About dashboard lights:
Dashboard warning lights are used to warn drivers of potential problems in their vehicles. Most cars have dash warning lights for their
- Engine – Check Engine Light
- Engine Oil level / pressure
- Anti Lock Braking System (ABS)
- Supplementary Restraint System (SRS) / Airbag,
- Automatic Transmission
- Traction Control
- Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system
- Engine Temperature
- Brake fluid level
- Red Triangle for warnings
These lights above will turn on when one of your car’s sensors and car computers detect a problem. Your local garage mechanic should be able to scan your car with a diagnostic scan tool or scanner, to read the cars fault codes and live data. This will help your mechanic diagnose what is wrong in order to give you a pricing estimate for repair.
Most of the warning lights above will turn on for about 5 seconds when you first turn the ignition key on or start your engine. This is to show your mechanic that the bulbs are working. They should then all go off after about 5 seconds with the engine running.
If any of the safety related lights stay on (such as ABS or SRS / Airbag lights) with the engine running, then there is an issue in that safety system, and the vehicle will fail a Warrant of Fitness (WOF).
Other common dash lights that are generally controlled by some action inside the car include
- Car Door Open
- Boot Open
- Fuel level too low
- High beam
- Glow plugs
- Four Wheel Drive (4WD) engaged
- Over Drive (OD) on
Many modern cars also have maintenance warning lights. These lights activate when your car is due to be serviced by a mechanics. When your vehicle is serviced, the maintenance light is reset.
Learn more about car maintenance lights >
Common causes of dashboard lights:
Maintenance light – In some cars, this light appears when your vehicle is due for a service. To have it reset, get your car seen by a mechanic.
Check engine light – The check engine light appears when there is a problem in your engie/exhaust system. Common problems include:
- Fuel too rich
- Fuel too lean
- Exhaust problems
- Faulty mass airflow sensor
Oil light – The oil light comes on if your vehicle is low on oil. It is often caused by a leak in your engine.
ABS light – The ABS light comes on if there is a problem with your car’s anti-lock braking system. This can cause you to lose control of your vehicle if the brakes are suddenly applied.
SRS / Airbag Light – any fault detected by your SRS / Airbag computer such as a faulty steering clock spring, or faulty G force sensors will make the SRS / Airbag warning light on, on your dashboard.
Dashboard light reset services in Hamilton
When you bring your car to Grimmer Motors, we can use our advanced diagnostic scan tools to determine what is causing warning lights to appear on your cars dash. Once the problem is diagnosed, we can fix it, causing the warning light to disappear off your dash.
We can also perform scheduled maintenance and servicing for your vehicle. This usually consists of an oil change as well as lubrication of vehicle components, replacement of fluids and much more.
For reliable, fast, effective dashboard light diagnostics in Hamilton, contact Grimmer Motors today!