You probably have seen the array of colourful lights on the car dashboard and wondered what they are doing there. Most of us do not seem to know what they mean either. But these car indicators serve some important purposes.

Indicators are vital to both the safety and health of the car. How come? While some indicators on the car are to let other drivers know whether you are turning or stopping the car, there are also indicators that let you know what’s going on inside the car as well. You should make sure that all of these indicators are working fine and dandy. Also, a faulty turn indicator can get you into trouble with the police. Whenever the indicator lights fail, don’t wait long before fixing them. The money you spend on maintaining the car indicators in proper condition is an investment worth making. This guide will help you learn about the basics of different types of indicators before you make the purchase.

The nitty-gritty of car indicators

Most of the indicators on a car function automatically. Apart from the turn lights, you don’t have to do anything about other indicators. They are wired to turn on when they are supposed to, given that all of them are working properly. Among these are also the dashboard indicators. When you look at the history of indicators, it was 1996 when the car manufacturers decided to standardise the dashboard indicators so that people don’t have to relearn them for every new car that comes out. These indicators make use of standard halogen or LED bulbs that are controlled automatically by the Onboard Diagnostic tools in the vehicle.

Turn lights

Turn lights are one of the most important safety features in a vehicle. They communicate with other drivers to slow down or change the lane because you will be slowing down and either you’re turning into another road or a parking lot. These lights are of amber colour. You can either use an amber coloured bulb with a transparent cover or a standard white bulb with amber coloured cover. Turn lights have to flash when they work. For this reason, LED bulbs are more suitable for this purpose as they can sustain many more on and off cycles than a halogen bulb.

Dashboard indicator lights

We have seen the array of warning lights on our car dashboards. Although one might not know what each of them indicates, it is intuitive that having a warning light go off on the dashboard is a bad signal. Knowing what each of them means might save you from running out of the battery in the middle of your trip or overheating the engine and whatnot. In older cars, small incandescent bulbs, similar to license plate bulbs, are used on the dashboard. There will be one for each warning light on the dashboard.

Engine warning light

This is probably the most dreaded of all the warning lights. The engine is the most important and the most expensive part of a car. Apart from the engine, everything else is a mere convenience, aren’t they? When the engine warning light illuminates, it could be an indication of a minor engine problem like a worn-out engine gasket or a malfunctioning spark plug, or it could be something very serious too. But regardless of that, you know that the car is going to be in the repair shop for at least a few days. So, it is important to ensure that this indicator light is working when you use the car. When the engine starts, all of the dashboard indicators light up for a few seconds. This is to let you know if they are working or not.

Car indicators for coolant

This one lights up if the coolant level in the radiator is lower than it should be. If the coolant or antifreeze level drops below the minimum, it will cause the engine to overheat and, eventually, fail. Because ignoring this warning light can cause a whole bunch of other lights to turn on, you should not ignore a low coolant level warning ever. It is also relatively easy to refill the coolant. But if you always do the scheduled maintenance, you are less likely to see this happen unless there is a leakage in the coolant tank or the radiator fan.

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