Awhile back, I was searching for a dipstick tube and stick for my 5.9L build. I never did find the proper one, and lived with the short 3.9 stick in there just to plug the hole. While I was on travel, my wife took it to a shop because the electric fan I mounted was rattling and I told her to take it to a mechanic I trust. Welp, without my knowledge, they for some reason checked the oil, and of course the shorty 3.9 stick doesn't register. They proceeded to add 7 QUARTS!!!! I don't know WTF they were thinking, considering if it were bone dry, a 5.9L only takes 5.5 quarts with a new filter. Fortunately she only drove it home (3 miles) and parked it. So, now I have to drain all the oil out, and I figure I should fix this stupid dipstick once and for all.

My problem is my 5.9L crate 380 hp engine originally came with a center sump. So that dipstick won't work, nor sure if the tube will work. I put a 2000 Durango rear sump pan on the engine to clear the cross member. But I'm not sure if a 2000 Durango stick/tube will work since I believe those tubes went outside the alternator bracket on a serpentine magnum setup. Mine, as you may not recall, is a V-belt with the alternator on the passenger side, so the tube needs to go inside the alternator, similar to this picture of the crate engine: https://autoplicity.com/1259613-mopa...e-engine380-hp

So, can someone please give me some clear directions. Does the stick need to reach the rear sump to be accurate? If so, how do you achieve that angle using the press fit hole in the front of the block by the timing cover? Was any damage done driving the truck 3 miles with God knows how much oil in it? I don't want to jam any old stick in there to be caught in the crank and snapped off. Pretty sure the pan I used does not have a tube guide in it. Should I just try a 98-2003 Durango stick and make the tube fit? Did those blocks have the exact same entry hole position for the dipstick (in otherwords, were all tube entries the same in 5.9L Magnum blocks?).

TIA

 

Here's a link to the OEM pan showing the internal guide for the dipstick to the rear sump. I'm betting the one I ordered from Rock Auto which is Dorman or Spectra doesn't have that channel.
https://www.factorychryslerparts.com...3020914AB.html

 

Found this, which has the guide.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Oil-Pan-for...del%3ARam+1500

 

So it looks like the 2000 Durango Pan I used doesn't have the guide, but the similar 2001 Ram Pan does have it. Go figure. So, new pan, gaskets, tube and stick on the way.

 

Rock auto shows the dipstick tube for the 2000 Durango 5.9 is the same as the 98 Dakota 5.9. Dorman 917316 https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=7667040&cc=1314443&jsn=609 It's 16.5" long.
EDIT- I would assume that if all Durango's had rear sump oil pans it would work. Otherwise???

 

Yeah, that's the one I ordered now, but the OEM version. Problem is, without the guide in the pan, the dipstick won't snake it's way easily back to the rear sump. For whatever reason, the 2000 Durango pan by Dorman doesn't have the guide, but the 2001 Ram Pan by Dorman and Spectra do have the guide.

tube: Pan with guide:

 

I just looked at the 2000 and 2001 oil pans on RA and they are the same. I'm thinking you are going to be OK.