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40K on my 2012. What should I do?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by nudriver, Jul 10, 2016.

  1. nudriver

    nudriver Member

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    So the "maintenance required" sign is coming on and it has only been 3k since I had my oil changed at a Valvoline oil change place. My questions are:
    1. Is the sign coming on because its a tune up time or because of the oil?
    2. If for tune up, how crucial is this?
    3. I am not going to go to a dealer so I don't have to overpay. Suggestions?
    4. How do I turn the sign off?

    Thanks so much for your help!
     
  2. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    The light comes on every 4500 miles as service is recommended every 5000 miles, at first it blinks a couple of times but as you get closer to 5000 miles it becomes solid. It does not indicate anything is wrong, just that it has been 5000 miles since it was last reset. (I would not return to Valvoline as they did not reset the light)

    http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om-s/OM47704U/pdf/OM47704U.pdf is your owners manual, the instructions on reseting the light are on page 403 of both the manual and the PDF
     
  3. matt b.

    matt b. Member

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  4. matt b.

    matt b. Member

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    If you turn off your vehicle and then with ur foot on the brake, hit miles per hour and your power button at the same time the car will come on and it will reset your maintenance light " hold both buttons down"
     
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  5. nudriver

    nudriver Member

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    Cool. Thanks!
     
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i would change the oil at 7k, then you'll be on the 5k program for the computer. you might want to rotate your tyres, and do the required inspections, especially the rear brakes. did you do the 2 air filters at 30k?
     
  7. nudriver

    nudriver Member

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    No. I have not changed the cabin filter. What was the other filter? Does the synthetic oil go for 10,000 miles?
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    engine air filter. both it and the cabin filter should be inspected and cleaned or replaced every 15k.

    yes, synthetic is good for very 10k. you should get maint. reminder every 5k for tyre rotations and overall inspection.
     
  9. FuelMiser

    FuelMiser Senior Member

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    The question of 10,000 miles on the oil is based on whether 0W-20 grade was used on the last change or not. This is in your Warranty and Service Guide. Look at the sections for for the 15,000 mile, 25,000 mile and so on scheduled services.
     
  10. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    In the US at this point, all 0W-20 is synthetic, but not all synthetic is 0W-20. I hear rumors that in other markets, not all 0W-20 is synthetic.
     
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  11. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    First off, pretty much all the maintenance is determined by miles OR months, whichever comes first, as outlined in the Maintenance Booklet.

    As mentioned above, the maintenance warning (in the US, we're not blessed with it's presence in Canada :)) is a dumb distance counter. So, you could just ignore the it, or turn it off every time it rears it's head (how to do this is explained in the Owner's Manual), and follow the Toyota proscribed maintenance, as and when indicated in the Maintenance Booklet.

    You might want to do a few extras, beyond what's in the Maintenance Booklet. A couple that come to mind:

    Brake fluid change, say every 3 years or 30,000 miles
    Transaxle fluid change, first change around 10,000 miles, then every 40,000~50,000 miles thereafter
    (the above distance and times rough suggestions)

    As far as I know, there is no such thing as a "tune up", it's a catchphrase that used to have some implications, but no more.

    How you get back on track having done an oil change at 37,000 miles (assuming miles governs) is your call. 3000 miles is not a trivial amount of miles, you could just do another, just get back on schedule, up to you.

    One thing, whenever the Toyota schedule says to change an air filter, I would do it yourself, and only inspect it, don't automatically change it at the proscribed interval. If it's really clogged change it, but it seems like a lot of superfluous changes take place, when there's lots of life left in the filter.
     
    #11 Mendel Leisk, Aug 9, 2016
    Last edited: Aug 9, 2016
  12. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    If you go out for an oil change, you really have no guarantees what you paid for is what you're getting in the car. Unless I'm doing the oil changes myself and I know exactly what has gone into my car, I would change the oil every 5000 miles. Going 10,000 miles on the wrong oil will slowly destroy your car's engine
     
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  13. Siward

    Siward Active Member

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    I change my oil myself every 5000 miles, but my maintenance light has never come on. I don't know why.

    The maintenance light is supposed to come on at fixed intervals when it was last reset.
     
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  14. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    Oil change every 10k with synthetic 0w-20
    Engine and cabin air filter replaced
    Trans drain and refill

    Call it a day.