, as you probably already know, these are metal dipstick tube...not the end of the world, but, was wondering , is replacing the tube as easy as on the 1.8? i know it is a common prob on those, with the plastic tubes, but, the 3.0 has the metal dipstick tube. I tried to use a spring "claw" to grasp it without any luck, i may end up having to push it all the way in and drop it in the oil pan and pull that off to get it. Which would be the lesser of two evils in your opinions?

bringin to top...i really could use some advice guys!

Pull the tube out. Shouldn't be hard at all. Don't push it into the oil pan. That It sucks trying to get an oil pan off with the engine still in the car.

This happened on my 02 A4 3.0. I wasn't able to completely remove the dipstick tube because it is bent to get around the engine/exhaust, and I didn't want to remove engine and/or exhaust parts to get the clearance needed to remove the tube. I was able to pull the tube out of the engine block far enough to expose a small part of the dipstick. I cut the the dipstick into two pieces (a short piece with the end that goes into the oil and a long piece that connects to the handle) and was able to pull both pieces out with a pair of pliers.