Do you know why my eco light is not working? Well, you are at the perfect place to find the answer to such a question.
In this day and age, Eco light is more important than ever. It allows drivers to monitor the way that they drive which, hopefully, will allow them to drive a little bit more economically.
But, what happens when that eco light isn’t working? Is this a serious problem? How do you fix it?
Here are a few reasons why your Eco light is not working:
- You Accelerate Too Hard
- You Have Not Warmed Up The Engine Enough
- Check Engine Light Is On
- You Have Switched Eco Mode Off
- Your Vehicle’s Battery Is Dying
On this page, we are going to try and answer as many of these questions as possible. You will actually be able to fix the vast majority of issues with your eco light from the comfort of your own home.
Let’s dive in, shall we?
Table of Contents
What Is The Eco Light?
The eco light is a small indicator that helps drivers to drive a little bit more economically.
The eco light is really monitoring the way that you accelerate. If you accelerate too fast, then the eco light will disappear (more on that soon), which means that you know you will need to slow down a little bit.
It really is a simple indicator, but we are positive that it has helped countless people save a ton of cash on their fuel.
How Do You Know When The Eco Light Is Not Working?
Well, the light simply doesn’t come on. That’s pretty much it.
There will be no warning in your vehicle that the eco light is not working. It simply won’t work. After all, that eco light is nothing more than just an indicator.
Now, we do want to point out that just because the eco light is not turning on, it doesn’t mean that you are not driving economically. There could be a variety of reasons why that indicator doesn’t appear to be on your dash. We will go through them shortly.
Does It Matter If The Eco Light Is Not Turning On?
We would say that it does, although, it may not be an issue that you need to fix right away. It will probably cost you more in fuel to not fix the problem right away, but if you are fine with eating that cash, you don’t really need to worry about your vehicle potentially falling apart.
However, as you will see shortly, there are various issues that could trigger that eco light not turning on which could have a massive impact on the way that your vehicle works.
For example, there could be a problem with our engine, or there is an issue with your vehicle’s battery. All of these are problems that are going to have long-term impacts on your vehicle.
Therefore, it is important that you diagnose what the issue is. Only then will you be able to work out whether it is worth getting that eco light fixed.
Can You Fix An Eco Light Not Turning On Yourself?
Most Eco light issues can be fixed without heading off to your local garage. There may be one or two problems that you really need to have dealt with by a professional.
However, for the most part, any Eco light issues should be fairly easy to rectify, even if you do not have any experience in maintaining vehicles.
In fact, a lot of these issues are fixes that take a couple of minutes, at most.
You Accelerate Too Hard
As we mentioned previously, an eco light will be an indicator that tells you whether you are driving in an economical way.
While there will be a whole lot going on behind the scenes, one of the main reasons for that eco light to switch off is because you are accelerating too hard.
If you learn to control your acceleration, then the eco light will likely switch itself back on again. Honestly, the vast majority of Eco light issues are caused by people driving their vehicles poorly (no offense there!).
So, if you notice that the eco light is sporadically coming on and then turning off again, then this is likely going to be the issue.
You Have Not Warmed Up The Engine Enough
With most vehicles, the eco light is not going to work right away. Instead, the engine of your vehicle will need to warm up a little bit first.
So, if the Eco light is turning on later on into your drive, but it isn’t working early on, then this is likely going to be the issue. This is nothing that you really need to worry about. It means that your eco light is working.
You only really need to worry if it appears as if the eco light is not being switched on at all. It is incredibly rare for that to happen if you are driving in an eco-friendly way.
Check Engine Light Is On
With the vast majority of vehicles, the eco light is not going to turn on while the check engine light is turned on.
As you may well know, the check engine light indicates that there is an issue with your engine or something else inside of the vehicle. It is basically your vehicle’s way of screaming “take me to the garage!”.
When the engine needs inspecting, most of the eco systems in your vehicle will start to switch off. This means that your vehicle cannot be driving in an eco-friendly way and, as a result, that eco light is not going to turn on.
The problem is that there are dozens and dozens of reasons why that check engine light could be turned on.
This means that fixing the check engine light is out of the scope of this guide. Our suggestion is that you go through your vehicle’s manual to work out what the problem is.
If you still cannot rectify the issue, then you are going to need to head to the garage as soon as possible. They will be able to diagnose the problem for you.
You Have Switched Eco Mode Off
The eco mode is a system that can be turned on and off. We know that there are plenty of people who have accidentally turned the system off.
So, if it isn’t any of the solutions that we have mentioned so far, then it may be worth checking that you haven’t accidentally switched the system off.
We can’t tell you exactly how to switch the eco mode on your vehicle on and off, sadly. This is because it is going to vary drastically from vehicle to vehicle. However, once again, that vehicle’s manual is going to come in incredibly useful.
Have a flick through your vehicle’s manual and it should tell you exactly how to do it. Normally, it involves pressing a few buttons on your dashboard screen’s menu. Nothing too crazy.
Your Vehicle’s Battery Is Dying
If, by now, you still haven’t worked out why that eco light is not working, then you have one more option before you go to the garage. That is to check your vehicle’s battery.
Obviously, if your vehicle’s battery is starting to die, then it will switch off various systems in your vehicle. One of these systems will be your vehicle’s eco-friendly system.
If those eco-friendly systems are shut off, then that eco light is never going to come on.
This means that you will need to check your battery. If it is flat, then charge it. If it is dying, then replace it.
By this point, most issues with the eco light in a vehicle should have been fixed.
When To Go To a Garage
You should go to a garage if none of the solutions that we have mentioned here are not working. This is because there could be a whole host of other issues with your vehicle, and some of these can be tricky to diagnose and solve on your own.
What you have to remember is that your vehicle is a rather complicated system of computers, sensors, and various components. Any one of them could be the issue.
If you head to a garage, then they will be able to get to the bottom of the problem and fix the issue far better than you would ever be able to fix the issue.
Of course, there is no sense in going to that garage unless you have exhausted all of the other solutions that we have given before. One of them should help you out.
Conclusion
There are several reasons why an eco light may not be working on your vehicle. However, in the vast majority of cases, it is simply because you are not driving your vehicle in an eco-friendly way.
If the light comes on and off sporadically, then control your acceleration. If it doesn’t come on at all, drive for a while, or maybe check that you haven’t switched the eco-friendly mode off.
If you still can’t quite get to the bottom of the issue, then you will probably need to head to the garage, particularly if that check engine light is on.
It indicates a much more serious problem with your vehicle.