Kaius88

I am about 40 miles shy of hitting the big 10,000 miles. The red exclaimation mark just came on, and the prompt says Oil Maint Req. This light is now on, and no way to ignore it. My question is: how many miles can I drive with this prompt on without damaging my car? I mean, I dont have time to go to service until the weekend, and I got at least 60 miles more of driving this week.

For some reason, when the light came on, the car shifted. I feel the car drives a bit differently since the light came on. Does the car go into protective mode in case you dont get the oil change? I really dont want to mess up my car. Any idea?

sarge43

Should be a reminder light only that would stay on until you reset it. The car should not drive differently and may be something imagined since the light is staring you in the face. You can probably change the oil/filter and not reset the light without any consequences (other than having to stare at it all the time). It's just a friendly reminder that the car needs to be serviced soon.

mkorsu

I ask why your car hasn't had an oil change already??

I know manufacturers push the new 10k ideal, but come on. Isn't a $40 expense better than risking damage in the long run?

5k oil changes at a maximum.

ESsearch

I agree with sarge43, it is just a reminder light. Any perceived difference is imagined. You can drive as long as you like and it won't harm anything. Get the service done at your convenience. Mine came on at 4,500 miles for the 5,000 mile check up. If you had your 5,000 mile service done early, they may have reset the warning prior to you seeing it the first time. I had assumed it would do the same when I get close to 10,000 miles.

Pete

weinrdog

There's a difference between the reminder light/warning at startup (Starts about 500 miles before oil change) and the 'Oil Maint Reqd' warning (Starts at oil change mileage/date) that takes over the trip computer/mfd. (I did 5K at 4700 because of upcoming long trip and 10K at 10050 because of another long trip). I both the lights pretty annoying, but the 'Oil Main Reqd' is bad as it seems to be displayed until you get the car serviced. Anyone know of a way to reset the light without going to a service?

Pheonix

If it's under warranty, follow the OEM schedule, and keep all reciets of maintenance & work done.
Out of warranty, flush it, run an oil anylisys & see how long it actually lasts.

Kaius88

The Lexus tech stated that you need to go get the oil change within 100 miles after the oil maint req. prompt comes on. Thats what scared me....I mean I am gonna be at least 150 miles over by the time weekend hits. Intuitively, I figured it's just a warning reminder. But my imagination got the best of me i guess. The car suddenly sounds louder, the power is reduced, and handling is rougher around the time when the red light began. Hahaha... I mean, if the car cant handle 150 miles past its scheduled maintenance, it'd be worse than my 1982 Mazda GLC, which often miss entire oil change cycles but kept running.

sarge43

See the owner's manual P. 287. The process involves the trip odometer button and the ignition switch.

toneman

Ummm, I don't think he was saying/implying that his car hadn't yet had an oil change since day one; I think at 10K it's probably his second oil change, assuming 5K intervals.

Slightly off-topic--according to the GM oil life monitoring system in my Denali, I could go roughly 8K miles (or no more than 1 year max) between oil changes...and indeed, the general consensus is that the GM oil life monitoring system is pretty accurate. But I must admit that I still change my oil every 5K miles...if anything, because it's easy for me to remember when to change it.

1seeker1

[QUOTE=toneman;2599692Slightly off-topic--according to the GM oil life monitoring system in my Denali, I could go roughly 8K miles (or no more than 1 year max) between oil changes...and indeed, the general consensus is that the GM oil life monitoring system is pretty accurate. But I must admit that I still change my oil every 5K miles...if anything, because it's easy for me to remember when to change it.[/QUOTE]

Also off topic, Toneman (or anyone else), is there a good forum for Yukon/Tahoe issues?

dreyfus

That tech is trying to scare you into dropping your car off at the dealer. There will be absolutely no damage done to your engine if you change your oil every 6,000 miles instead of every 5,000. You should follow the recommended maintenance intervals, but don't stress if you're not exactly on the 5K schedule. Anything within hundreds of miles is certainly close enough.

twister

Kaius, I did remember you talked before about your 5k oil change, right? I think some people misunderstood you as this being your very first oil change. As it was mentioned above, stop stressing out about it. My oil service warning came up at 4,850 and I have 5,080 already. I setup an appointment for 2 weeks from now, and this should not be a problem.

Take it easy, the car will be OK!!! Cause with this kind of stress you will start imagining tranny flares next

Kaius88

Hey bizarro bro...good to hear from ya. So what is the reason behind the oil change every 5k miles instead of every 3k miles? Is it because the engines are better now or the oil? Thank goodness it's every 5k miles because this 10,000 miles maintenance costed me a good $180!

static

Just before leaving NH for FL, had the oil changed by our regular mechanic, first time anything was done to our car by anyone other than the Lexus service.

They didn't reset the oil change system and about halfway down the east coast the Oil Maint Reqd light came on. Pretty annoying.

I tried resetting it per the instructions in the manual, but it wouldn't reset, tried several times.

Then I shut the windows and moonroof, tried again, worked first time.

Doesn't say it in the manual, but the windows must be closed for the reset to work.

Socal2

I have tried to reset the oil maintenance light by holding the odometer button down before push start the ignition button, and continue holding it for at least 5 seconds; but the light still came on in the next start. All the windows and doors were closed.

Any suggestions?