Every vehicle is equipped with an array of warning lamps which serve to alert you to various goings on with your car.
While a short novel could be written about the function of all of your warning lamps this article will focus very specifically on two very useful warning lamps: the low oil level lamp and the low coolant level lamp.
Before you read further you need to know if these apply to your vehicle as some cars have them and some don’t. If yours is in the “not equipped” camp then it is imperative that you regularly inspect your engine oil and engine coolant levels: failure to do so could cost you a lot of money.
If your car is equipped with these warning lamps then you should get some pre-warning of these critical fluids being low. If these lamps come on take the time to: 1) check the level of the fluid in question at your earliest convenience and 2) top up that fluid if required. I say earliest convenience because you don’t have to pull over immediately.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to know if your vehicle is equipped with these lights. So frequently I meet clients who mistakenly think that the oil warning lamp is for low oil level when it is not (it is to alert you to low engine oil pressure). If you wait for the oil warning lamp to come on to alert you to low engine oil you’ve probably damaged your engine already.
