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Rant - why took away the temp gauge

D

Denly

Golden Member
Why are they took away the temp gauge on some of the newer car? In my case Mini.

The gauge is the only thing that tell me if the thermostat is giving out, so now a day have to wait till their car get no heat to know they need new thermostat? For people that go to dealership they have to pay $100 diagnostic fee as well.

My gf drive a mini and I only sit in once a while, a couple month ago I told her heat feel very low, thermostat maybe gone. She said no it is fine(car dumb). Now she complaint there is no heat.

Another rant, a thermostat cost over $100? wtf? I missed in the old day that I can buy one from any store for $5 and just plug it in.
 
sure there isn't one in some menu somewhere? you should be able to also get it off OBD2 with a $4 bluetooth adapter and your phone.

Denly said:
Another rant, a thermostat cost over $100? wtf? I missed in the old day that I can buy one from any store for $5 and just plug it in.
Click to expand...

i guess that's the bmw premium. one's i've seen for my honda/toyota are ~$10-15
 
PottedMeat said:
sure there isn't one in some menu somewhere? you should be able to also get it off OBD2 with a $4 bluetooth adapter and your phone.



i guess that's the bmw premium. one's i've seen for my honda/toyota are ~$10-15
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I am very positive it is not anywhere in the menu, they thing is I can tell from the temp gauge when it start to go. And it likely cost the maker nothing?

Nay, the one for e46 can be had for $50. It is the mini premium.
 
You have a temp sender. The temp sender is connected to your ECU and can be read through your OBDII connection. What happens should your thermostat stick open or closed? It will set a CEL (Check Engine Light). When you check the code, it will say something like cooling system malfunction possibility of thermostat stuck, check fluid level, etc. Keep in mind that thermostats don't go out like they used to in cars of yesteryear. Monitoring your cooling temperature is not as necessary these days. It is much easier to see a CEL on your dash than a creeping hotter temp gauge.
 
Raizinman said:
You have a temp sender. The temp sender is connected to your ECU and can be read through your OBDII connection. What happens should your thermostat stick open or closed? It will set a CEL (Check Engine Light). When you check the code, it will say something like cooling system malfunction possibility of thermostat stuck, check fluid level, etc. Keep in mind that thermostats don't go out like they used to in cars of yesteryear. Monitoring your cooling temperature is not as necessary these days. It is much easier to see a CEL on your dash than a creeping hotter temp gauge.
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No consistent CEL, she did told me it come on some time and off on the next start.
 
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master_shake_ said:
you don't need it.

if you need a thermostat you get a p0128 code.

if it overheats the temp light comes on.
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I realize many people won't pay attention until it's too late, but for those of us who will, having a temperature gauge lets us pull over and stop the car before it's overheated.
 
nakedfrog said:
I realize many people won't pay attention until it's too late, but for those of us who will, having a temperature gauge lets us pull over and stop the car before it's overheated.
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This. Both my cars have temp. gauges, and I'm glad for them. My Trans Am has intermittent fan issues, and if I'm sitting in traffic to too long I will need to crank my heat to cool it down. My Buick, never really any issues except when I was waiting in line for a car wash the other day. Windows down, heat cranked, temp gauge went down to normal.
 
Are you aware that for cars built in last twenty five years, temperature gauge only moves if the temperature is grossly out of range? Very few cars these days have truely analog temperature gauge. Most of them are glorified idiot lights.
 
sontakke said:
Are you aware that for cars built in last twenty five years, temperature gauge only moves if the temperature is grossly out of range?
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Yeah, like when you start it up cold and you want to know when it's okay to get on it. 🙂

I prefer analog gauges, or the equivalent in digital, and I like a lot of them.
I like to see temps and pressures move like they should, when they should.

I don't particularly like message centers or idiot lights.

With a voltmeter, I can see the voltage dropping long before it would trigger a message or light, for example.

I like to see the oil pressure doing what it should.

If I'm towing, I'd like to know the trans temp, rather than get a light or message after it has gotten too hot.
 
sontakke said:
Are you aware that for cars built in last twenty five years, temperature gauge only moves if the temperature is grossly out of range? Very few cars these days have truely analog temperature gauge. Most of them are glorified idiot lights.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I have a scangauge II mounted in my cruze to monitor water temp, tranny temp, and boost. I was a little surprised to find out the needle sits at the exact same place that means "hot" from 175-235 F.
 
master_shake_ said:
you don't need it.

if you need a thermostat you get a p0128 code.

if it overheats the temp light comes on.
Click to expand...

Sometimes, overheating is not the issue, but rather it not getting warm enough because the thermostat is stuck open. This results in really crappy gas mileage and possibly leads to plugging the catalytic converter if left too long. And that kind of failure doesn't always throw a code.

sontakke said:
Are you aware that for cars built in last twenty five years, temperature gauge only moves if the temperature is grossly out of range? Very few cars these days have truely analog temperature gauge. Most of them are glorified idiot lights.
Click to expand...

Yes, some cars lie to you, but the gauges in my 99 Camaro, 02 Trailblazer, and 07 Silverado are all fairly accurate within a few degrees. The Silverado has the most accurate gauge of the three, followed by the Camaro and then the Trailblazer.

Perhaps GM cares a smidgen more about telling you about your engine temperature 😛
 
XabanakFanatik said:
Exactly. I have a scangauge II mounted in my cruze to monitor water temp, tranny temp, and boost. I was a little surprised to find out the needle sits at the exact same place that means "hot" from 175-235 F.
Click to expand...

In many cars, there is a different sensor for the gauge and for the computer.

In many cars there is just one sensor for both.
 
sontakke said:
Are you aware that for cars built in last twenty five years, temperature gauge only moves if the temperature is grossly out of range? Very few cars these days have truely analog temperature gauge. Most of them are glorified idiot lights.
Click to expand...

I do aware the last 5-6 yrs gauges starting to disappear, and even it is grossly out of range IT IS STILL BETTER THAN NOT HAVE ONE.
 
And in the old days there were lots of cars without a tach 😉

Our Forester doesn't have a temp gauge. Annoying? Yes. Oddly enough one of the available digital gauges is oil temp! At any rate, if I cared that much I would have bought a different car.
 
nakedfrog said:
I realize many people won't pay attention until it's too late, but for those of us who will, having a temperature gauge lets us pull over and stop the car before it's overheated.
Click to expand...

Do you also realize that the other warnings come on *before it's overheated* as well? The arbitrary temp that will create a warning code isn't a danger temp, it is the point in which they feel you should stop operating the vehicle. That would be asinine. The only one that is like that is oil pressure, but as we know, that's a different beast entirely because of how rapidly it drops when there is an issue.
 
It use to be they cheaped out on the tachometer. My mom has a '13 Forester and it just has an idiot light for coolant temp. She does have a tachometer, but an automatic transmission, so I digress.

I like my '02 car with temperature gauge, manual windows, locks, and transmission. I guess my counter to your rant is buy older car. Or jump ahead to a battery electric vehicle.
 
natto fire said:
It use to be they cheaped out on the tachometer. My mom has a '13 Forester and it just has an idiot light for coolant temp. She does have a tachometer, but an automatic transmission, so I digress.

I like my '02 car with temperature gauge, manual windows, locks, and transmission. I guess my counter to your rant is buy older car. Or jump ahead to a battery electric vehicle.
Click to expand...

You Sir is correct, my last 4 cars are e46, gen 1 Ford Focus(best car ever), 02 Passat, 02 e46, looks like my next car will be pre 05 as well.

All manual
 
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