You see these car symbols in your vehicles, on your car doors, your dashboards and your seat, you might wonder what is is what it doesn’t bother you to know what is it or it does but you often forget to ask about it. You turn up the light to a strange symbol, your car isn’t starting up so you start to panic. These symbols are what might just save your life on the road.
- Temperature gauge
Use this to determine whether the road might be icy or not, less than 3 degrees Celcius means you’re at risk and above mid-teens (Celcius) means you shouldn’t leave a pet in the car to avoid dying from heat exhaustion as the car can heat up very quickly.
- Recirculating air
If you are driving and can smell the fumes of other vehicles, turn the air onto recirculate as this will draw air from the inside of the car. Also, it its cold turn the air onto recirculate while the engine heats up
Use outside air when you are on the open road and away from fumes to avoid breathing unhealthy fumes.
- Fog lights
Use Fog lights only if your visibility is less than 100 yards or less than 1km.
Fog lights are on the back of your car and are as bright as brake lights, they can be seen very easily. They are also placed low in the bumper and produce a wide flat beam
Remember to switch off your fog lights so as not to confuse other drivers.
- Washer Fluid Indicator
When you see this symbol, it means that you’re low on washer fluid.
- The Tire Pressure Light
This indicates that the air in one of your tires is low. Also known as the TPMS symbol, it symbolizes that the pressure in one or more of your tires is too low or too high and needs to be replaced or taken care of. Your tire pressure should be between 30 and 35 psi (pounds per square inch
A lot of drivers ignore this which eventually leads to major problems.
- Cruise control
This attempts to keep your car at a constant speed without you having to press the accelerator, it sets (sets the speed), resume (resumes the last speed before it was cancelled) and off/on (enables or disables the cruise control). The Advanced functions include the ability to nudge the speed up or down one kilometre per hour, or multiples of kilometres per hour at a time, a speed limiter and radar-based cruise control which matches your speed to the vehicle in front.
It’s very useful on the motorway or open road to give your foot a rest and also to keep you below the speed limit. You can cancel the Cruise control by touching the brake or changing gear, or turning it off.
- Headrest adjustment and removal
Adjust and reset your headrests easily with this button on the collar of one of the metal stalks that fit into the seat. It allows you adjusts or take the headrest out if it wouldn’t disturb your driving
- Child locks
If you carry children in your car and you need them inside without opening the doors from inside, use the child locks. It keeps the doors closed.
You can find the switch by opening a rear door and looking near the lock.
- Automatic Shift Lock or Engine Start Indicator
The automatic shift lock will lock your vehicle in park or neutral if you’re trying to shift gears or start your ignition without engaging the brake. until you engage the brake.
- Rear window demister
This helps when there’s a fog problem on your rear window, simply turn on the rear demister to clear it. There are wires connected to the rear window for low current to pass through to heat heat up the glass
- Windscreen-demister
Same function as the Rear window demister but this is for the windscreen and through the windscreen vents. When your windscreen fogs up dimply turn it on it gives instant demisting power
- Airbag Indicator
This signals you when something goes wrong with your airbags or the system itself. It’s important to address this as soon as you see it because your car’s airbag keeps you safe during accidents
- Oil Pressure Light
This is an indicator that there is an issue with your car’s oil pressure system. You’re either running low on oil or your oil pump isn’t circulating enough fluid. To avoid wear, This should be addressed as soon as possible.
- Battery Alert
This symbol indicates that there is an issue with your vehicle’s charging system and it can also be a signal that your alternator belt is broken
- Anti-lock Brake Warning Light
If your “ABS” warning lights are up while you’re driving, it means that something is wrong with the system. Remember that every time you turn on your vehicle, the system does a self-check, and may light up for just a few seconds. If it goes away immediately, your system is in working order.
- Traction Control Light
This indicates that your vehicle’s traction control system is activated. The traction control system utilizes your anti-lock brake system to determine if one wheel is spinning faster than another. If it detects that a wheel is slipping, it applies the brakes until it regains traction. This is most helpful if you’re driving in rain or snow.
Other air conditioning symbols you need to know about
