Low washer fluid light
The windscreen washer reservoir is nearly empty, as read by a level sensor in the reservoir. The car drives normally, but you may soon be unable to clear road salt, spray or insects off the windscreen.
Yellow / amber
Not defined by regulation: a maker convention
What to do
Top up the washer reservoir under the bonnet soon, with screenwash mixed to the strength on the bottle for the season; in winter use a mix rated for frost, because plain water can freeze in the reservoir, pipes and on the glass. Until then, avoid running the washers dry: Peugeot's handbook says not to use the screenwash with an empty reservoir, to avoid damaging the wiper blades. Kia says the indicator stays on until the reservoir is refilled.
Makes differ: what this light means on your car, the other colours it may use for the symbol and what the car wants you to do are set by the manufacturer, so your car's owner's manual is the authority.
- Symbol
- Windscreen with a dashed fountain of spray
- Also called
- Screenwash light; Windscreen washer fluid warning; Low washer fluid level light
- Colour
- Yellow / amber
- Standard
- None — a maker convention, described here from 4 makers: Volkswagen, Kia, Hyundai, Peugeot
Where makes differ
Volkswagen's pages show an amber lamp. Kia fits a dedicated indicator on some models. Hyundai's 2026 Palisade (US) has no separate lamp: it reports low washer fluid through its master warning light and a message.
Not defined by regulation: a maker convention
Neither US FMVSS 101 (Tables 1 and 2) nor UN Regulation No. 121 lists this light, so no rule fixes its symbol or its colour. What follows is what the makers cited below say; other makes, and other model years of the same make, may draw it differently.
Neither FMVSS 101 nor UN R121 lists a washer-fluid tell-tale.
Other yellow / amber maker lights
All yellow / amber dashboard lights, regulated ones included
Sources
No regulation defines this light, so it is described from 4 carmakers' own manuals or owner pages, each fetched and checked on the date shown:
- Volkswagen: Volkswagen UK — Washer fluid level too low (amber lamp) — The indicator lamp lights up amber; fill up the washer fluid reservoir as soon as possible. checked 2026-09-28
- Volkswagen: Volkswagen UK — Windscreen washer fluid level (lamp and action) — The windscreen washer fluid reservoir is nearly empty; top up the fluid as the owner's manual describes. checked 2026-09-28
- Kia: Kia UK — Dashboard warning and indicator icons (PDF) (Low Washer Fluid Level Warning Indicator) — Lights and stays on when the windshield washer reservoir is nearly empty; refill it as soon as possible for the indicator to go out. checked 2026-09-28
- Hyundai: Hyundai owner's manual, 2026 Palisade (US) — Warning and indicator lights ((23) Master warning light) — The master warning light covers several conditions, 'Low washer fluid' among them, with a message on the cluster. checked 2026-09-28
- Peugeot: Peugeot handbook, 3008 and 5008 (UK English, 2024 edition, PDF) (Lighting and visibility — Screenwash) — To avoid damaging the wiper blades, do not operate the screenwash if the reservoir is empty, and only use it when the fluid will not freeze on the windscreen. checked 2026-09-28
Written in our own words; the makers' pages cover their own models only.