What the Japanese dashboard symbols mean

Many Vezels in Sri Lanka came from Japan, and so did their dashboards. The warnings, the gauges and the display menu are all in Japanese. You do not need to read it to get started. The colour of a light tells you a lot, and our tool translates the rest.

Dashboard symbols in English and SinhalaTap any Japanese word or lamp on the Vezel meter and read what it means.

Read the colour first

Cars follow a simple habit, and the Vezel does too:

• Red is serious. Stop somewhere safe and find out what it is before you drive on.
• Amber (orange-yellow) means something needs attention soon.
• Green, blue and white usually mean a feature is on or working, such as your indicators or your headlights.

This is a rule of thumb, not a promise. Every symbol has its own meaning, so look the light up rather than guessing.

Two words worth knowing today

READY lights when the hybrid is ready to drive. The car is almost silent at that moment, so look for READY before you move off, and do not take its silence to mean that the car is off.

The red brake light means the parking brake is on, or the brake fluid is low, or the brake system has a fault. If it stays on after you release the parking brake, do not carry on driving. Our tool explains each case.

Look up any symbol

Open the dashboard guide. Type what you see (a Japanese word, a colour or the English name) or browse the lights grouped by how urgent they are. Every entry is in English and Sinhala.

The guide follows Honda's own Japanese owner's manual for the 2nd generation Vezel e:HEV. If you have a 1st generation Vezel, many symbols look alike, but check them against your own manual.

Tools for the job

If a light stays on and you want to see what the car is reporting, the shop has a category for tools and diagnostics, and another for hybrid care.