A Strange Light On The Dash

[lawman189]

i was driving up the M6 some weeks ago and have done twice since and on two occasions a warning light has appeared just flashing for a few seconds then disappearing completely. naturally i stopped and looked in the handbook at the pretty pictures of the dashboard looking for the warning light which to my surprise isn't there!!
to describe the light in words would be difficult (i think it's a reservoir of some description) but it's location is above the red handbrake warning light to the right of the glo-plug warning lamp. any ideas?? aah. should have said that i have a 1994 citroen Xantia turbo D.

[DickieG]

This could be a difficult one because the location of warning lamps on Xantias varied literally every few months, I kid you not. I and my father bought new ones in 1995 just a couple of months apart and both had different positions for the lamps, then when I bought another new one in 97 that was different again!

Is your car fitted with heated seats and headlamp washers by any chance? I ask that because if so it will also, as part of the 'winter pack', be fitted with a windscreen washer fluid warning light. After a period of time the sensor has a build up of washer residue which can trigger the light to illuminate. If so the get under the car and basically pull out the sensor, then clean and replace.

[pork_pie]

Dickie G's idea sounds good but if the light is red then it could be low coolant.

[lawman189]

thanks for the replies..the lamp is definitely orange. I've booked my car in next week for a new accumalator as it's ticking furiously and i quizzed him over this light and drew him a picture (the picture resembled an acorn shape with a reservoir fluid ripple a third up from the bottom, with small inlet/outlet pipe left and right near to the top of the acorn) and i got the position wrong in my previous message. it's the right hand set of warning lamps, top row above the handbrake applied red lamp. The orange glo-plug lamp is bottom left next to the handbrake applied lamp.

where was I....the mechanic seems to think that diesel citroen xantia's have a water in fuel filter sensor and showed me where it would be on my engine and told me not to worry about it...only I could own a car that has a lamp thats not in the book....

[pork_pie]

Yes that sound like water in fuel warning light for sure.

The acorn description gave it away

"You guessed what it is yet?"

[paul2309]

Glad I've found this forum.

I've got exactly the same thing and my local garage had no idea what I was talking about, and as it only appears occasionally, I couldn't show them.

Like Lawman, it's not shown in the handbook.

[paulpeters1]

Hi There ,

I'm also having the same flashing light ( Shaped like an acorn with a pipe joing the acorn from either side on the light , that comes on and then goes off , during jouneys . Should I be worried !!

[cobra427]

Oh great - I'm not alone.

I dont have heated seats (dont have a heater full stop if anyone has a bright idea to make it work - would be nice) - dont have headlamp washers, I've checked the fuel filter (replaced it in fact) no water in it, but the light is still on. has been for about a week and a half now. it's not getting any brighter/dimmer.

My car has'nt been washed for about 3 months now - so if it IS a build up of grime on the winter pack sensor - why hasn't it come on before - I do 300 miles a week motorway driving.

Next thing is - where is this sensor..