Motoring Discussion > Do you know your warning lights?	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: VxFan	Replies: 48

Mon 8 Aug 11 13:47   Do you know your warning lights? - VxFan

Apparently nearly 8 out of 10 women drivers don't. Half of men have no idea what any of the alerts mean either. Two out of 10 motorists do not recognise the brake system warning or the engine light. And 10 per cent say they do not know which light or gauge showed the car was overheating, research by insurers Quinn-direct found. tinyurl.com/3gd7m2m (links to www.express.co.uk, but other media reported the same thing) Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 8 Aug 11 at 13:48 Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 13:56   Do you know your warning lights? - zookeeper

i think i know all the warning lights on my car but there is a switch on the dash that i have no idea what it is....i think its an add on from previous owner il get a photo later and post it Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 14:00   Do you know your warning lights? - Armel Coussine

>>.i think its an add on from previous owner il get a photo later and post it Don't try it except with all due caution zookeeper. It may be an ejector seat for unwelcome passengers. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 14:38   Do you know your warning lights? - Oldgit

I'll sure that I will get to know mine better if they come on and stay on! Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 15:11   Do you know your warning lights? - zookeeper

the thing im not sure about is the one with the black cable running out from the right, my guess its a motion sensor? picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/DjfoNeMLH1enHBywuyw7xvUXx8tR-YEoLeUAZX17Eu4?feat=directlink Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 15:13   Do you know your warning lights? - -

>> the thing im not sure about is the one with the black cable running out >> from the right, my guess its a motion sensor? Telephone microphone....there's posh for you..:-) Last edited by: gordonbennet on Mon 8 Aug 11 at 15:13 Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 15:20   Do you know your warning lights? - Meldrew

Reading the link makes it clear that 50% of the men are as dim as 80% of the women! Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 15:21   Do you know your warning lights? - zookeeper

cheers gordonbennet, thats cleared that up Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 15:32   Do you know your warning lights? - zookeeper

i had a neighbour (woman friend of swmbo) who wanted to borrow our car as hers was at the menders, she had topped up her brake fluid reservoir with tap water because the warning light came on , at least she tried :) i obviously veto,d the decision of my misses to lend us our car Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 16:50   Do you know your warning lights? - Zero

>> cheers gordonbennet, thats cleared that up Yeah but someones knicked your radio front. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 15:56   Do you know your warning lights? - rtj70

>> Telephone microphone....there's posh for you..:-) Yes definitely a microphone for a telephone car kit. If the car kit does not exist anymore then you could just remove it. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 16:54   Do you know your warning lights? - madf

I believe in RTFI.Or RTFM... Last edited by: madf on Mon 8 Aug 11 at 16:55 Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 16:57   Do you know your warning lights? - Zero

I dont get warning lights. Nothing goes wrong. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 16:59   Do you know your warning lights? - Clk Sec

>> Nothing goes wrong. Brave words. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 19:14   Do you know your warning lights? - Alastairw

I've only been caught out by a warning light once. It was a red radiator symbol, and was not mentioned in the manual for my 306. Turned out to be low coolant warning, and an early sign of a blown head gasket. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 19:30   Do you know your warning lights? - Dave_

I was diagnosing a fault over the phone for a friend a while ago, which involved getting her to switch on the ignition and tell me which lights stayed on. She told me the "elephant" one wasn't going out. It was the airbag light, looks a bit like an elephant if you squint really hard I suppose... Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 19:35   Do you know your warning lights? - Zero

>> I've only been caught out by a warning light once. It was a red radiator >> symbol, and was not mentioned in the manual for my 306. Turned out to be >> low coolant warning, and an early sign of a blown head gasket. Sorry I have to be rude here, but that's pretty stupid not to associate a "red radiator symbol" with a a cooling issue! Reply to this message | Report message       1

Mon 8 Aug 11 19:47   Do you know your warning lights? - VxFan

>> Sorry I have to be rude here Hasn't stopped you before ;o) Reply to this message | Report message       1

Mon 8 Aug 11 19:48   Do you know your warning lights? - rtj70

One warning light that is often misunderstood is the oil warning. Too many think it means low oil whereas it means low oil pressure. If it comes on due to low oil.... you have very low oil. Step-son had quite a few cars in years gone by and one was a decent 306... sounded like a bag of spanners before he got rid of it. He wouldn't listen about basic checks etc. Auto Express had something on people not understanding options on modern cars. Lots didn't know what Electronic Stability Control is all about... some had responded to say they had no idea what it was for but the car slid all over the place when the light was on! Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 20:06   Do you know your warning lights? - spamcan61

Recentish Vauxhalls have oil level and pressure lights, to make life more confusing. SWMBO's Zafira and similar vintage Astras have an emissions light that looks like an ECU fault light (outline of an engine), whereas the actual ECU light is the outline of a car with a spanner through it. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 20:23   Do you know your warning lights? - Manatee

Not surprisingly car manufacturers have dumbed everything down so much that if you want to know what's really going on you've no chance. The MX5 has an oil pressure gauge that might as well be a light. It only ever reads 'N'. Not a twitchregardless of rpm. Presumably it would go to 'L' if there was no oil pressure. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 22:45   Do you know your warning lights? - zookeeper

>> I believe in RTFI.Or RTFM... what manual? Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 20:04   Do you know your warning lights? - Manatee

Never mind whether people know what the light means, do they take any notice? I'd guess a majority of those to whom cars are just white goods will ignore a light so long as the car seems to function. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 20:09   Do you know your warning lights? - rtj70

I had an Insignia as a hire car for 8 days. It gave an indication of oil quality as a percentage too. I get a VW soon (October) but don't think it has that info on the Multi Function Display. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 20:12   Do you know your warning lights? - spamcan61

>> I had an Insignia as a hire car for 8 days. It gave an indication >> of oil quality as a percentage too. >> LOL, seems to be a case of 'well folks ignore the warning lights so we'll keep adding more' Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 20:17   Do you know your warning lights? - corax

These warning lights are very boring. They ought to flash up a small picture of John Cleese hitting an Allegro instead. Wouldn't really work though for anyone under forty. Last edited by: corax on Mon 8 Aug 11 at 20:18 Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 8 Aug 11 20:47   Do you know your warning lights? - Dave_

>> John Cleese hitting an Allegro It was an Austin 1300 estate: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz4ox5BSDWA /anorak off EDIT: I'm under forty (just) Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Mon 8 Aug 11 at 20:47 Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 9 Aug 11 16:52   Do you know your warning lights? - corax

>> It was an Austin 1300 estate: >> >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz4ox5BSDWA I knew it was an Austin of some sort. Thanks for that, brilliant scene. Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 9 Aug 11 17:22   Do you know your warning lights? - CGNorwich

Austin 1100/1300 was the best selling car in the UK in the early seventies. Haven't seen one for years Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 9 Aug 11 17:34   Do you know your warning lights? - sherlock47

>> Austin 1100/1300 was the best selling car in the UK in the early seventies. Haven't >> seen one for years >> They have all oxidised to nothing. From what I recall the sills could be perforated in less than 3 years - they almost made Lancia Betas look robust! However when they were new they were great to drive - one of the first small cars with disc brakes and the handling was good, altho the steering was a little low geared and bus like. My brother wrote-off my fathers (12 month old)one in 1967 - the insurance job was a complete re-shell. When was the last time that you heard that expression? Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 9 Aug 11 17:37   Do you know your warning lights? - Zero

Said it before, the 1100/1300 was a very very well designed modern car, excelent dynamics and space utilisation, light years ahead of the competitors. Great car to drive Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 9 Aug 11 17:52   Do you know your warning lights? - Dave_

>> the 1100/1300 was a very very well designed modern car, light years ahead of the competitors Agreed, more advances made in automotive design in the 20 years leading up to the late 60s than at any time since. Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 9 Aug 11 17:37   Do you know your warning lights? - CGNorwich

Had one and agree nice car to drive - at least until the front wheel fell off! Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 9 Aug 11 17:40   Do you know your warning lights? - Meldrew

A colleague of mine had a 1300 that failed its first MOT for rust; I don't recall if it was written off or repaired but it was bad. Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 9 Aug 11 17:41   Do you know your warning lights? - sherlock47

Having read the wiki after I wrote my contribution above, I was surprised to find that Issigonis based the suspension on the design from the 2CV (but without the roll). How many people knew that? Last edited by: pmh on Tue 9 Aug 11 at 17:41 Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 9 Aug 11 17:50   Do you know your warning lights? - Dave_

>> How many people knew that? I did :) The Hydrolastic system used fluid pressure to stiffen the rear suspension after the front wheel passed over a bump, the 2CV's system did it with levers IIRC. Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 9 Aug 11 23:56   Do you know your warning lights? - Avant

"It was an Austin 1300 estate." Anorak on - it was a 1967E Austin 1100 estate ("Countryman"): the 1300 came in only with the Mark 2, I think in 67-68. In fact 1100s with their SU carburettors were excellent starters: Basil Fawlty must have neglected or abused his in the past! Last edited by: Avant on Tue 9 Aug 11 at 23:56 Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 10 Aug 11 00:01   Do you know your warning lights? - sooty123

Left your anorak on? There'll be hell to pay now! ;) Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 10 Aug 11 14:49   Do you know your warning lights? - captain chaos

>> In fact 1100s with their SU carburettors were excellent starters: Basil Fawlty must have neglected >> or abused his in the past! >> Removing the ht lead on the coil wouldn't have helped... ;-) Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 12 Aug 11 18:43   Do you know your warning lights? - Ian (Cape Town)

Pretty simple really, when you consider the traffic light logic. If it is orange, proceed with caution. If red, stop ASAP. Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 12 Aug 11 20:32   Do you know your warning lights? - Fursty Ferret

My sister forgot to put the oil filler cap back on my old Xsara. After the engine seized an hour later, I asked her if any warning lights came on: "Oh yes, first a yellow oil can started flashing. Then a few minutes later it turned red and a big light saying "STOP!" came on." "Why didn't you stop?" "Oh, so THAT'S what it meant." Last edited by: Alfa Floor on Fri 12 Aug 11 at 20:32 Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 12 Aug 11 20:49   Do you know your warning lights? - Runfer D'Hills

My old Mondeo, which I droned on about far too much but which never failed to be useful had an airbag warning light stuck permanently on for six years and some 160,000 miles of my use. How long it had been on prior to that I'd not like to say. It resembled a little yellow guy with an enormous beer gut and a seatbelt on. I became quite fond of him in the end. It didn't count as an MOT failure and I preferred to avoid crashing rather than have him removed. Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 12 Aug 11 21:38   Do you know your warning lights? - Dave_

>> an airbag warning light stuck permanently on It was probably a lead unplugged under one of the seats, Humph :) Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 12 Aug 11 21:57   Do you know your warning lights? - Runfer D'Hills

Yes I do remember someone suggesting that before but I grew to like the wee fat guy. :-) Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 12 Aug 11 23:27   Do you know your warning lights? - bathtub tom

I had that on a Nissan, no-one else could diagnose it apart from a main dealer. It cost me seventy quid, but it did re-activate the air-bags and seat-belt pre-tensioners. Reply to this message | Report message

Sat 13 Aug 11 20:30   Do you know your warning lights? - mikeyb

Humph - that sounds like the passenger airbag deactivation light for when you have a child seat in the front seat. Did the Mondy have a way to deactivate the passenger bag? I know in the C5 I can turn it off with the key in the glovebox, and that makes a light stay on in the seatbelt display as a warning Reply to this message | Report message

Sat 13 Aug 11 20:41   Do you know your warning lights? - Runfer D'Hills

I think it was as Dave said. A connection under the seat for the seatbelt pre-tensioner. Anyway, thankfully I never needed to test it. Reply to this message | Report message

Sat 13 Aug 11 20:41   Do you know your warning lights? - mikeyb

Think it was in an Audi I had where the handbook stated that amber warning were just that - a warning, but red were urgent and needed imediate attention Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 18 Aug 11 08:12   Do you know your warning lights? - IJWS14

But how many of us would recognise when one DID NOT light up? Happened to my sister in an Allegro, one of the warning lights had blown and as a result did not light up to tell her she had an oil pressure problem. She did not notice that the same light should have lit as she started the engine but didn't. Result - seized engine on the M62. Reply to this message | Report message