The Toyota 4Runner is a prestigious car indeed. It belongs to the beastly 4×4 family so it is no surprise to find that it will occasionally need some maintenance. But once that maintenance is completed how do you reset the maintenance light on a Toyota 4Runner?
Let us check out ways we can do this and make our Toyota the happy running vehicle it once was.
Typically the oil maintenance light will only alert you if the car sensors detect a low reading of oil. Oil is the lubricant that keeps your engine in good health. Ensuring that your Toyota has sufficient oil will ensure that the engine will be in tip-top condition and won’t overheat due to the moving parts.
The Toyota 4Runner has an indicator that will alert you every 4500-5000 miles since the last reset. So when it calls out, you need to act to ensure the exquisite Japanese off-roader is always in good running order.
This is the easy part! If the oil maintenance light comes on then don’t panic. It is, however, essential that you pull over as soon as you can because driving when there is little or no oil in your car can cause catastrophic damage to the engine and leave you with a huge bill.
Under the hood, locate the dipstick of your Toyota 4Runner and follow these simple steps:
If there is low oil you will notice the oil level will be under the minimum ridge hence the reason the light has come on.
If this happens then ensure you have the correct oil for your Toyota 4Runner – the recommended specification is fully synthetic oil, SAE 0W-20. Full synthetic oil is thicker and will last longer, so is perfect for the bigger engine.
Locate the oil filler cap and use a funnel to pour in the oil. Wait a few moments to give the oil a chance to settle in the tank and repeat the check steps as above. You should notice that the level indicator has risen, depending on what the dipstick is showing you can add more in if you need.
You should add a little bit at a time to ensure that you do not overfill your oil and cause any damage to your engine.
Once you add the oil the maintenance light should go off automatically, however, this is not always the case. It is important that you rectify this as this light will come back on once it feels the engine has reached another 4500-5000 miles.
If you have driven it with the light on then it will not be taking these extra miles into account.
The light may blink a few times but if you start the engine then it should go off meaning that you have successfully added oil and reset the maintenance light of your Toyota 4Runner.
Toyotas have combustion engines and a part of their programming is to give the user an indicator for when the engine is due to an oil change. This usually happens every 4500-5000 miles, you should look at booking your Toyota in for a service within the next few weeks and avoid any long haul journeys.
Once the maintenance light has illuminated you usually have around 2 weeks/500 miles before the flashing indicator can cause you any problems. Once the light becomes solid, things can become damaged within the engine very quickly. It is best that once the light starts to flash you book a slot with your local garage to ensure they can fit you in time.
Not servicing your car can cause you many problems further down the line. Servicing your car means you are looking after the key elements to help your vehicle last and perform at its best!
In a nutshell, no. It is not a legal requirement for you to service your car. Unlike the MOT which is law-abiding, the services are completely down to user discretion. It is however highly recommended.
Ultimately being the owner of a vehicle it is our responsibility to ensure the health and safety of our cars. In this day and age, we rely on our mechanical machines maybe a little too much, so when they have an issue it can ruin our plans and finances in some cases to the extreme!
This is why it is important to ensure that the maintenance light is not ignored! The Toyota 4Runner is one of the elite 4×4 off-road cars that can battle rough terrain so it is important to ensure that the engine is up to spec!
Toyota recommends that your car should be taken for a regular service with a qualified garage or dealership. During these services, they will check everything from the installation of doormats to wiper blades and tire pressure and tread.
It is during these services that they will also check your oil filter and levels ensuring that the maintenance lights are working appropriately. You should aim to get your Toyota 4Runner serviced every 6 months or for every 5000 miles, whichever comes first!
Doing this will increase the life span of your car and its engine and it will also be more dependable and economically sound for years to come!
