All Those Lights on Your Dashboard: They’re Not for Idiots Anymore

The First Warning Lights

In a simpler day, if your engine’s oil pressure dropped too low, your dashboard, or more properly, your instrument panel, would have had an analog oil pressure gauge displaying the pressure reading and a warning light, a red dot, that would come on to get your attention. Then some manufacturers did away with the gauge altogether, leaving only the red dot or “Idiot” light. There would have been a temperature gauge plus a light to warn a driver if the engine’s temperature rose too high. But now you might not see a gauge at all. In the meantime, “Idiot” lights have proliferated to the point of madness. And as a driver, you need to be a “road scholar” (sorry) to understand them all.

Idiot lights, or tell-tales, as they are known only in the industry, were designed to help drivers who didn’t understand how to read a gauge and to get your attention. To those who actually did know how to read the gauges, and watched them like a hawk, the tell-tales came to be known as Idiot lights. And the term stuck.

Warning Light Evolution

However, in today’s vehicles, there could never be a corresponding gauge to compliment a Check Engine light, or the ABS (anti-lock brake) light, or a Drivetrain Trouble light, or for any of the dozens of text and picture tell-tales that have permeated vehicle instrument panels over the last few decades.

There may be literally 20 or 30 picture or text tell-tales on a modern instrument panel, each connected to some system in your car. We’ve counted as many as one hundred in some models! And they may illuminate in twos and threes if a problem is detected. That is, a problem with one system causes other systems that are dependent on the first to be shut off. Each of those systems will have an associated, and now illuminated, tell-tale. Today, a driver needs to be an automotive prodigy to know what’s going on.

Maybe the most troubling about the “Prodigy” lights is that when one of them crops up, it indicates a problem or malfunction has already occurred. For instance, there is no gauge to indicate a change in the anti-lock brakes. If a malfunction occurs, a tell-tale appears. The same for an electronic throttle, the power steering, the stability control system, or any of the other advanced, and often electronic, systems.

So a “Prodigy” light comes on and a frustrated and often panicked, non-prodigy driver turns to his or her owner’s manual for help. Unfortunately, the common answer is to call your dealer. It is truly impossible for an average driver to memorize the meaning of all the lights, which all too many times includes a system acronym or abbreviation. In the end, drivers actually do feel like Idiots through no fault of their own.

Drivers need help and at DashboardSymbols.com, we are developing tools to do just that. The first tool is a Smartphone app that includes some 100 image and text tell-tales and their descriptions. The App is currently available for Android and Blackberry phones and under development for the iPhone. We ultimately intend to change the way vehicles communicate with drivers. In the meantime, if you are confused by the symbols that show up on your instrument panel, go to www.dashboardsymbols.com. There, you will find the most comprehensive list of automotive symbols available anywhere, and access to our tools. We’ll help you feel like a “Prodigy”, rather than an “Idiot”!

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The information on this website is provided for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.