Malfunction Lamp

[tcawley]

hi,

i got a yaris on saturday. my dad drove it home. the private seller was about 140 miles away. anyways when it got home we noticed the malfunction lamp was on (the orange one that looks like a tap). he said he does not think it was on when he bought it but that the fuel gauge was a bit dodgy. he said it started with three bars and shortly afterwards it was blinking to say it was very low. he filled it up and continued home. he said it drove perfectly. i took it for a spin that evening and it seemed good too. was also out for a spin today and was great. it has about 67k miles on the clock. coolant, oil, brake fluid and window washer are all okay. however i saw the oil was sort of dark tan, nearly black. the coolant is brown. i am bringing it to a local garage for a service in the next few days. it is not a toyota garage but the man is very good, my parents cant recommend him enough. i read that the malfunction light can come up when the fuel is let go very low but that it goes away when filled up and driven a few times. how many miles would i have to go to get the lamp to turn off or how many drives. i was also wondering is this light the same as the maintenence light. if so i tried two different procedures and they wouldnt work to reset it. the one in my manual and a different one on the internet. please advise me of the proper procedures clearly and i will try again. it is a 2000 yaris. thanks

[Madasafish]

To reset the lamp:

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=128024

Brown coolant = change at once. Should be pink .

(requires cooling system to be bled of air or you get airlocks and overheating).

If Malfunction lamp continues, clean MAF sensor... search forum ...