10 Facts About Your Dashboard You Don’t Know


Our car manufacturers have made sure that if there is anything we need to know, it is right in front of us on our dashboard. There are cool little symbols, groups of letters, flashing lights and small graphics to catch our attention. The trouble is, we can get so used to seeing them that we don’t pay any attention to them.

At other times, we notice something, and we’re not sure if it is a warning of some type or if it has always been there and this is the first time we noticed it. Of course, if we knew what the little symbol or the letters stood for, that would be very helpful, wouldn’t it? The following is a list of ten items you might find on your dashboard that you may not know about.

Trip meter. 

This is usually located next to your odometer (the gauge that keeps track of the miles your car has traveled in its lifetime). It may be a small button or knob. The trip meter is a handy little thing for keeping track of the miles you’ve traveled for a particular trip, or if you want to check out your gas mileage. To check your gas mileage, set the trip meter to zero after having filled your tank. The next time you fill up, the trip meter will be able to tell you how far you traveled on that tank of gas. Divide the miles by the gallons it took to fill the tank, and you’ll know how many miles per gallon you are getting with your vehicle.

Fuel tank indicator. 

This can be very handy when you are driving a car you aren’t familiar with , or if you have two vehicles that each have their fuel tank on the opposite side. The fuel tank indicator will have an arrow that points right or left to tell you which side of the vehicle the fuel tank cap is located. Just glance down before you pull up to the pumps, and it may save you from having to pull around to the other side.

Maintenance Required. This little ‘warning’ can get people in a panic if they don’t know what it means. Maintenance? What kind of maintenance? It is simply your reminder that it is time to change your oil, which is important, of course. But, it isn’t an emergency situation.

Airbag indicator. 

This little light is to tell you whether the passenger side air is turned on or off. Many vehicles will not turn the passenger side air bag on until there is enough weight in the seat to indicator a full grown adult is sitting in the seat. This setting is meant to prevent a child or smaller person from being hit in the face with the airbag during an accident.

ABS. 

Don’t you love initials? You get to guess what they stand for. Activity in the Back Seat? Nope. Anti-lock Brake System is the correct answer. These letters will normally flash on when you are starting your vehicle and then disappear. If they stay on, they are telling you that your anti-lock brake system is not functioning properly, and your breaks could lock up on you if you need to slam on the brakes for any reason. You’ll want to have this checked into.

VSC. 

No, this does not stand for Very Sexy Car. Your Toyota is not making comments about the Jaguar that just drove by. It is a similar warning to the ABS listed above. It stands for Vehicle Stability Control or traction control system. If this warning light stays on, you will want to have your vehicle checked by your dealer.

Discharge warning. 

This often shows up as an icon that looks like a battery. It is telling you that your battery is draining (discharging), instead of being recharged. You will want to shut off all your auxiliary items such as your air conditioning, radio, etc. and have this checked out immediately.

Brake system warning. 

This indicator may be the word ‘Brake’ or it could be a symbol of some form. Check your vehicle manual to find out. It usually has a duel function. One is to tell you that your parking brake is on. It is your reminder to turn it back off before you put your car into gear. The other purpose of this indicator light is to let you know that your brake fluid is low. In either case, it is important not to ignore this one.

Door indicator. This cute little graphic is fairly easy to understand and usually comes with a nice annoying sound to go with it. It will show you a picture of your car with open doors. It is trying to tell you that one or more of your car doors have not been fully closed. Some indicators will even show which door it is that hasn’t been shut properly.

SRS. 

There we go with the initials again. This one is an indicator regarding the malfunction of your safety restraint system, i.e. your seat belts and air bags. If this light should come on while you are driving, and stay on, you will definitely want to have your full safety system checked out.

Maybe you learned something new about your dashboard through this, maybe you knew all these already. Every vehicle is a little different, and not every vehicle will have all of these different types of indicators on the dash. Your best bet is to take a peek at your vehicle’s owner’s manual and familiarize yourself with the different lights and symbols that may show up and what they mean.

(source:satellitedish.org)

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