This problem seems to be getting worse, not sure what it could be. A month or so after we moved to a mountainous area (East Tennessee, they're not big mountains but still) I would occasionally get a "Reduce oil level" message on the dash. I'd check, looked like it might be just a tad over, I'd drain a quart out to be on the safe side, error would go away but come back later. Some googling led to the conclusion that perhaps due to the longer than normal strain on the engine the oil was expanding and giving this erroneous message. Oil level never was that high, maybe just a tad bit on the high side when I'd check, and doesn't appear to have any water or anything else in it.

This past weekend, it said to reduce the oil level again, but this time threw up two additional error messages. I don't remember the exact warning, but one was to stop engine, the other said something about the oil level (which didn't sound as bad as the previous stop engine error). Drove it the last few miles to the house, checked the oil level, appeared fine. I went ahead and change the oil anyways, it looked dark but that's it, no foam, nothing. This morning my wife drove back from work and freaked out because it threw up these error messages again. I figured I must have screwed up the oil change and didn't get it all out. I check and the level is right where I put it (about 3/4 between the min and max on the dipstick, I wanted to make sure it definitely wasn't overfull). Ran out today to get a filter too, on the way it gave the reduce oil level message then the stop engine message. The oil level is fine though! Put on the new filter anyways, in case it wasn't done right before (was able to unscrew without a wrench, not sure if the o-rings had been replaced or not, they didn't look cracked).

So to recap, it's been telling me to reduce the oil level intermittently for the last two months or so, now it's throwing up two extra messages (one says to stop engine, the other isn't quite so scary, just says to check oil level or something like that), and did so even after I changed the oil (but not the filter yet, cause they had to order one) but the level was below the max line. Any ideas what could be going on?

 

Something is wrong right here. If the filter was installed correctly, you need a wrench to remove it. Did you torque it to the spec when you installed it?

 

check your oil level sensor ?

 

This is the first time I changed the oil myself. Wife called after she got to work, still gave the error messages. New oil, new filter, no difference.

 

Is that easy to check, or something I need to take it in the shop for?

 

when you changed the oil how many quarts did you put back in?

 

You did not answer the question, did you torque the filter housing?