B&M Transmission Dipstick Locking Braided With Automatic Transmission F-150 2010-2022/ Raptor 2010-2014/ 2017-2022

Today on CJ Off-Road, we're going to make our F150 a little more convenient and give it a nice touch under the hood with some help from B&M. For some reason, the F150 doesn't come with a traditional style dipstick in the engine compartment, so today, we're going to make our life a little bit easier with this F150 by installing this B&M transmission dipstick. This dipstick is designed to easily replace the tiny dipstick found in the automatic transmissions in your 2010 to '18 F150 and Raptor. It features a nice, stainless steel braided tube with high quality fittings as well as a dipstick so you can easily check your level. It's going to mount in the engine compartment to make life a little easier, so let's get to the installation.

Tools you'll need for this installation, a 1/4 inch ratchet, 8 millimeter socket, 19 millimeter wrench, 22 millimeter wrench, a Phillips screwdriver, and a saw blade. Okay the first thing we're going to install this dipstick is drill off this skid plate right here, and then, we're going to get the truck up to operating temperature. There's four 8 millimeter bolts that hold this plate on.

Okay. We've got our skid plate off. Now, we're going to get the truck up to operating temperature. We're going to turn it on, run it through the gears a little bit, get it up to temperature, and then, we're going to check the fluid level on the factory dipstick to make sure our level is perfect. Now, with the truck still running in park, grab a 19 millimeter wrench and remove the original dipstick. Be very careful not to burn yourself on the exhaust. The exhaust is right there. Wipe off all the fluid from the dipstick. Reinsert it. Now, we have an accurate reading of our level, which is right there. That level seems to be perfect.

Remove the O-ring from the original plug and transfer the O-ring to your B&M adapter. Try not to roll the O-ring. Get it on so it can seat in the groove, just like that. Install it into the transmission, and it's a good thing to note we're doing this with the truck running, because if you turn the truck off, fluid will overflow out of the transmission. So we're just doing this to make it less of a mess. Use a 22 millimeter wrench to tighten it up. You don't need to make it too tight. Just get it snug.

Then, take your B&M transmission dipstick tube and feed it up behind the engine and between the firewall, and thread it onto the adapter. Now, to tighten this up, get it hand tight, and then just do a quarter of a turn with a wrench. To get it snug, you do not need to over-tighten these AN fittings. Okay. We have the dipstick tube ran up here right on the back side of the engine. This looks like a good location to mount it, right here on the firewall. We're going to thread our adapter fitting into the tube and then tighten it with a 22 millimeter wrench.

Now, we're thinking we're going to put it right here with the self-tapping screws. Now, before we install it here, we're going to make sure the dipstick can go in all the way into the transmission without binding up. So we're going to attempt to do a test run here, make sure the dipstick can go all the way in without any issues, and it can. Make sure it can thread in, and this location is looking pretty promising.

We're going to leave the dipstick in there just so debris gets into the tube and into the transmission. To make it easier to install this, we're going to cut away some of the insulating material. Now, install the fitting with the two provided self-tapping screws. Now that we have the dip stick secure, we're going to get the truck back up to operating temperature and re-check our level.

Since we know our fluid level was okay with the factory dipstick, now, we're going to mark on the B&M stick the proper fluid level. Okay. So we've made a mark on our B&M dipstick with a Sawzall blade. This tells us our level is good, since we know it was good before. And now, we can reinstall it, and this will make filling up your transmission in the future a lot easier. Reinstall your skid plate, and your installation's finished.

Okay. We've got our B&M transmission dipstick installed. It's simply going to make checking the fluid in this truck a whole lot easier, and it's going to make it easier to add fluid, as well. It goes great with the B&M transmission pan that we already had, and the install ... you know, it's really not that bad. It should probably only take you about 30 minutes, and before you know it, you'll be heading off-road.