Category: Articles & Commentaries

Discussions on topics of interest to drivers concerning things they may not understand about their vehicles as well as articles on the future of the auto industry.

Polestar dashboard symbols update adds 26 new lights!

Polestar logoPolestar Dashboard Symbols Update

Given that the company added two new models, the Polestar 3 and 4, to compliment the Polestar 2, it isn’t a big surprise to find that the 2024 Polestar dashboard symbols update added 26 new symbols to the page. A whole lot of the additions are black and white versions of existing lights. However, there are several frustrating new indicators.

Lane departure warning leftLane departure warning leftFirst up is the addition of a second Lane Departure Indicator that tells the driver he or she is drifting to the left. The default indicator shows a vehicle drifting right, but now it appears there is no confidence in a driver knowing which direction the car is drifting.

Auto high beam indicatorAnother frustration is this version of the Automatic Headlamp Dimmer Indicator, which means that the automated system is on and ready for use! Other black and white indicators are in use in the industry, including one from Polestar, that mean the system is off or unavailable! This means that you’ll need to consult your car’s manual to be sure what the light actually means in your model.

Driver alert indicatorYet another is this Attention Assist Indicator, which in this case means that there is a fault in the system. Again, other manufacturers use virtually the same image simply to indicate to the driver that its time for a break. Once again, consult the your car’s owner manual to determine if it is a fault light, particularly if you have not been driving long.

Cars are changing, and among those changes is the growing number of symbols and indicators that will invariably show up on your dashboard or instrument panel. Every year, new features are added to vehicles, each of which is accompanied by a new symbol or symbols and likely a new acronym.

At DashboardSymbols.com, our aim is to help you understand what is happening to your vehicle at the first sign of trouble – a new warning light illuminated on your instrument panel. Its all here on this website. Our first intention is to bring the latest technologies down to earth and understandable for everyday drivers.

The Polestar symbols page, now with nearly 80 of them, is here.

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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.

These posts are 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.

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.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2024/08/polestar-dashboard-symbols-update-adds-26-new-lights/

Yes, your EV has a 12-volt battery too!

EV logoAn EV has a 12-volt battery

I got a panicked call from a friend recently. Her car, which happens to be a Tesla Model Y, was giving her real headaches. In the end, I got to tell her that her EV has a 12-volt battery too.

The symptoms were that it wouldn’t open, it wouldn’t respond to the key card or phone, at least not willingly. Once she got inside, it was difficult to start and began throwing messages at her.

Included in those messages was one that stated that the low voltage battery was failing.

Now as an EV driver, when she saw battery, she immediately thought the worst: that the car’s primary source of power, the battery, was failing. She did not realize that an EV also uses a 12-volt battery to essentially start the car through its electrical system! Hence the panic.

This can happen to any EV from any manufacturer. To all EV drivers, your car also uses a 12-volt battery to get things rolling. The distinction is low-voltage vs high-voltage. What your car relies on for propulsion is a high voltage battery.

Note to manufacturers: most drivers are just that. Drivers. They are not car people and need clearer explanations of failing systems and what they need to do. We’ve harped in this for years…

So, as a driver, if you see a warning about the car’s low-voltage battery, its time for roadside assistance. And its your best option: servicing anything electrical in an electric vehicle is potentially very dangerous.

My friend also asked about having the car jump started. However, the car had not been sitting unused for any length of time, which can create a situation that a jump start will resolve. In here case, the car is several years old and its simply more likely that the battery needs to be replaced. A good roadside service like AAA can make the determination and replace the battery.

However, it turned out that AAA won’t replace the start battery in a Tesla! The driver opted to do it after work hours!

Click here for our list of roadside assistance phone numbers. And if you want to know more about jump starting, see the video we did here.

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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.

These posts are 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.

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.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2024/08/yes-your-ev-has-a-12-volt-battery-too/

When to call service and not your salesperson!

BMW logoWhen to call service

I wanted to pass along something that happened to me recently, which really pointed out the knowledge gap between salespeople and service personnel, and when to call service!

I was trying out a new electric model, BMW‘s iX, and of course I had to ask about how to get at the key hole in case of the key fob battery dies. I was talking to the salesperson at the time.

Once we determined and demonstrated what the process was, he happened to say that it it was so much easier than another model, where one ends up scratching the paint!

540i key hole capNow I immediately knew that there was no model in the related line up that would ever see paint damage when getting to the key hole. He walked me over to one, a 5-Series, and I had the cap hiding the lock cylinder off in a single move. See the instructions here.

The point here is that he had clearly fielded at least one call from a customer trying to get into his or her car, and neither of them took the time to talk to a service advisor.

This is not exclusive to BMW at all, so regardless of make or model, this was a time to call the service department!

Smart Keys or Intelligent Keys, or Access Keys – or whatever the manufacturer of your chooses to call them – that let you into your car and start it with just a touch use up their internal batteries at alarming rates, catching busy drivers unawares – even though the car had tried to warn you.

Our goal is to help you feel safe – and keep you moving or get you moving if at all possible – rather than leave you fretting whenever your key fob stops working. The instructions for getting into and starting most keyless start cars can be found on our pages – without roadside assistance.

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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.

These posts are 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.

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.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2024/08/when-to-call-service-and-not-your-salesperson/

We just dropped a new Mercedes Benz video

Mercedes_logoMercedes Benz video

We just added a new Mercedes Benz video to our YouTube channel. It is specifically for 2019 and newer GLE and GLS SUVs as well as 2024 and newer G-Class SUVs with a dead key fob battery and in many cases a hidden key hole.

These models are the first to use a back up location in the center console storage area. Prior to this, the location was somewhere at the front of the center console.

We’ve added the video to our Mercedes Benz video page, which now features nine videos. You can find them all here at this link. The new video can be seen here.

Remember to replace the batteries in your key fobs at the first moment you see a warning on your instrument panel!

Smart Keys or Intelligent Keys, or Access Keys – or whatever the manufacturer of your chooses to call them – that let you into your car and start it with just a touch use up their internal batteries at alarming rates, catching busy drivers unawares – even though the car had tried to warn you.

Our goal is to help you feel safe – and keep you moving or get you moving if at all possible – rather than leave you fretting whenever your key fob stops working. The instructions for getting into and starting most keyless start cars can be found on our pages – without roadside assistance.

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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.

These posts are 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.

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.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2024/08/we-just-dropped-a-new-mercedes-benz-video/

Fisker Customers Get the Pages They Need

Fisker logoHelp for Fisker Customers

A good 10 years ago, we put up a dead key fob page for Fisker Karma buyers. The Karma not so famously featured a key hole on the passenger door!

The car and the company went nowhere, so we took the page down a few years later.

Well, the company resurrected itself and released the Ocean, a full electric SUV. Problems with the car and problems with sales led to a shocking sell-off of the cars Fisker Oceanat bargain basement prices and a company close to dissolution. From here it sure looks like its customers are soon to be abandoned, if they haven’t already been.

Well, we decided to give them at least a little help, returning the dead fob page while adding the back up process to the Ocean, and a symbols page.

Since the Karma is an electric like the Chevrolet Volt is an electric — that is with a gas engine to charge the battery on long trips — the page includes warning lights like a check engine light, an oil pressure light and engine overheat light. They don’t seem to fit, but actually do.

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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.

These posts are 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.

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.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2024/08/fisker-customers-get-the-pages-they-need/

New Honda and Acura EVs Require New Dashboard Symbols for a Very Surprising Reason

Honda logoNew Dashboard Symbols

The introduction of the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX electric vehicles in 2024 required us to add several new dashboard symbols to the manufacturer’s respective pages. Well, actually, new old symbols.

This is because we already had the symbols in play — on pages for General Motors GM logo(GM) models!

What’s happened is that Honda and GM jointly developed the EVs, a collaboration that began in 2013, which was focused on hydrogen fuel. That shifted as EVs rose to prominence and in essence, GM‘s drivetrain and control systems won out. And the proof is in the owner’s manuals!

The cover pages of the Honda and Acura models are properly identified. Then comes page one…

Tables of Contents

Below in order are the table of contents for a Chevrolet Malibu (left) and the Honda Pilot (right). And then below left is the TOC for the Honda Prologue.

Chevrolet Malibu TOCThey’re difficult to read here, but the styles are clear, which is the point. The contents of the Prologue and ZDX manuals follow the GM style of presentation to the letter right on through the entire manual! Every other Honda or Acura manual for 15 years+ has a TOC and structure just like the Pilot.

Honda Pilot TOCAnd the result is the addition of at least a dozen new (at least to Honda!) symbols and telltales that fall right out of the GM playbook.

The majority of the additions are of course related to the fact that the vehicles are fully electric. So all of the resulting indicators and warnings related  to the high voltage system are found.

Honda Proloque TOCBut beyond this, many of the driver support system indicators, like lane keeping and pedestrian avoidance are in the GM style.

Remember that auto manufacturers are given great leeway in the way they present warning symbols and indicators. Only a few are identical from one manufacturer to another. Most of the time symbols end up looking similar but differ enough for us to address here on this site. Hence the fact that we host over 1,000 of them here!

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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.

These posts are 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.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2024/08/new-honda-and-acura-evs-require-new-dashboard-symbols-for-a-very-surprising-reason/

2024 Buick Dashboard Symbols Update Comes with a Shock

Buick logoBuick Dashboard Symbols

We just finished updating our Buick Dashboard Symbols page, or at least we tried.

Generally, updating a manufacturer’s symbols page results in the addition of at least a half a dozen new symbols. This site now hosts over 1,000 symbols and telltales found on instrument panels.

In this case, and despite the introduction of a new model in 2024, the company is not using any new symbols! This is quite literally a first.

It also means that Buick models are not using any new systems in their vehicles. We are likely to get piled on in 2025!

Locked Out?

Envista door handleThat new model, the Envista, however, does introduce a new door handle with a new way to hide the key hole (right). You can find out how to get inside if the battery in the key fob dies here at this link.

Smart Keys or Intelligent Keys, or Access Keys – or whatever the manufacturer of your chooses to call them – that let you into your car and start it with just a touch use up their internal batteries at alarming rates, catching busy drivers unawares – even though the car had tried to warn you.

Our goal is to help you feel safe – and keep you moving or get you moving if at all possible – rather than leave you fretting whenever your key fob stops working. The instructions for getting into and starting most keyless start cars can be found on our pages – without roadside assistance.

——————————————————————-

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.

These posts are 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.

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.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2024/08/2024-buick-dashboard-symbols-update-brings-a-surprise/