Stock Temperature Gauges

[dcb]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

...most of the current 'digitally-driven analog-pointer' temperature gauges are really nothing more than go/no-go gauges, because all they show you is: too cold, OK, too hot...and, basically, nothing inbetween.

I don't know what that is based on. It may seem like that because of the thermostat and/or the position of the sensor in the system, but mine are all analogue enough for my purposes. I can see it heating up smoothly, and reach the thermostat temperature, or exceed it under duress.

I even troubleshot my obd with the temp gauge. It wasn't getting quite warm enough to run all the readiness monitors, replaced the thermostat, saw the temp peak go up half a needles width, and got the all-clear from the computer.

[Nevyn]

I can vouch for this in my Elantra. Watching the SGII, for a couple days gave me rough numbers to use for where the needle is. It starts out just below C for cold. It hits C at 150 F, is at 1/4 up at 175, and hovers about a needle's width below the 1/2 line at 188-192. I'm betting halfway would be 200-210.

[wagonman76]

Mine are pretty accurate, and I know that the workings are simple because I know how they work. They go straight from the sender to the cluster, to a standard gauge movement. Nothing passes thru the ECM. And the senders themselves are simple, based on the charts in my service manuals.

First time I heard of this foolishness was in some Ford or Lincoln, they made the oil gauge function like an idiot light because drivers got worried when they saw the fluctuations. Maybe they should go back to putting in an optional gauge package for those who really care about what's going on in the engine and idiot lights for those who don't.

[ECONORAM]

I agree. I was pretty surprised to find out that my "temp" gauge does not start moving until the engine coolant hits about 135*. It is about 3 needle-widths shy of center for normal operations, which is actually 193-195* according to my Superchips, and the half-way" point is really 212*. I was pretty surprised at the temp differences. The gauge also drops a bit when I go down a long hill, but the engine temp remains unchanged per the Superchips.

[Formula413]

In my HCH the temp gauge is composed of bars that light up. Cold-130*F = 2 bars, 130*F-160*F = 4 bars, 160*F-??? = 6 bars. Not very useful. Normal operating temp is 179* per the SGII, not sure how hot it would have to get to illuminate more bars.

[gone-ot]

...if the pointer-needle "spins up" from resting to maximum and then returns back to its resting position upon engine start, it is being driven through the computer and is a digitally-driven, analog-displaying, stepper-motor type indicator, which means it "moves" to a set position that corresponds to the digital number the computer sends to it.

[dcb]

but the computer can send hundreds of distinct signals such that you cannot tell the difference while driving.

If there are programs that treat the meter like an idiot light, then those are idiot programs, but not a function of digitalness, per se. Such a "bandpass" can be made analogly as well

[gone-ot]

..."digitalness" can be either "precise" or "imprecise" depending upon *how* the computer has been programmed to "output" the number, ie: as a decimaled value (ie: 199.9*F ± 0.1*F) or as a rounded integer (ie: 200*F ± 2*F), etc.

...it all depends upon *how* the value is "exported" from the computer, which can (and usually is) different from how the value is "imported" or internally calculated by the computer.

...for instance, GM calculates MPH quite precisely from the wheel speed sensor (ie: the value SGII displays), HOWEVER when the value is sent to electronic dash speedometer it's automatically rounded UP by 2 MPH, to account for tire diameter variances, etc. (and to ensure that GM isn't *accidentally* telling people to drive faster than the speed limit).

...other manufacturers do similar "games."

[dcb]

yes, idiots do stupid things with computers, like pushbutton no-stop, or spam.

[gone-ot]

...yep, too many graduates of the "Microsoft Management School of (stupid) Thought Processes" for sure!