Apart from giving most of your attention on the road, you also need to check your dashboard gauges from time to time. You will learn a great deal about how you’re driving and your car’s condition. It will give you hints on what you should and should not do. Here are the most common gauges of the dashboard.
Let’s start of with the speedometer. This tells you how fast you are going in miles or kilometers per hour depending on the vehicle and the standard that is followed in your country. The maximum speed shown may differ from one car to another depending on the engine and the manufacturer. It is not intended to reach that speed though so please don’t try and it could be very dangerous as well. Along with the speedometer is where you’ll see the total distance the car has been driven and another travel distance indicator where you can see the distance you’ve driven per travel.
Then, you’ll see the gauge where it shows your current rpm (revolutions per minute) and is usually shown as x1000. Let’s say it’s on 4, it means that the rpm of your engine is at 4,000. There should be an indicator which is usually a red line that says that you’re at a high rpm. Either you should shift to a higher gear or slow down. It’s quite dangerous as high rpm could blow up your engine because of the heat or friction and it consumes a lot more fuel. I would suggest that you shift up to the next gear on 2,500 rpm.
You also have your fuel and temperature gauges. You just have to make sure that you don’t have an empty fuel tank while you’re driving. It would be troublesome to fetch gas from a gas station. Also, if you’ll notice, even if it’s empty, you can still drive your car. This is especially true on most cars since manufacturers would usually place an emergency 5 liter allowance on your gauge (could be different on other cars). If it’s on empty, you still have reserve fuel but let me reiterate that it’s not to be used to get you to your actual destination, it is strongly suggested that you use the reserve to go to the nearest gas station.
Overheating is another major cause of engine problems so check your temperature gauge. It’s ideal that it’s on the 1/3 level or a just the maximum of ½ on the gauge. If you’re gauge is near the red line, make sure you put water on your radiator and park the car for a while to cool it down.
There are also warning lights such as the hand brake, oil, and battery. The hand brake would tell you if you engaged the hand brakes so check it first before you try to drive. It’s normal to miss it rarely. As for the oil, if the light is on while you’re driving, pull over and check your oil level and check for leaks. Then have your batteries checked or your car’s electrical system if the battery light turns on even while you’re driving normally. Your battery might not be giving enough power anymore or there’s something wrong with the wires.
You will usually see your signal light indicators as well that tells you which of the signal lights are on and how they are lit (right or left only, or hazard). In any case, you need to balance your attention while driving so you could check your dashboard gauges occasionally. There are other gauges but those are not common to all cars such as turbo gauges. So, don’t forget to take at least a short glance so that you’ll know the condition of your car and you’ll be alerted if there’s anything that requires your attention.
