Car Dashboard Symbols and Meanings

Pressure has fallen, and that's not the same as being low on oil.

The oil pressure lamp is the most misread on any dashboard, because it looks like it is about oil level and it's not. A switch in the engine watches oil pressure, and pressure is what holds a film of oil between metal surfaces that are otherwise touching. Without it, bearings pick up in a distance measured in minutes rather than miles. A dipstick reading full doesn't turn this lamp off, and adding a quart usually won't either.

What to do. Stop and switch the engine off where you are, as long as it is safe. Honda's own owner's manual gives this lamp a single instruction if it appears while you're moving: immediately stop in a safe place. There's no version of that sentence with a mileage in it.

Read next: which oil light you have, and whether to stop

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The engine is hotter than it is built to run.

Told apart A thermometer standing in open waves, nothing enclosing it. A droplet and a thermometer inside a gear is transmission temperature. A sealed flask of waves is coolant level.

The engine has gone above its designed operating temperature, and aluminum that gets hot enough stops sealing against the cylinder head. What begins as a hose, a thermostat or a leak becomes a head gasket, which is an entirely different order of bill.

What to do. Pull over and let it cool before opening anything. A hot cooling system is under pressure and will scald. Once cool, look for where the coolant went, because coolant isn't consumed in normal use.

Read next: finding a coolant leak

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Low brake fluid, or a fault in the braking system.

Told apart An exclamation mark inside a plain circle. The same mark inside a tire, flat along the bottom, is the tire pressure lamp. A letter P in that circle is the parking brake lamp.

On most cars this single lamp is shared between the parking brake switch and the brake fluid level float, which is why the first thing to rule out costs nothing. If the fluid is genuinely low, it didn't evaporate: either the pads have worn so far that the calipers are extending further, or there's a leak.

What to do. Check the parking brake is fully released first. If it is off and the lamp stays lit, stop driving and have the fluid level looked at before you use the car again.

Read next: the red brake light and what it can mean

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The parking brake is applied.

Told apart The same circle and brackets as the brake system lamp, with a P where the exclamation mark would be.

On many cars the two lamps share a bulb entirely, which is why a driver who pulls away with the parking brake part-applied sees what looks like a brake system failure.

What to do. Release it fully. If the lamp stays on with the brake completely off, stop treating it as a parking brake lamp and treat it as the brake system lamp above.

Read next: the red brake light and what it can mean

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A fault in the restraint system. The airbags may not fire.

The supplemental restraint system runs a self-test at every start, which is why this lamp lights briefly and then goes out. Staying lit means the system has found a fault somewhere in it: a sensor, a connector under a seat, or the clockspring in the steering column. Nothing about the way the car drives will change.

What to do. The car still drives and that's the trap. What has stopped working is the thing that protects you in a crash, so it can't wait: have it checked as soon as possible.

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The transmission is overheating.

Told apart A droplet and a thermometer inside a gear. A thermometer standing in open waves with nothing around it is coolant temperature.

Automatic transmissions are cooled by their own fluid, and heat is the single thing that kills them: fluid that runs hot oxidizes, loses its friction properties and stops protecting the clutch packs. Towing, long climbs and low fluid are the usual causes.

What to do. Stop and let it cool rather than pressing on. A transmission that has been cooked doesn't recover, and the repair is measured in thousands.

Read next: what a failing transmission does first

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There's water in the fuel filter. Diesels only.

Told apart The same fuel dispenser as the low fuel lamp, drawn with waves lying in the bottom of it. The waves are the water, and they're the only difference between the two.

The lamp borrows the fuel pump symbol and puts water in the bottom of it. Diesel fuel picks up water from condensation and from the pump, and the filter collects it in a bowl underneath. Diesel injection runs at pressures where the fuel is also the lubricant, and water doesn't lubricate. This is the cheapest lamp on the car to obey and one of the most expensive to ignore.

What to do. Stop, switch the engine off, and drain the filter bowl if the car has a drain tap, or have it drained. Don't keep driving to see whether it clears, because the damage happens while you drive.

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The steering assistance has failed. The steering still works, and it's now heavy.

Electric power steering is a motor on the column or the rack. When it stops, nothing locks and nothing detaches, but the effort at the wheel goes up sharply, and it goes up most at parking speeds where you need it most.

What to do. Pull over somewhere you can turn the wheel with both hands, then decide. A car that has lost assistance is drivable in a straight line and awkward everywhere else. If the steering is hard to control, stop.

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A fault code is stored. Steady is a message, flashing is damage happening now.

The outline of an engine block, and the most ambiguous lamp on the car. It reports that an emissions-related self-test failed, and nothing more specific than that. The code behind it narrows a range that runs from a loose gas cap to a catalytic converter, which is why reading the code comes before replacing anything. It also waits: the fault is stored as pending on the first detection and the lamp usually lights only when the same fault appears again on a later drive.

What to do. Get the code read, which is free at most US parts chains, before anybody replaces a part. The code is the only thing that narrows the range.

If it is flashing Not a stored fault waiting to be read. A misfire is putting raw fuel into the exhaust and damaging the catalytic converter, which moves this into the stop group above.

Read next: what the check engine light means

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The alternator has stopped charging.

A battery with a plus and a minus, and almost everyone reads it as a flat battery. It's not. It reports that the charging system has stopped replacing what the car uses, so the battery has gone from being a reserve to being the only supply.

What to do. Honda's manual names the two loads worth killing first, and they're the two that draw hardest: the climate control and the rear defogger. Don't switch the engine off anywhere you can't restart, and drive to where the car can sit.

Read next: what to switch off when the battery light comes on

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The anti-lock function is off. The ordinary brakes still work.

Told apart The same circle and brackets as the brake system lamp, lettered ABS.

The car still stops, because the hydraulic brakes are entirely separate from the anti-lock system. What is missing is the part that stops the wheels locking in a panic stop or on a wet road. A wheel speed sensor is the usual cause, and it entered the national top ten of common repairs for the first time in 2025.

What to do. Book it, and drive knowing that a hard stop will behave the way a car did thirty years ago. If the red brake system lamp is lit with it, stop somewhere safe, because the ordinary brakes have a problem too. The same sensor often disables traction and stability control at the same time.

Read next: what an ABS fault means and costs

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A tire is at least 25 percent below the pressure on the door placard.

Told apart The outline is a tire, flat along the bottom with tread marks, not the plain circle of the brake system lamp. The letters TC inside that same tire are traction control.

The threshold here is written into federal law rather than chosen by the maker. Rule 49 CFR 571.138 requires the lamp once a tire is 25 percent or more below the placard pressure, or below the rule's own minimum if that's higher. On a placard pressure of 36 psi that is 27 psi, which doesn't look flat, so a tire that looks fine is no evidence against the lamp.

What to do. Check all four with a gauge before paying anyone, and check the spare if the car carries a full size one on a wheel, because on many cars it is monitored too.

If it is flashing Flashing for the first 60 to 90 seconds after a start and then staying lit is a failed sensor rather than a soft tire. That pattern is set by federal rule, on cars that use one lamp for both warnings.

Read next: the tire pressure rule in full

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Flashing means it is working. Steady means it is off or faulty.

Told apart The same tire outline as the tire pressure lamp, lettered TC instead of an exclamation mark.

Two behaviors in one lamp, which is why it confuses people. Lit steadily on a dry road at a constant speed means the system has been switched off or has a fault, most often the same wheel speed sensor that disables ABS.

What to do. Steady on dry pavement is worth a scan, and worth checking whether somebody pressed the traction control button.

If it is flashing The system is intervening on a wet or icy road, which is the system doing its job. Nothing is wrong and nothing needs booking.

Read next: flashing or steady, and whether to drive

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Steady means stability control has a fault. Flashing means it is working.

Told apart A car with two wavy skid lines and nothing across it. With the word OFF under it, it's the ESC OFF lamp. Struck through with a line, it’s stability control off.

This is the shape US federal rules give stability control: a car with two wavy skid lines under it, in yellow. Cars built since September 1, 2011 must show this symbol or the letters ESC, and the rule lets makers use the same lamp for traction control faults as well.

What to do. Lit steadily on a dry road, the system has found a fault and isn't working, so it won't step in if the car starts to slide. Drive gently and have the code read.

If it is flashing The system is braking a wheel to hold the car on a slippery road. The federal rule lets makers flash this lamp to show it is working, so flashing is the system doing its job, not a fault.

Read next: flashing or steady, and whether to drive

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The coolant in the reservoir is below its minimum mark.

Told apart A sealed flask with waves inside it and no thermometer anywhere. Add a thermometer standing in open waves and it's coolant temperature.

Distinct from the temperature lamp above: this one is a float in the expansion tank, so it can appear long before anything runs hot. Coolant is a sealed system and isn't consumed, so a level that has dropped went somewhere.

What to do. Fill it to the mark cold, with the coolant type the manual specifies, then find the leak. A reservoir that empties again within a week is a leak, not evaporation.

Read next: finding a coolant leak

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The radiator fan isn't doing its job.

An exclamation mark beside a fan. At speed a radiator gets enough airflow without help, so a failed fan often shows itself only in traffic, when the temperature climbs at a standstill and falls again once moving.

What to do. Watch the temperature gauge closely, particularly in slow traffic, and avoid sitting still with the engine running until it is fixed.

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A scheduled service is due. Nothing has failed.

A wrench, and it's a calendar rather than a fault. The car has counted miles, months or engine hours and reached a number the maker set. It says nothing at all about the condition of anything.

What to do. Nothing is broken, so there's time. Look up what the schedule actually asks for at that interval before agreeing to a menu at the service counter, because the two are often not the same list.

Read next: what the oil change light is counting down

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The DEF or AdBlue tank is low. Diesels only.

Modern diesels inject a urea solution into the exhaust to break down nitrogen oxides. The tank is separate from the fuel tank and is consumed steadily. Emissions rules mean the consequence of ignoring it is unusually firm.

What to do. Refill it. Run the tank empty and the car will finish its journey and then refuse to restart, which is deliberate and not a fault.

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On a cold start it means wait. Flashing while you drive is a fault to book.

A coil, and on a diesel at cold start it is an instruction rather than a warning: the glow plugs are heating the combustion chambers so the engine will start. It goes out on its own within a few seconds.

What to do. Wait for it to go out before turning the key further. What isn't normal is this lamp flashing while you drive, which on most diesels is the engine management reporting a fault rather than asking you to wait.

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The forward collision or automatic braking system is blocked or faulty.

Radar and camera systems sit behind the grille and the windshield, so they're the first things to be blinded by road salt, slush, mud or a badly fitted replacement screen. A temporary appearance in bad weather is normal.

What to do. Clean the grille badge area and the camera patch on the windshield first. If the lamp survives good weather and a wash, the system is genuinely offline and the car has lost a safety feature it won't warn you about again.

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The transmission has logged a fault and may have gone into limp mode.

Told apart An exclamation mark inside a gear. Inside a plain circle it is the brake system lamp, inside a tire it is the tire pressure lamp, and with nothing around it, the master warning lamp.

A gear with an exclamation mark inside it. Automatic transmissions protect themselves by locking into one gear when a sensor or a solenoid reads wrong, which is why the car may suddenly feel like it has no first and no top gear. Limp mode is the transmission protecting itself.

What to do. Get the code read before anyone quotes for a rebuild. Solenoids and sensors cost a fraction of a transmission and cause most of these.

Read next: what a failing transmission does first

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The pads have worn down to their sensor.

Told apart A circle drawn as a broken ring of dashes, and nothing inside it. A solid circle with an exclamation mark inside is the brake system lamp.

A separate circuit from the brake system lamp: a wire cast into one pad that grounds when the friction material gets thin enough to expose it. It's a mileage warning, not a failure, and it's deliberately set to light while there's still material left.

What to do. Book it soon. Past the sensor, the backing plate reaches the disc, and a pad job becomes a pad and disc job.

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The soot filter is full and needs a long run to clear itself.

Told apart A thermometer with exhaust drawn beside it. A thermometer standing in waves is coolant temperature.

Diesels trap soot in a filter and burn it off by running the exhaust hot, which needs a sustained speed rather than a short trip. This lamp is a request, not a fault. Ignoring it turns a filter that would have cleaned itself into one that has to be replaced.

What to do. Drive at a steady speed for twenty minutes or so, as the manual describes. If the lamp stays on after that, stop treating it as a request.

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Your high beams are on.

Told apart Beams straight ahead. Beams angled down instead are low beam.

Blue on almost every car built, and blue is the convention for a system that is simply switched on. It exists because modern instrument clusters are lit whether the headlights are on or not, so there's no other way to tell.

What to do. Nothing. Switch to low beams for oncoming traffic.

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Your low beams are on.

Told apart Beams angled down with nothing crossing them. A wavy line through the beams makes it front fog. Arrows above and below make it headlamp leveling.

Green on most cars. Useful precisely because a lit dashboard no longer tells you whether the exterior lights are on, which is how people end up driving unlit at dusk.

What to do. Nothing.

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A turn signal is flashing.

Two arrows, one for each side, and both of them going at once is the hazard warning rather than a turn. The lamp is wired into the same circuit as the bulbs outside, which is what lets it report a fault it was never designed to report.

What to do. Nothing, unless the rate changes. Then walk round the car and look.

If it is flashing Roughly twice the normal rate, on most cars, means a bulb at that corner has failed. The flasher speeds up when the circuit loses one of them.

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The hazard lights are on.

A triangle, and one of the very few dashboard symbols that matches a button you pressed. Both turn signal arrows will flash alongside it.

What to do. Nothing.

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Front fog lights are on.

Told apart Angled beams with a wavy line through them, lamp facing right. Straight beams with the lamp facing left is rear fog.

Green on most cars. Fog lights sit low and spread wide to light the road surface under fog rather than reflect off it.

What to do. Nothing, but turn them off in clear weather.

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The rear fog light is on.

Told apart Lamp facing left, straight beams, a wavy line through them. Facing right with angled beams is front fog.

Amber rather than green on most cars, and worth knowing because of what it does to the car behind. A rear fog lamp is far brighter than a tail light and is genuinely dazzling in clear conditions.

What to do. Turn it off as soon as the fog clears.

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The headlight aim adjuster is in use.

Told apart A headlamp with an arrow above it and an arrow below. Without the arrows it is low beam.

Cars with a manual aim adjuster show this when the dial is set away from its normal position. A loaded trunk lifts the nose and raises the beam into the eyes of oncoming traffic, which is what the adjuster is for.

What to do. Nothing, but return the dial to its normal setting once the car is empty again.

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Lane keeping is active and watching the lines.

Told apart A car held between two solid lines. One car drifting across a single broken line is lane departure warning.

Green when the system can see the road markings and is ready. It typically goes out on its own where the markings disappear, at roadworks, or below a set speed.

What to do. Nothing.

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The car thinks you're crossing a line without signaling.

Told apart A car crossing a broken line, one line only. Held between two solid lines it is lane keep assist.

The nudge or the chime that follows is the system working. It can't tell a deliberate move from a drift, which is why signaling turns it off.

What to do. Nothing, unless it fires while you're plainly inside your lane. That points at a camera that needs cleaning or recalibrating.

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The engine shut itself off at a standstill.

An A inside an arrow. The engine stopping at a red light is deliberate and saves fuel. The same symbol with a line through it means the system has decided conditions are wrong, usually a battery that's not charged enough or a cabin that needs heating.

What to do. Nothing. It restarts when you lift off the brake.

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The parking aid is active.

Sensors in the bumpers, and the lamp usually appears with an audible tone that gets faster as the car closes on an obstacle. Mud or ice over a sensor makes it report an obstacle that's not there.

What to do. Nothing.

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A limiter or cruise setting is engaged.

A speedometer with a mark on it. A limiter caps your speed but leaves the throttle yours. Cruise control holds a speed for you. Both are set by the driver rather than by the car.

What to do. Nothing.

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The outside temperature is near freezing.

A snowflake, often with a temperature beside it. Nothing on the car has changed. Most makers trigger it a few degrees above freezing, because a road surface can be colder than the air above it, particularly on bridges.

What to do. Nothing is wrong with the car. Slow down.

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Tow mode is engaged, or a trailer is connected.

Tow mode changes how the transmission holds gears and how the stability system reacts to a trailer pushing the back of the car around.

What to do. Nothing.

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Stability control has been switched off. It's not a fault.

Told apart A car with skid marks under it and a line struck through the whole thing. Without the line it is the stability control lamp. The letters TC inside a tire outline are traction control.

The car with skid marks and a line through it is the off state, not the warning. Most cars put this switch where it can be pressed by accident, and some switch it off on their own in a low-range or snow mode.

What to do. Press the button again, or restart the car, which restores it on almost every car. If it won't come back on, that's a fault rather than a setting.

Read next: flashing or steady, and whether to drive

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Stability control has been switched off. It's not a fault.

Told apart The same car and skid lines with the word OFF under them. Struck through instead, it's stability control off. With nothing under it, it’s the stability control lamp.

The federal form of the off light: the stability control car with the word OFF under it. The rule requires it to stay lit for as long as the system is switched off, and a button whose only job is switching it off carries the same marking.

What to do. Restart the car. The rule requires stability control to come back on at every start, except after some low-range four-wheel-drive settings. If this lamp stays on after a restart, have it checked.

Read next: flashing or steady, and whether to drive

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The state of charge of the traction battery.

Told apart Several batteries stacked behind one another. A single battery with the terminals on top is the charging system lamp.

Hybrids and electric cars carry a second, much larger battery than the 12 volt one, and this reports what is in it. On a hybrid a low reading is normal and self-correcting, because the engine charges it as you drive.

What to do. Nothing. This is a gauge rather than a warning, and it's not the same lamp as the charging system light.

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A belt is unbuckled.

Told apart A belted figure on its own. The same figure beside a crossed out oval is the side airbag off lamp.

The oldest reminder on the car, and the first one drivers call faulty. It's right almost every time.

What to do. Buckle it. If the lamp and the chime continue with everyone belted, the buckle switch has failed, which is a small repair but one that will fail an inspection in some states.

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The front passenger airbag is off.

Told apart A figure beside a crossed out oval. The oval is an airbag, which is why this is the airbag lamp and not a belt lamp. A belted figure on its own is the driver belt reminder.

This lamp shows the front passenger airbag is off. Most cars switch it off on their own when the seat sensor reads a child, a child seat or a light load. A few, mainly older pickups and two-seaters with no usable rear seat, have a key switch. Child seats belong in the back whenever there is one.

What to do. If the lamp is on with an adult in the seat, have them sit upright with the seat back. If it stays on, they shouldn't ride there until it's checked.

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The tank is near empty.

Told apart A plain fuel dispenser with nothing in the base of it. Waves lying in the bottom make it water in fuel, which is a different problem entirely.

The one symbol nearly everybody reads correctly. There's a detail most people never notice: the small arrow beside the pump points to the side of the car the filler is on, which is put there for exactly the moment you're in an unfamiliar rental car.

What to do. Refuel. Running a modern car to empty is also worth avoiding because the fuel in the tank cools the pump sitting in it.

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The washer bottle is low.

Told apart Spray and no blade. With a blade across the glass it is washer and wiper.

Nothing is broken and nothing is at risk, but a windshield smeared with insects and no way to clear it is a genuine visibility problem.

What to do. Refill it. In winter use a fluid rated for the temperature, because plain water freezes in the bottle and can split the pump.

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The washer and wiper system needs attention.

Told apart Spray with a blade across the glass. Spray alone is washer fluid. A bare arm with no glass is the wiper lamp.

Shown on cars that monitor the system rather than just the fluid level. The commonest cause is still simply an empty bottle.

What to do. Check the fluid first, then the blades and the nozzles.

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The wipers are in automatic mode, or the system has a fault.

Told apart A blade on the glass and no spray. Add the spray dots and it's washer and wiper. Spray with no blade is washer fluid.

Cars with rain sensing wipers show this when automatic mode is selected. The sensor reads a patch of the windshield behind the mirror, so a chip or a smear in that exact spot makes the wipers behave strangely.

What to do. Check the blades and the sensor patch on the glass before booking anything.

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Something else needs your attention. On its own it doesn't say what.

Told apart An exclamation mark with nothing around it at all. The same mark inside a plain circle is the brake system lamp, inside a tire is the tire pressure lamp, and inside a gear is a transmission fault.

This is the general malfunction mark, and it almost never appears alone: on most cars it lights alongside a message in the instrument display, and the message is the actual warning. The same exclamation mark also turns up inside other lamps here, which is why the shape by itself tells you so little.

What to do. Read the display. If the message has gone, it will be in the vehicle information menu, and it's worth finding before booking anything.

Read next: which lights mean stop, and what they cost

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A door, or the hood or trunk, isn't latched.

Told apart A car seen from above with a door swung out. The cars seen from the side are the hood lamp and the trunk lamp.

The switch that reports this is in the latch itself, so a door that looks shut can still read open if the latch is dirty or the striker has moved. The lamp matters more than it looks: an interior light that never goes out flattens a battery overnight, and a door that's not latched can open. The drawing above is the published standard, a car seen from above with one door out, and it's worth saying that your car may not use it: nothing obliges a manufacturer to, and most show the car from the side with every door open, or simply print the words DOOR AJAR.

What to do. Open and close each door firmly. If the lamp stays on with everything shut, the latch switch on one of them has failed.

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The car can't see the key.

Keyless entry works by radio, and the range is short by design. A dying coin cell in the fob is the usual cause, and it's the cheapest fix on this page. A phone or a second fob sitting against it can also block it.

What to do. Your manual shows where to hold the fob so the car still starts. Then change the battery, which is a coin cell and a few dollars.

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The hood isn't latched.

Told apart A car from the side with the front panel raised. The rear panel raised is the trunk lamp. Seen from above with a door out, it’s the door ajar lamp.

The primary latch and the safety catch are separate, and this lamp watches the primary one. A hood resting on the safety catch alone looks closed from the driver's seat and isn't, which is the situation this lamp exists to catch.

What to do. Stop somewhere safe and close it properly. Let it drop from a short height rather than pressing it down.

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The trunk or tailgate isn't latched.

Told apart A car from the side with the rear panel raised. The front panel raised is the hood lamp.

Same switch arrangement as the doors, in the trunk latch. Worth knowing on a hatchback or an SUV, where an unlatched tailgate lets exhaust into the cabin at low speeds.

What to do. Close it firmly. If the lamp stays on, the latch switch is the usual reason.

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