My wife recently purchased a 2000 Lexus Rx 300. The auto had at approximately 56K miles. Today the mileage is roughly 57K. At the time of purchase we observed the Malfunction Indicator lamp was lit. We were told by the 'infiniti' dealer that the auto was just serviced and the lamp needs to be reset ( likely story ). Long story short, I bought extended warranty etc and from the looks of things the wife appeared happy. The next step for us was to take the auto to the dealership but to date we haven't gotten around to doing so. The auto
- in my view appears sluggish. I decided to take a more intense look at the motor. Opened the oil cap only to observe what looked like 'sludge'. Sure enough when I inserted my fingers and began scraping .. it was sludge. I opted to pull the valve cover but since I'm unsure where to find a decent 'mechanic guide/book' for this automobile I chose not to do so. I scanned the internet only to observe that this is an issue for folks - I suspect who choose not to change their oil at the recommended intervals. From the looks of the receipts etc we found in the auto, we believe the previous owner did a 'reasonable' job maintaining the auto. The sludge though is a concern for me and the obvious solution it seems is to take auto to the dealer? I suspect once the sludge has been removed, all's well provided we do a reasonable job changing the oil.
Short of that can I reset this malfunction indicator myself? If so how?