What is your question?
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What is your question?
I was taking the car on a road trip so I got the oil changed even though the light hadn't come on yet. After the road trip the light did come on, making me wonder what causes the car to indicate that it needs an oil change? In other words, is it because it can't tell the oil was recently changed and it just goes on because a certain mileage threshold was reached, or because it actually sensed that the oil was dirty?
2 Replies
Hello, The maintenance light on the 04 Camry is just a mileage counter. The technician should have reset the maintenance light anyways, but since they saw it hadn't activated, they either cut a corner, or they didn't know how to reset it. When you get home, have them reset it, but you will HAVE to monitor your mileage to know when to change your engine oil.
Based on predetermined mileage intervals .. {You are right > Car don't know oil has been changed} .. Service reminder must be reset each time oil is changed - then the mileage countdown starts over again... Reset proceedure is shown in the owners manual and is quite simple to do... Note: You don't have to wait for the light to come on to get the oil changed, just remember to reset the reminder ASAP after each oil change... A few miles over or under, here or there, isn't going to hurt a thing! .. Reset it now for next service reminder.