Had my first oil change yesterday at the local Toyota dealer shop. I checked the oil level before & after the oil change but both times I barely see the oil mark on the dipstick? I did follow the normal step to warm up the car, turn off & wait about 5 minutes to check the level.I suppose the dealer knows the LS needs 9 quart....

Let say if the oil level is low, is the LS has the function of "Engine Oil level" light on automatically so we know the oil level is low?

In other words, no need to do something about the setting to have the light on?

 

If the light comes on it's likely already too late and lack of oil is causing internal damage.

Double and triple check that you can't see oil on the dipstick, then add little-by-little if needed to get it in the middle of the marks on the dipstick. Make note of how much you added and if it's more than a quart I'd follow up with the dealer and then never take your car back there.

 

I wasn't aware that the 460 have a low oil warning light.

 

Yep not to be confused with the oil pressure warning light.

 

If the light comes on it's likely already too late and lack of oil is causing internal damage.
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? so the assumption is that Lexus could have, but did not, set the oil level warning light to come on just when the level needed some more but past that point of just ok and into the area of causing engine damage?

wow, that is pretty damn intentionally malicious of the Lexus factory and engineers

 

Shrewd observation lol.

 

It's set that way in most vehicles because it's not supposed to tell you the level of oil you have, it's supposed to watch oil pressure. The light comes on when pressures drop below a certain point. A clogged pump inlet or broken oil pump will set off the same light even if you have the correct amount of oil in the engine.

Now, this will happen when oil levels are low, but that's not the purpose of the light. The light being there is no excuse for not checking your oil levels manually at periodic intervals, it's there as a warning.

 

Uhhhh No. Don't be ridiculous. There are so many reasons that is false, but we'll start with the fact that we have over 9 qts of oil in our sump. When that "check oil level" light comes on, you still have approximately 7-8 qts left in the sump. Again, we're talking about the oil light that comes on advising to add oil and not the "oil pressure" light. There are other things I'd like to add, but we'll save it for later.

 

roadfrog..... Is there an "add oil" light or are you talking about the oil maintenance light? Oil maintenance light will come on at a predetermined distance from the previous reset and has nothing to do with how much oil the engine has.

In fact, I'm not aware of any vehicle that comes with digital oil level sensors outside of Audi and Porsche.....

If our vehicles have this I'd love to know more about it

 

He's talking about the light that comes on that says "LOW OIL" I've had this light come on and it usually means that you need to add about 2 quarts.

 

Does anyone have a picture of this light on our guage cluster? Can't find one for ours but brief searches seem to show LS' having oil level sensors back to the 400.

If this is the case, and this light is what the OP was asking about (not the oil pressure light), then I stand corrected on my original statement here. But, it still stands when referencing the oil pressure light as I was doing originally. If that light comes on, turn the car off immediately and have your engine internals scoped because damage may have already occurred.

 

Its not a light its a message on the dash display that says something like Low Oil Level - Add Engine Oil. I've seen it a few times, immediately topped off the oil with 1-3 qts, and it goes off. Those were the days before I learned I need to check/top up the oil regularly on my 460. Haven't seen it come on in ages and yes she is running great with excellent MPG.

 

TIL, thanks

 

Thank you so much for all the replies, and sorry for the late response/update !
Yesterday I checked 2, 3 times the oil level again as suggested. I saw/confirm the oil level is good. Previously I can't see probably because:

-car is outside with sunlight reflection, yesterday I parked the car inside the garage,
-0W-20 oil is really much thinner than 5W-20 and the color is very light,
-after the oil change the oil is very clear, or I should say very clean so it is not noticeable. My other old cars' oil is easy to see even after oil change since it's color is light black

 

My 16 years old BMW 525i has the motor oil low level warning message displayed on the dash board. Oil is leaking around the gasket of the engine.