Hi all, have just been replacing some bulbs in the car and thought I'd check the oil while I was at it. Pulled the dipstick up with a little twist as normal and it came away too easily. Had a look down inside and saw that the yellow plastic collar for the dipstick to locate into had sheared off. Half of it was attached to the 'male' part of the yellow collar attached to the dipstick itself.

So now the dipstick is just sitting on top of the tube coming from the sump - question is: is this going to be a problem and am I going to lose a lot of oil or cause other problems as well because there is a 'hole' in my engine? Sorry, I'm no mechanic. I'm slightly concerned as I have a 500 mile round trip to do starting tomorrow!

The other question is: can this be replaced and does it need to be (depending on the first question I suppose). It looks to be in quite an awkward spot to change it which feels as it will ring the usual 'labour' alarms when speaking to the garage. Is there anything I can do if need be to 'seal' the dipstick while still allowing it to be used - your thoughts appreciated.