OT What's this idiot light?

We bought the kid a car, 2000 Saturn sedan, and being used it had no owners manual. Tonight at dinner she says "Oh, by the way some idiot light came on today". She described it and it didn't sound like one of the 'big three', battery, temperature, oil pressure, but we went out and looked anyway. It wasn't on then, but I can't figure out what the hell it's trying to say (stupid moronic symbols, what the hell is wrong with just words).

Anyway, the thing is a square box with a small 'T' on top and a zig zag line horizontally through the square. I told her it looked like a detonator and the car was about to blow up, she was not amused.

Anyone have an idea what the symbol means?

Regards Paul

Reply to
Paul
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On Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:14:55 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, Paul quickly quoth:

Perhaps it's ready for its 30/60/90k mile checkup. It's possibly a "Get Technical Service" warning light.

What does the owner's manual say? It should be in the glove box.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

You can borrow my code reader if you want.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus23492

It sounds like an attempt at a depiction of a radiator. Did you check the coolant level? My girlfriend's 1997 Saturn had a similar situation, and as I recall a similarly confusing illuminated icon. We were able to figure out that it was due to a low coolant level, but we weren't able to figure out the difference between when the light would blink and when it would stay on solid. It took obtaining a factory manual to figure it out. Fortunately, you can order the factory manuals from Helm Publishing:

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Those are the honest-to-goodness legitimate factory manuals, mind you, not the fake ones they sell at generic auto parts stores. They have both the owner's manual and the shop manual, with the owner's manual probably costing around $25.

Reply to
The Hurdy Gurdy Man

I was thinking maybe transmission fluid level?

Reply to
castvee8

I believe it is low coolant level. I'll look tonight when I start the car.

Wes

PS

It doesn't have to be very low in the plastic resevoir.

Reply to
Wes

Does it have anti-lock brakes? Does the zig-zag look like tire tread? The ABS system compares revolutions of all the tires all the time. If it notices one tire is turing a lot more or less than the others, it assumes a low tire. You can get this (we have on our Toyota Sienna) after changing a defective tire. We have one new one and 3 that are about mid-way through their life. Probably you have a tire low on air, but maybe you just had to swap the spare for a flat.

Oh, words are a big problem. Then you need a US dash, a Canada dash, Mexico dash, and then repeat all around the world. Even in England, it needs "Tyres" instead of "Tires".

Jon

Reply to
Jon Elson

Thanks Iggy, hopefully it won't come to that....

Paul

Reply to
Paul

Thanks all...as some suggested it sorta kinda does look like a radiator. I'll bet it is a low coolant light, we'll check tomorrow.

I guess its time to scrounge up an owner's manual, and hey, at least the kid actually noticed a light on!

Paul

Reply to
Paul

Do you have the owners manual?

Reply to
Stupendous Man

Many years ago the best friend of SWMBO got her driver's license and bought a brand new car. One day, several months latter, she asked about a blue light that only came on at night and I explained about headlights and how they worked. I think it was probably the first time she had driven at night that she noticed the light, I did give her credit for finding the light switch though. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Reply to
Gerald Miller

Yeah, I know, multicultural and international and all that. The US dash is already special anyhow, speedometers have MPH as the major scale. Anyhow you'd think by now these symbols would have been sucked up by some standards organization or something. If they have there certainly seems to be no explanation anywhere.

Cynically yours Paul

Reply to
Paul

The coolant level sensors get covered in goop and need to be cleaned. On my GTP it was about 5" below the filler neck in the side tank of the radiator.

Reply to
David Courtney

My Chrysler mini-van has a warning indicator for low windshield-washer fluid. It is most often activated while exiting a freeway onto the clover-leaf at high speed and upgrade. I guess that forces the fluid to one part of the container and uncovers the sensor. It will not reset once level again, although it will reset when the ignition turns off. In my case, it is a "written" warning, but..........

Reply to
Brian Lawson

My guess is Traction control. The zigzag denotes a skid. I don't know if light on means traction control is "on" or "off" in a Saturn. Traction control is an aux function of the ABS system, detects if one drive wheel is spinning at significantly rate than the other. What they then do about it varies from maker to maker.

Reply to
Don Foreman

That reply should have been painful.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Meanwhile, doing the razzle dazzle and blinding all oncoming traffic.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

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