The dipstick on my 2007 Mazda 3 1.6 CiTD (diesel) is made of a braided metal wire with a yellowish plastic cilinder at the bottom as indicator.

On this plastic cilinder there are 2 indentations, the 1st on about2 cm from the bottom and the next one about 2 cm from the top.logically you would think bottomone is for minimum level and topone for maximum level.

But according to my dealer (when I checked it one time after service) the oil needs to be filled to the top of the plastic cilinder instead of to the top line.

See pictures below...

Any suggestions welcome.
Robert

 

all I can say is good luck. the dip stick on the 07 sucks the big One.
I have overfilled my oil thinking it was a qt low.
now I just run it until I bring it in for a oil change. I hate it, hate it, hate it.
[align=left] [/align]

 

Your dipstick sounds different than mine (yellowish plastic?). I can't imagine why they would put a line on the dipstick that does not mean anything. I question your dealer's advice to ignore it. If you have not already done so, read your manual to see if it offers clarification.

My dipstick has a metal bob on the bottom, which has two lines, which according to mymanual are full and0.79 US quarts(0.75 liters)below full. Don't think of the lower line as a minimum ... your oil level is either full or it is not. I keep mine at the full line.

I have had mine overfilled by maintenance techs a couple times, I had them re-do it. Some of the numbskulls, instead of putting in the correct number of quarts, then checking it after 5 minutes, want to getthe filldone in30 seconds, and just keep filling until the oil shows up on the dipstick. They don't take into account that it takes a little bit of time (5 minutes) for the oil to completely settle down into the pan. They don't care, because it isn't their car. And some have told me that it does not matter if it is overfilled by 1/2 a quart. Okay, I don't care if YOUR car is overfilled by 1/2 a quart, but I DO care when its my car. I paid to have it done properly.

 

In my (international model) manual there is no mention of your type nor my type dipstick, just thetraditional flat metal ones.

 

consult the manual

 

 

Here's what I would do. Look up the crankcase capacity fora with-filter change... say its 4.0 liters. Dothe oil change yourself, put in exactly 4.0 liters, and see where the oil level ends up on your dipstick. That is your full line.

If you want to be veryprecise about it, you could also build in a 0.1 to 0.2 literamount for what I call the "non dry" factor. When Mazdalists the crankcase capacity, they are listing what it takes to fill a completely dry engine. Fact is, unless you let the crankcase drain for an hour or more, it does not get 100% completely drywhen you do a change. There's a bit of old oil that is still in there. So, in the above scenario, you would put in 3.8 to 3.9 liters (4.0 less the 0.1 to 0.2 factor), and see where your oil level ends up.