On the way to work, I noticed that Victoria's "Service Engine Soon" light was on. I went grocery shopping last night and it wasn't on then, so this was a surprise.
I'd been meaning to get an oil change for a while - I was almost 1000 miles overdue if you use the 3000 mark as the "drop dead" point (I went 5000 or 6000 miles between changes when I worked 55 highway miles away, but now that I have a 1.5-mile round trip, none of it over 30 MPH, 3000 miles between changes it is). I
The dipstick was DRY. Apparently, with my fixation on the 3000 mark, I forgot about the 3-month mark. Y'know, 3 months or 3000 miles, whichever comes first? Well, now that I have a miniscule commute, the 4000 miles I'd driven since my last oil change took 6 MONTHS to do. That's right, kids - I hadn't had an oil change since the end of July.
I had them do an oil system cleaner - they drain the oil, dump the cleaner in and have you run your car for a few minutes. When I started the car, the light was gone!! :D They finished the oil change, I went back to work and the car drove SO. MUCH. BETTER. My poor Victoria was just thirsty.
Thank heaven for small (relatively cheap) fixes.
Posted by beenie at February 7, 2005 04:46 PM