popped the hood today and found the dipstick on my ca had come out of its little hole a bit and oil was everywere. should i be worried or does this happen. i just never seen it before. thought id ask, it no big deal but better to be safe than sorry. cheers

I would definately keep an eye on it. It's a tell tale sign of excessive blow by, most likely under boost.

Yeah well thought out revhead, I didn't (and probably wouldn't have) think of that.

is there anything i can do to prevent possibly a tune?

Uhh from my understanding the pressurized air is getting past the pistons via worn rings, check if there's white smoke(burnt oil) coming out the rear when she's boostin on.

Find out how old the engine is too maybe? That'll let you know if they're worn.

What sort of boost is going?

Put the stick back in and give her a run around, keep checking when the stick is pushed out. Then you know it was'nt human error.

Other things can contribute to a dipstick pop. It could be a blocked breather or pcv.

Jake where are you in this one?

yu could do the dodgey mod and use a spring to hold it in place so it doesnt pop out... i know of a hot l series with this mod on here... old school solotuin for the problem

Ahh revhead another gem. He's running a CA18 so I dont know where or how the breather setup is. Are blocked breathers pretty rare?

The reality is that this is like phone diagnosis. As a mechanic I have had all sorts of questions over the phone about whats wrong with my car it does this and you give a few hints as to what it may be and it trns out to be something else because without the car and symptons in front of you it is a guessing game.

Blocked breathers and pcv are not common but an incorrectly installed one is. The most common thing I have seen is oil catch cans being fitted off the breather and not being re routed to filtered air. Just blocked. Which results in a pressure imbalance in the crank case and the weakest link usually pops first. Either a rear main or timing case seal. Or a dipstick popout.

Or it could be a weak rubber grommet on the dipstick.

Or the dipstick may have not been pushed all the way home last time it was installed.