EASY EXPLANATION FOR DASHBOARD WARNING LIGHTS -

Dashboard warning lights have one simple task: to inform and warn about the „invisible“ things happening on your car, the ones you can’t normally see and notice.

This article will not explain each and every dashboard light in detail; it will rather explain how to react to each category of warning light.

Knowing this may well save your engine and other systems from huge damage, it’s worth knowing.

Besides this website, you can also watch videos on our YouTube channel, where we have many car-related videos that may help with maintenance, driving, etc.

EASY EXPLANATION FOR DASHBOARD WARNING LIGHTS

THE CLASSIFICATION OF WARNING LIGHTS

The most important part is to know this: the warning lights are divided into categories by color.

Red means danger, yellow or orange means caution, and green and blue are meant just to inform you. It’s like this in the majority of cars.

Also, the dashboard warning lights may stay lit up or blink. This applies especially to the yellow/orange ones, which usually start blinking as the problem worsens.

For more detailed information on this topic, you can click here to read our other article about dashboard warning lights.

1. RED WARNING LIGHTS MEAN STOP!

The red colored warning lights are for the crucial parameters like the oil pressure, alternator voltage, handbrake, brake fluid level, coolant temperature, and others.

If any of these red lights turn on while driving, in most cases, you have a big problem, and you must stop the car as soon as possible to avoid huge engine damage and danger.

The red warning light for low oil pressure and high coolant temperature is the most important; if you disregard these and continue driving, the engine is done for.

2. YELLOW/ORANGE LIGHTS WARN OF A PROBLEM

Next, we have the yellow dashboard lights, which are for informing or warning you about a present or impending problem. This is the most numerous group.

The most well-known one is the check engine light. We have a whole article about this topic. Click here if you want to see it.

Then you have the ABS light, the light for worn-out brake pads, the service light, the warning light that the stability control system is turned off, the light for problems with electrics or electronics, and the list goes on.

In the majority of cases, with yellow warning lights, you can continue driving if you don’t notice any kind of obvious problem, like, for instance, strange noises from the car, bad engine performance, or other serious problems that can endanger driving.

But you must not disregard it, and you must inspect the problem as soon as possible.

3. GREEN AND BLUE LIGHTS

Green and blue lights are just for informing. For instance, the green color is for indicators, low beams, various different driving modes, and more.

Blue is for the high beams, and the list goes on.

Again, these colors of dashboard warning lights have only an informative character, so you know that the specific system is turned on.

CONCLUSION

The most important thing to remember from this article is the color of the dashboard warning lights.

Knowing this will enable you to react properly to a car problem, also on time, and perhaps save yourself from bigger trouble.

So, once more: red means stop, yellow or orange means caution, especially if the light is blinking, and green and blue inform that some system on the car is turned on.

If you have the time, it would be good to learn what each and every dashboard warning light means; it may come in handy.