# When i started my car the park light on the dash flashed **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [December 26, 2018, 12:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-i-started-my-car-the-park-light-on-the-dash-flashed/131437 "2018-12-26T12:16:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![josh7190severson\_146228](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58956e/32.png) [@josh7190severson\_146228](https://community.cartalk.com/u/josh7190severson_146228)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 12:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-i-started-my-car-the-park-light-on-the-dash-flashed/131437/1 "2018-12-26T12:16:39Z")
When I went to start my mazda 6 the park light on the dash flashed a few times then went away, but came on when I went to park it. It started up no problem, but is that normal. ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-i-started-my-car-the-park-light-on-the-dash-flashed/131437/2 "2018-12-26T14:20:32Z")
What is the park light? Do you mean the brake light? Check your brake fluid. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-i-started-my-car-the-park-light-on-the-dash-flashed/131437/3 "2018-12-26T14:59:18Z")
> [@Whitey](#): > > What is the park light? … or, is the OP referring to the LED behind the “P” on his transmission display? Can the OP please tell us exactly what a “park” light is? ---
**Author:** ![josh7190severson\_146228](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58956e/32.png) [@josh7190severson\_146228](https://community.cartalk.com/u/josh7190severson_146228)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-i-started-my-car-the-park-light-on-the-dash-flashed/131437/4 "2018-12-26T15:01:12Z")
yes the led behind the p on the transmission display ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 3:09pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-i-started-my-car-the-park-light-on-the-dash-flashed/131437/5 "2018-12-26T15:09:04Z")
I can’t speak from experience regarding Mazdas, but I can tell you that on Hondas, a flashing “D” light indicates an electronic fault in the transmission. So, it is entirely possible that Mazda uses the “P” LED in a similar way. If this is the case, more than likely your Owner’s Manual would mention something about this situation. Have you taken a look at the section of your manual that deals with controls and such? 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![shanonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@shanonia](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shanonia)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 4:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-i-started-my-car-the-park-light-on-the-dash-flashed/131437/6 "2018-12-26T16:55:45Z")
> [@VDCdriver](#): > > more than likely your Owner’s Manual would mention something about this situation. Yes. A dealer might have someone with a quick and correct answer, too. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-i-started-my-car-the-park-light-on-the-dash-flashed/131437/7 "2018-12-27T02:22:25Z")
Cars are designed to crank and start only in in P or N. It’s a safety thing, to prevent someone turning the key to “start” when in gear and accidentally rolling through the window of the 7-11. So one idea, the computer thinks the transmission isn’t in P when you turn the key to “start”, but the circuity that controls the safety interlock thinks it is in P, so it allowed you to start the car anyway, while the computer blinked that light saying you shouldn’t do that. That could be caused by a problem w/how the computer determines what position the shift lever is in, bad contacts or misadjusted etc.