[luke_fairs]

i recently changed my oil and oil filter and have driven 1,600 miles since and now im having a message come up saying change engine oil, why would this be?

 

[capricewiz]

because you didnt reset the oil light.

 

[luke_fairs]

but the oil light wasnt on when i changed the oil, do u have to reset it even if it isnt on?

 

[capricewiz]

yeah otherwise it thinks the oil change wasn't done, all that light is, is a countdown

 

[luke_fairs]

ok thats what i thought, thanks

 

[minofmusic]

Change Oil Light

how do you reset the change oil light?

 

[wedebrook]

do you have your owner's manual? it will tell you how to do it through the radio.

 

[capricewiz]

most of the time its through the radio. turn the radio off, and then hold tune until you get a settings message. Then using the seek button scroll through the menu. You should see an OIL LIFE message. Then hit the button next to seek, it should say reset, and you hit tune. It'll then say DONE.

 

[kingnutin]

You can also do it with the gas pedal, turn on the ignition without starting the car and pump the pedal 5 times quickly, it should reset.

 

[Dwayne J]

Just to elaborate on how it works a bit more than capricewiz did.
It in no way monitors oil condition.
It considers operating temps, cold starts and use.
I have not seen any solid explaination but some have guessed that it looks at cold starts and counts crankshaft revolutions. Stop and go has the crank turning a LOT for the number of miles driven, driving with your foor to the floor has the crank turning a lot too so it seems to be a sound theory but that is all it is far as I know.

I was confused by exactly this a few months after I bought my sedan, it was the first car I ever owned with a change oil light.