Amber — check soon
Glow plugs (diesel)
The coil symbol on a diesel dashboard. It glows for a few seconds at start-up — that is normal. If it comes on while driving or blinks, the unit has found a glow plug fault.
An amber lamp means you can drive on, but do not put it off. The car runs in a protective mode and usually drinks more.
What to do now
- At start-up: wait for the coil to go out before turning the starter.
- Blinking while driving means read the codes: it can be the glow system or something more serious in the fuel side.
- Hard winter starts with white smoke for the first seconds are the usual sign of dead glow plugs.
Codes usually behind it
The lamp only says that something is wrong. The code says what exactly — read it with an adapter and look it up here.
What to read next
A lamp is not a diagnosis. The same symbol lights up for a dozen different reasons, and only the code stored in the car tells them apart.
How the app helps
CarScan reads the codes behind the lamp through an OBD-II adapter, explains them in plain words and puts them into a report you can show to a mechanic.