A light comes on on your dashboard. The first question is not what it is, but what colour it has: that tells you whether you have to stop, whether you can have it checked later, or whether something is simply switched on. Here you see all the common symbols, with what they mean and what you do.
The colour first
The colour of a light tells you how quickly you have to act. A flashing light is more serious than one that stays on.
- Red: stop Pull over as soon as it is safe and switch off the engine. Driving on with, say, low oil pressure or an overheating engine does damage within minutes. Then call a breakdown service or your garage.
- Amber or yellow: have it checked You can usually still drive, but something is not right. Make an appointment with the garage within a few days.
- Green: switched on and working A green light is information: a system or a light is on. You do not have to do anything.
- Blue: main beam Blue means your main beam is on. Dip it for oncoming traffic and for the car in front of you.
- White or grey: a message A note or a setting, for example that an assistance system is switched off.
All the symbols
Click or tap a symbol for what it means and what you are best off doing. The buttons underneath take you through all of them. Symbols differ a little per make: your instructieboekje (owner's manual) always comes first.
Red: stop as soon as it is safe
Amber: have it checked
Green and blue: something is switched on
1. Battery or alternator
The battery is no longer being charged, usually because of the alternator or the drive belt. This light always comes on briefly when you start and should then go out. If it stays on, drive to a garage while the car still runs: sooner or later the electrics give up.
Symbols: the usual way they appear on a dashboard.
Good to know
- They come on briefly when you start When you switch on the ignition, the lights come on briefly as a check. If one you expect stays off, that bulb has gone and a fault can pass you by.
- Flashing is worse A flashing light means the problem is more urgent than with a light that stays on. With a flashing engine light you stop and call a breakdown service.
- Resetting alone does not help Clicking a fault away or having it cleared does not solve the cause: the light comes back. Have the car read out to see what is behind it.
- Not sure? Call your garage or the breakdown service and describe the colour, the symbol and whether it flashes. That is enough for them to tell you whether you can drive on.
Sources: ANWB: warning light in the car, ANWB: check these points yourself