2007 Suzuki XL7 won't start

When the computer says the life of the oil is over, the engine begins to run poorly - skipping, stuttering. The oil level
is fine … I know it needs changing, but why such a dramatic problem. Can’t start it now to get to service. Last time this
occurred, it was running very rough, had the oil changed and it ran like new. What’s up?!

Some cars this is just an elapsed mileage indicator. For example, when it comes on, it just means 5000 miles since the last oil change service. Or there might be some degrating factor for how fast the car is driven, how hot the coolant gets, how often it idles, etc. On other cars there’s an optical sensor that measures the clarity of the oil. When the oil gets opaque, the indicator comes on.

I agree w/you, it is odd though that this coincides w/the engine starting to sputter and skip. At least if the engine consistently starts running poorly within just a few hundred miles after the indicator turns on. I have no idea what could be causing that. Unless it is just a coincidence. Or a software error – in which case you should make the effort to ask the dealer if there’s an update to the ECM software to fix this problem. Maybe you just need your ECM reflashed.

If the oil level is fine, but the color is dark brown or black, oil sludge could be causing you a problem and making your engine not run well. The variable valve timing systems are particulary sensitive to oil sludge, so if your XL7 has variable valve timing, that would be my guess, that the sludge is causing that not to work as it should, which could indeed cause the symptoms you report.

If this were my car, I’d bring all the routine engine maintenance up to date, and change the oil every 3,000 miles. If that’s all it takes to make the engine run good, why bother with trying to figure this out beyond that? Oil changes are inexpensive. The only other thing I’d probably do beyond that is check the PCV and EGR valves for proper operation.

Thanks GSJ, I’ll update when we track down the solution.

I reset the “oil life monitor” by turning the key on; selecting the message that read “change engine oil soon”; pressed the check button (reset); message changed to “0% oil life remaining”; pressed check button again and message changed to "100% oil life remaining."
After some minimal sputtering, it started up. I drove it around the neighborhood, started it and restarted it. Now I can drive to get the oil changed.

bring back ford model

@dripper Huh?