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

--
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It's a Linux world....well, it oughta be.
-----------------------------------------

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

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?

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.

--
"Given the low level of competence among politicians,
every American should become a Libertarian."
-- Charley Reese, Alameda Times-Star (California), June 17, 2003

You can borrow my code reader if you want.

i

On 2007-11-27, Paul wrote:
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

Paul wrote:

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.

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:

http://helminc.com/

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.

On Nov 26, 8:35 pm, The Hurdy Gurdy Man
wrote:
Paul wrote:
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.

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:

http://helminc.com/

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.

I was thinking maybe transmission fluid level?

Paul wrote:

Anyone have an idea what the symbol means?


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.

Paul wrote:
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?
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

Ignoramus23492 wrote:
You can borrow my code reader if you want.

i

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

Paul


--
-----------------------------------------
It's a Linux world....well, it oughta be.
-----------------------------------------

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


--
-----------------------------------------
It's a Linux world....well, it oughta be.
-----------------------------------------

Do you have the owners manual?

On Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:18:00 -0600, Paul wrote:

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!

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

Jon Elson wrote:

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

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

--
-----------------------------------------
It's a Linux world....well, it oughta be.
-----------------------------------------

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.


"Paul" wrote in message
...
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


--
-----------------------------------------
It's a Linux world....well, it oughta be.
-----------------------------------------

On Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:18:00 -0600, Paul wrote:

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


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..........

On Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:14:55 -0600, Paul wrote:

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

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.

http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/parts/articles/120189/article.html

--
Pete Snell
Department of Physics
Royal Military College

---------------------------------------------------------------------
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered;
the point is to discover them.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)