Small Red Light Beside Zero On Speedometer

[The Bunk]

Hi, new here.

Test drove a 2007 1.4L Zetec Ford Focus today (I'm in ireland) and was happy enough with it.

However, I noticed a small red light coming on beside the "Zero" on the Speedometer. It seemed to only come on when I was accelerating. It was off when the car was stopped.

Posted a picture below of the closest image I could find on the web. You can see the small light just beside the 0MPH. It's off in the photo.

Anybody know what this is? Is this standard for this light to come on?

[IINexusII]

it comes on when the door and bonnet is open i believe.

[artscot79]

ide be more worried at the high engine temperatutre on the dash thats awfully high

as for the light if a door or bonnets open it will say on the dash display as well it indicates a serious issue ie engine problem it shouldnt be on when driving going by the temp gauge there may be a few problems its almost over heating also youre engine management light is on thats the orange one on the right as is the battery light which it shouldnt be and the oil light all this while youre driving i think the red light is indicating an engine issue

[dezwez]

i would give that car a miss all warning lights on

[artscot79]

i dont even think they are the right clocks for the car the 1.4 doesnt rev that high thats the ti vct clocks on that car with the 8000rpm redline

anyway as said that car has major issues cant believe youre only worried about the small red light

[The Bunk]

Sorry guys, I wasn't clear. My bad.

The photo is not the actual car I test drove. I just posted that sample photo to show the position of the small light beside the 0MPH. It's the best sample photo I could find.

Some people are telling me its a shift light to tell me when to change gears?

[artscot79]

nope its not a shift light if it comes on then something is wrong ie a door isnt closed or bonnet when it lights usually something will come up on the dash display to warn you like low washer fluid or rear pass door open bonnet open its not a shift light it only comes on in red if its something you need to deal with asap otherwise the light on the opposite side will glow orange

[The Bunk]

Why is not staying on constantly?

[artscot79]

it should stay on all the tim ethe only shift light is on the rev couneter and its a red arrow that lights up when you hit max rpm i can state ive never seen a focus where that light which is a warning light is used as a shift light it indicates an intermittent fault somewhere hence why its going on and off ive never seen or driven any ford where that light is on when you drive unless somethings wrong and its warning you it should go red and there should be a beep to get youre attention then a message on the display if someone has tampered with the wiring to turn that into a shift light i would walk away any mot inspector knows its a warning light may cause issues with an mot in the future.

if anyone else has seen it used as a sgift light please say

[Stoney871]

Sounds like a loose door to me.

Maybe the latches needed adjusting.

[gforce]

Or loose bonnet maybe? I've had this happen me a few times when the bonnet wasn't closed properly after being open.

Did the display panel not show a warning message when the light came on? When I noticed the issue with the bonnet being open, it only came on when accelerating, as it was only then there was enough force to lift the bonnet if ya know what I mean. But the message always flashed up on the display as well.

I'd take another closer look if you're interested, but I must say it would be a bit off-putting as a first impression!

[The Bunk]

I'm having the car looked at by an independent mechanic in 2 days. Hopefully he can shed some light.

If it's a warning light of some sort, why isn't it a proper light with a symbol in with the other main warning lights? This is just a tiny little dot of a light over directly beside the zero on the speedometer.

Why do you say it's possibly linked to an open door or bonnet?

Anyone know where I can download a user manual for a UK/Irish 2007 Focus? I can only find American ones online.

Cheers

[gforce]

See the little dot on the other side, just beside the 8 on the rev counter? It's a little amber warning light for things like, low fuel.

Hang on, I'll go try take a pic here to show you...

[artscot79]

the reason we say its a warning light is because that is its function there are 2 lights the red and the orange the red illuminates if there is an issue such as a door boot or bonnet open it means stop now and sort it then theres the orange light which ive only had lit when my screenwash is low its not in with the main lights for a simple reason its next to the dash display the point is it goes red and beeps you look and the display will tell you what the fault is

[gforce]

Here ya go, couple of pics showing the dash lights. As said above, it's a warning light of some sort, so worth having checked out! The fact it's red would suggest you stop as it's a serious problem, the amber light I mentioned on the other side is for minor things like low fuel, washer fluid etc.

[The Bunk]

Thanks for the photos. That's helpful.

Could it possibly come on in addition to the standard low fuel symbol light?

I think I remember the display saying something like "0km remaining". I was a bit worried that the car was going to run out of petrol on the test drive! It appeared to be very low.

The light definitely went off when I was stopped at traffic lights and then came on again when I started accelerating.

[Stoney871]

That would certainly bring on a light.

Could well be the answer.

When I bought my car it had 4 miles range left so I had to scoot to the nearest pump pretty sharpish and the light may well have come on then.

I can't be sure though and certainly won't run my fuel down that low again just to check :D

[Phil S]

I have had this light coming on intermittantly, coming on when moving but going out again.

It turned out that the bonnet wasn't shut properly.

Check all doors, boot and especially the bonnet are shut properly.

Also check there is more than 50 miles worth of fuel.

[jeebowhite]

Could be low washer juice warning light.

[gforce]

I think you might be onto something with the fuel... As mentioned before, low washer fluid and low fuel will bring on the amber light on the left. But if you're running on fumes with a range of 0 miles left in the tank, that could well bring on the more serious red light on the right.

As has been said, check all doors, boot and bonnet are fully closed and not ajar on the latch. But I reckon it's the empty fuel tank light, which is why the display was saying 0 miles as well, as in this is the associated warning message.