Plastic from dipstick broke off and now stuck in dipstick tube

[old306man]

I now can't get the dipstick back into the the tube. The plastic is very brittle. I did manage to get half of it out but I can't see anymore of it, it must be deep in the tube around where it starts to bend? , not even a powerful torch will show anything up. Apart from that the car won't start, Fault codes P403 EGR circuit P510 closed throttle postion switch. Bump start down a hill didn't start it but it will fire for a sec with the starter. (the non start fault was the main problem I was trying to fix but now this dipstick problem has made things worse)
Is it possible to remove the tube from the block? Looks very low down.
Wondering should I scrap the car? 2001 lots of miles, seems expensive to fix around here not many garages in the middle of nowhere, wondering if to fly back home and buy a new car?

[old306man]

I now can't get the dipstick back into the the tube. The plastic is very brittle. I did manage to get half of it out but I can't see anymore of it, it must be deep in the tube around where it starts to bend? , not even a powerful torch will show anything up. Apart from that the car won't start, Fault codes P403 EGR circuit P510 closed throttle postion switch. Bump start down a hill didn't start it but it will fire for a sec with the starter. (the non start fault was the main problem I was trying to fix but now this dipstick problem has made things worse)
Is it possible to remove the tube from the block? Looks very low down.
Wondering should I scrap the car? 2001 lots of miles, seems expensive to fix around here not many garages in the middle of nowhere, wondering if to fly back home and buy a new car?

Update got the car into a garage, aside from this issue the main one is it doesn't start! Guy is telling me high pressure pump is knackered, they are what £500 >?? Maybe get recon one. Plus it will be at least 300 labour, worth fixing or not would you say? This is 19 years old now this 306

[Mighty306]

Very hard to advise TBH as there are so many factors to take in to account like general condition of the car &how attached you are to it. At this age they do need a fair bit of maintenance & if you aren't able to do a lot of it yourself then the economics do start to look a bit marginal. Not to mention the hassle of having to take it for repair regularly. If the repair bill on a car is £500 and it's only worth £500 it's tempting to say it should be scrapped. But if spending that £500 gives you another year of motoring then it isn't such a bad investment. The depreciation on a newer car could easily exceed that cost.

You face that risk of big maintenance bills with any older car and anything made in the last 10 years has a lot more electronics that can go wrong & are expensive to fix. It's all swings & roundabouts really. The key thing in my mind is whether the bodywork is still solid & if there are any other very major repairs pending.  One of mine is rusting out in multiple places & water leaks in all over the place so it isn't long for this world. It'll become a parts donor soon!

Also, if you're not savvy about cars then you really need a garage you can trust 100%. A trustworthy garage could look over the rest of the car for you & tell you if the HP pump is all your likely to need in the next 12 months (assuming the HP pump is the problem).  If you've also got a worn beam, wheel bearings that rumble, split CV boots, leaking shocks & any number of other things then are you really going to bother with the pump?  I'm a bit suspicious about them saying the HP pump is the problem when it's giving you an EGR & throttle position sensor codes. Trouble is I've got petrol models & diesels aren't my area of expertise.  Really need one of our derv guru's to chip in.  The HDi engines do apparently go on forever if they've been well-maintained though.

As for the dipstick tube, it probably does come out but whether it will come out intact is another matter, and it's likely a stack of other stuff will have to be moved to get at it. Most 306's have an oil level indicator gauge in the instrument cluster so you can do without the dipstick. I wouldn't have thought the broken bits would do any harm even if they dropped in to the sump.  Alternatively, it might be possible to remove the sump & push the stick back out from below, but am just speculating as have never had the sump off mine, let alone an HDi.

[old306man]

Hi thanks for the reponse. Yes the car has the oil level gauge so thats not so bad then I just block up the dipstick tube. I got the car back from the garage he claims the HP pump was damaged because it has no fuel in it! This is rubbish - the fuel gauge is saying half a tank and I only filled it up very recently and haven't driven it much over xmas hols. I think the guy either had no idea how to fix it or couldn't be bothered with it or didn't know what he was doing. I certainly don't trust this guy! I don't have anyone else to look at it, he is the only mechanic in the village I think! I also says it runs on easy start.
As I need a car & cannot be without one here or elsewhere I will have to buy a new one. I need a mechanic friend from England to come over to fix it later maybe if I can rope someone in Anyone interested PM me... It will have to sit there for now outside at my hol home. (Bodywork ok no rust)

[pug306driver]

where is the car based??

 When you turn the ign on, you can hear the fuel lift pump  in the tank for about 5 or so seconds then it turns off cos the engine has not been started?

How is the fuel filter under the bonnet, when was it changed last ??

attach drain tube, open the drain valve and catch what comes out.

Winter diesel or is is warm where you are??

With the fuel filter drain open and fuel able to be caught, turn on the ign and see how much fuel leaves the filter body via the drain,  whilst the pump is working.

Good battery as minimum engine revs needed for fuel pressure for starting......

It starts/runs on a bit of easy start?