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Urgency and oil maintenance indicator?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by jafca09, Nov 28, 2011.

  1. jafca09

    jafca09 Junior Member

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    My "Oil Maintenance Required Soon" indicator had been on for about 4-5 months, which I largely ignored because I know it comes on 6 months earlier than it needs to. Today, it dropped the "Soon." I'm at just about 14,500 miles and have had the car for 25 months. How urgently do I need to get it serviced?
     
  2. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    IIRC, the "Oil Maintenance Required Soon" indicator just means that 5,000 miles have elapsed since the last time it was reset. There's a sticky post in here somewhere that tells you how to reset it yourself.
    If you've gone 14,500 miles without having your oil changed, then I suspect that it "urgently" needs to be attended to.
    Normally, G3's in the US are on a 10,000 mile oil change interval. Check your records (or your memory) and decide for yourself.

    Good Luck!


    EDIT: Here's the procedure:


    [​IMG] HOWTO: Resetting the Oil Maintenance Required indicator
    How do you reset the oil change indicator scale?

    First - you need to hit the trip indicator button until you have "trip A" indicated in the display (I use this at re-fueling times)

    Next - you will need to push the park button then the power off button - yes you will need to fully turn off the car.

    Next - locate the MPH/Kilometers button on the dashboard. Press and hold down and then restart the car by pushing the power on button (hold both buttons down at the same time - when the scale is re-set, let go of both buttons)

    Verify by looking at the scale indicator [​IMG]

    Good luck.

    Mr. Bill
     
  3. jafca09

    jafca09 Junior Member

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    Thanks. I should have noted that it has been about a year/7500 miles since I have had the oil changed, which is why I ignored the warning until the "soon" was dropped. That's what made me nervous.

    How can I verify with the scale indicator? I'm only talking about waiting a matter of a few days while I shop around for the best price -- just want to make sure that isn't too long.
     
  4. dustoff003

    dustoff003 Blizzard Brigade #003

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    It looks my replies got erased or did not make the move when the thread was moved to the correct forum.
     
  5. jafca09

    jafca09 Junior Member

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    Thank you for the help thus far! Any idea on how urgently (or how to verify how urgently) I now need to get oil maintenance now that the indicator just reads "Oil Maintenance Required"?
     
  6. wick1ert

    wick1ert Senior Member

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    I thought the Gen 3 had "soon" like 100 miles prior to the 5k miles since last reset, then dropped "soon" once you hit that 5k mark. If you've only gone 7500 miles since the last oil change, you should be fine until you hit 10k.

    You can also reset the reminder between cycles, too. So if you chose to do your oil change at 12k miles (for whatever reason), you could reset it right when you do the oil change, too.
     
  7. jafca09

    jafca09 Junior Member

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    Yes, the manual said something along those lines. Is there a way for a layperson to check whether the oil is in need of more immediate attention? You can tell I don't know much about autos.
     
  8. Gurple42

    Gurple42 New Member

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    Pull out the dipstick, if the oil is at the full level and looks clear, you are fine. Sounds like you should change your oil per time passed rather than mileage, see your owners manual. Normal oil change interval for a gen III Prius is every 10k miles.
     
  9. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    Did you buy the car before the Toyota Care program? That program provides scheduled maintenance for 2 years, 25000 miles.

    At this point I don't believe a couple more days will make much difference but if Toyota is paying for it then take it to a dealer.
     
  10. jafca09

    jafca09 Junior Member

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    Unfortunately, I didn't know about this until now, and my car is 1 month out of Toyota Care!
     
  11. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    The Toyota Care program did not include the 2010 Prius unless it was at the very end of 2010 and probably with the 2011 MY.
     
  12. Mr. Bill

    Mr. Bill Generation III

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    Read my How to reset the indicator for directions (header section)

    Br. Bill
     
  13. vinnie97

    vinnie97 Whatever Works

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    It was included at least as early as March 2010 (and quite probably a few months earlier). Of course, I'm aware the 2010s first surfaced in mid-2009. :)
     
  14. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    From the dates you are giving the Toyota Care must have started right after the February 2010 media frenzy over the Toyota Unintended Accleration and Prius brake delay fiasco. The one that helped GM get back on their feet.

    I know for those of us that purchased in 2009 we did not get this service and felt kind of left out.