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What does the cruise control warning light mean?

A certain warning light has been on in my car: it’s the same exact light that turns on when I use cruise control, only it’s orange instead of green. Weirdly, it still turns green when I set my cruise speed, and it seems to work fine. What does the cruise control warning light actually mean?

avatar
Patrick Price · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
Great question! The cruise control light will light up orange for one of two reasons; either the system has detected an issue and is alerting you or the cruise control is on but a speed has not been set.
When everything is functioning properly, your cruise control light will be orange when you first turn cruise control on. When you set a speed, it will turn green. In this situation, the orange light isn’t actually a warning light; it’s just letting you know that cruise control is on but hasn’t been set to a speed yet.
Since the light turns green and the cruise works normally whenever you set a speed, I would bet that you’ve simply left the cruise on for a few days. Try locating and pressing the main on/off button for your cruise control. Odds are, that orange light will turn right off.
If it doesn’t turn off, you might actually have an issue. If the cruise light stays on orange even when the cruise control is turned off, then it is in fact a warning light. It should still be safe to drive the car: just don’t use cruise control.
When you can, you should have a mechanic diagnose the cause of the warning light. Here are some common issues that would cause the light to turn on:
  • Faulty brake switch
  • Blown fuse
  • Malfunctioning speed sensor
Once you’ve got your cruise control warning light sorted out, take a moment to do your annual
car insurance
review. It’s important to do this once a year so you don’t end up overpaying.
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