Routine maintenance gone bad...

[MinisterofDOOM]

Ugh...

I decided to do some work on the Q today (she's about 2000 miles from 200k!). Changed the differential fluid, changed the oil, checked other fluids but none needed changing.

Afterward, as I was about to go home (did this all at my parents' place) I decided to check the oil to make sure I filled it properly. Big mistake. I extracted the dipstick...AND THE DIPSTICK TUBE.I CAN NOT get the damn tube back into the oil pan. There's no visibility to find the hole, I can't feel for it because things are too cramped. I tried for probably hours.

It LOOKS like I could find the dipstick tube hole if I remove the A/C compressor. Problem is, I can't get the stupid belt tensioner to work. Seems like clockwise should release tension (lower the pulley) and counter-clockwise should tighten. But neither seem to do anything.

So:

Does anyone have pictures of the engine out of the car that show the dipstick location?And any ideas on the tensioner? I want to try and fix this tomorrow, but at this point I'm at a dead end.

Anyway, I've been dead tired for several hours. I'm going to sleep. Any help would be extremely appreciated.

[qship96]

Did you loosen the pully center bolt before trying to adjust the belt tension?

[MinisterofDOOM]

Nope. I did not think to do that. Thanks!

[3Q Jay]

also, the thread pitch is backward on the A/C and alt pulleys. It is still 'righty-tighty' for tensioning the belt---but the tensioner will move toward you ratchet as you rotate the bolt CCW to loosen.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Well...I ended up getting the dipstick back in without having to go through the hassle of removing the A/C compressor. I bought one of those telescoping mirrors, and was eventually able to re-seat the tube. Now I just need to find a bolt that fits the hole for the dipstick retainer dealie so this doesn't happen again.