RedFred
Ram Guru
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2022
- Messages
- 600
- Reaction score
- 548
- Points
- 93
The Problem:
I usually change my own oil, but recently broke my arm so I took it to a local shop and had the oil changed. Once the truck was ready, I get in and the dash is saying add 2 quarts of oil, oil low. Basically the oil gauge wasn't showing any oil. The service guy swears he put the necessary 7+ quarts in it, but there is no dipstick to check and reassure me what the current correct oil level is. I then go through the whole process of running the car for 10 minutes and shutting it off for 5 minutes and restarting and it still showing and saying low oil. Service guy then has to dump all the oil to show me how much is in there and put it back. Wasted so much time and effort, and caused so much concern that my motor was running with no oil in it. I never had this problem before doing my own oil changes, so I wasn't exactly sure what was going on.
The Solution and What I Believe Caused the issue:
I left the shop with the oil level low warning still on and the oil life showing 100% because shop had reset oil life while changing the oil. Went to a gas station to fill up and turned the truck off and I tried to reset the oil life again even though it was already showing 100%. This fixed the issue for me and reset and erased the low oil level warning on my truck. What I think happened is the service guy reset the oil life while the truck was getting drained which triggered this whole scenario. When you reset oil life monitor, it wants the motor off. I'm not sure if it wants the motor off to do a quick oil level check, but that seems like what happened and caused this.
Lesson learned:
A stupid dipstick would have been super useful today to double check something as important as oil level when there is some concern over the dash computer reading. Also, reset the oil life monitor while the truck is filled with oil or you may have the same issue. Just wanted to vent and share in case this helps anyone. Sometimes too much technology makes life more complicated for no real reason or gains.
I usually change my own oil, but recently broke my arm so I took it to a local shop and had the oil changed. Once the truck was ready, I get in and the dash is saying add 2 quarts of oil, oil low. Basically the oil gauge wasn't showing any oil. The service guy swears he put the necessary 7+ quarts in it, but there is no dipstick to check and reassure me what the current correct oil level is. I then go through the whole process of running the car for 10 minutes and shutting it off for 5 minutes and restarting and it still showing and saying low oil. Service guy then has to dump all the oil to show me how much is in there and put it back. Wasted so much time and effort, and caused so much concern that my motor was running with no oil in it. I never had this problem before doing my own oil changes, so I wasn't exactly sure what was going on.
The Solution and What I Believe Caused the issue:
I left the shop with the oil level low warning still on and the oil life showing 100% because shop had reset oil life while changing the oil. Went to a gas station to fill up and turned the truck off and I tried to reset the oil life again even though it was already showing 100%. This fixed the issue for me and reset and erased the low oil level warning on my truck. What I think happened is the service guy reset the oil life while the truck was getting drained which triggered this whole scenario. When you reset oil life monitor, it wants the motor off. I'm not sure if it wants the motor off to do a quick oil level check, but that seems like what happened and caused this.
Lesson learned:
A stupid dipstick would have been super useful today to double check something as important as oil level when there is some concern over the dash computer reading. Also, reset the oil life monitor while the truck is filled with oil or you may have the same issue. Just wanted to vent and share in case this helps anyone. Sometimes too much technology makes life more complicated for no real reason or gains.
