This is invaluable information! Thanks to
@HavATampa for providing it and to the mods as well for recognizing its importance and sticky-ing it. I am a new owner of a 2002 Dodge Dakota SLT Club Cab 4x4 with the 4.7L V8 and 104,000 miles in the midst of performing a major tuneup, and caught this thread just in time. I haven't yet performed my first oil change, but am preparing to perform several back-to-back as part of a
DIY attempt to desludge my engine.
I had read that oil capacity of my 4.7L V8 was six quarts per the factory service manual, but I usually always set final oil fill level per the dipstick as I know I'm not always draining 100% of the existing oil. I just checked my dipstick, and found that it is indeed the incorrect P/N 53021003. This thread saved me from running 1-1.5 quarts low during my planned DIY engine flush as well as my subsequent final oil change.
I did some digging around online to try to figure out why two different dipsticks are available and confirm which fits my truck, but didn't manage to come up with any consistent rhyme or reason:
- Mopar Parts Giant carries both the (incorrect) 53021003 and (correct) 53021719AD dipsticks. The listing for the 53021003 dipstick contains a description of "2WD", but the part fitment section indicates compatibility with 4WD vehicles, so that's contradictory. The listing for the 53021719AD dipstick describes it as "4WD", but no part fitment section is available.
- Rock Auto's catalog shows only the (correct) 53021719AD dipstick as being available and a fit for my '02 Dakota SLT with the 4.7L V8. The part description references 4WD, but there is no 2WD alternative listed. Their catalog doesn't appear to indicate any difference in oil pan part numbers available for 2WD or 4WD vehicles, so that would seem to shoot that down as being the reason for the two dipsticks. Last but not least, their catalog does not list the shorter 53021003 dipstick as being used for any of the 2.5L, 3.9L, or 5.9L engines.
- Mopar Discounted Parts states that both the (incorrect) 53021003 and (correct) 53021719AD dipsticks fit 2WD and 4WD vehicles; the only difference is that 53021003 is listed as discontinued, whereas 53021719AD dipstick is still available.
- Mopar Repair Connection lists both dipsticks as being compatible for my truck.
All of this simply leads to more questions than answers. What was the (incorrect) 53021003 dipstick intended for? Was it simply mis-manufactured? Did it belong in a different Dodge engine with an oil capacity of only five quarts, instead of the six required by the 4.7L V8 SOHC??
It sounds like
plenty of other 4.7L V8 owners have the mislabeled 53021003 dipstick, while
others do not. Here on the forums,
@Montana Dodge authored
an informative thread detailing how he first discovered this issue. Later, he reported how
all three of the 4.7L V8's he had owned came with the wrong dipstick. His testing indicates that the mislabeled 53021003 will usually show
even with the "N" in "Do Not Overfill" after adding exactly six quarts of oil after an oil and filter change.
The very real potential for vehicles to run a quart or so low on engine oil throughout their lifetime due to a mislabeled dipstick seems serious. It sounds as if
many dealerships are aware of the potential problem and are accustomed to adding oil to a point above the "Full" line on the dipstick. Yet I searched high and low for any Recall or Technical Service Bulletin information on this, and came up completely empty. Why has this never been addressed by Dodge?
