Foton Reviews

The indicator lights on the dashboard are blinking fast because there’s not the usual load on the indicator circuit from the exterior globes. This is a great way to know if you have a blown indicator globe, as the light on the dashboard will flash faster on the side of the failed globe.

So you need to look downstream to figure out why none of the indicator lights are getting power to them. This could be a broken wire, a body-computer problem, a poor earth or some other electrical gremlin that is robbing the lights of their power source and signal. An auto electrician would be a good place to tackle the problem.

The most obvious warning light that features a thermometer icon along with what could be described as fumes is the low coolant warning light which is sometimes yellow or orange (as opposed to red). If that's the case, the `fumes' are actually representing the coolant (as little waves). The other warning light that commonly displays gas fumes is the light to tell you there's a problem with the vehicle's diesel particulate filter (DPF). This is also often a yellow or orange light.

Car-makers tend to save red warning lights for the more serious problems such as low oil pressure or high coolant temperature. Even so, a yellow or orange warning light should not be ignored as it can easily develop into a red-light situation pretty quickly.

It sounds simple, but have you checked the owner's manual for the vehicle? There's likely to be a chapter dealing with what warning lights represent what.

These systems often use wireless technology to send the low-pressure warning signal from the sensor inside the tyre to the car’s computer. Which is fine, but think about how many times your wireless internet signal fails or drops out. That could simply be what’s happening here; the computer is getting no signal, so it presumes there’s a problem.

In many cases, the problem can also be a flat battery in one of the tyre sensors. These usually last between five and 10 years, so on that basis, your car is a candidate for flat sensor batteries. Often, the batteries are not replaceable and you’ll have to replace the whole sensor. If that’s the case, replacing all four would make sense.

You might also find there’s a procedure for resetting the sensors so that they talk to the computer in a meaningful way. Your owner’s manual should detail this process, but it’s often a pretty convoluted one with a distinct time limit before the computer times out.