[windiesel]

Originally Posted by Raajiv

ACI in the last month edition placed this as one of the accessory that can be eliminated from a modern car.Horrendous,i would say !!!!

Voila, another gem! ACI seems to be suffering from Foot in the Mouth Disease!!

[GTO]

94% of the community votes in favour of temp gauges

[Delta Wing]

An aviator's perspective on this issue.
Firstly, why do you want the temperature gauge? To monitor engine health and at that is necessary so that corrective action can be taken well before actual failure. So companies are now putting a warning light. What does it tell us? That there is a problem which may lead to failure. When the failure may occur is unknown based solely on the warning light (also, what if the light fails?). Secondly, a gauge will function throughout the operating temperature ranges providing health indications all the way from cool to dangerously hot. A warning will only operate in the range of the danger and hence is a late eye opener. Hence, most aircraft will have both a gauge AND a warning (light, audio, panel readouts, auto-transmitted warnings on radio and what have you) for major vital parameters. All talk of modern engines is moot, it does not stand to reason if you consider a span of 10 years when your today's 'modern' car has become old and rickety. People who don't look at the temp gauge do so at their own risk. Heck, I know people who don't look at the fuel gauge and have their cars flame out on them, does it mean we do away with fuel gauge? In aviation, pilots monitor the flight parameters (air speed, altitude, direction, attitude, bank angle and climb/descent-slip/skid) more regularly and engine parameters (RPM, jet pipe temperature or TGT, oil pressure etc) less reguarly. But monitor those parameters they do since they obviously can't just stop wherever their engine fails and call a mechanic. And I tend to think that a Sukhoi or an F-22 is modern enough. Hence, in a car, it's only a cost factor and not many people who buy a car would even look for a temperature gauge. So why should a carmaker short change the customers in the name of invincibility of a 'modern' engine? It's just an engine, modern or not and if the space shuttle can blow up due to a rubber seal failing (all to do with temperatures), so can any car. The question is, what is at risk and is it worth the money to avert it? Answer, an overheated/seized/costly engine is something I don't want to see, EVER, even if costs money (be it an irrationally expensive aeroplane at millions of dollars or a car worth 'only' a few lakh rupees). So can we have the good ol gauge back please (and also a warning, since we want it 'modern')? Cheerios.
PS- Somebody mentioned an oil pressure gauge too. Yes to that also.

[dushmish]

In a hot country like India temp guage (warning lamp) is a very important feature. @GTO, the second pic you have posted is of a Ritz (if I am not wrong). It has a temp warning light (again, if I am not wrong). The last on the RHS.

[vigsom]

oil pressure gauge - will tell you a lot about engine health(like the tacho tells about clutch health);common engines don't carry this - there is only an oil pressure switch

temperature gauge - in my opinion is a must.I find awkward driving a Honda City(which does not have one)

[anujmishra]

I do not think temp-gauge required in modern cars. Kind of matured electronics and computer present now to monitor. Those computers and electronics monitor better than us. It can be controlled with sensors and engine would come into limping mode if engine overheats.

There is 95% no benefit of temp-gauge. On highway if car's coolant pipe leaks or radiator fan goes bust no way people will see temp-gauge. People generally see speedometer on most of the drives other meters which does not fluctuates most of the time are not given attention. It will be only beneficial for the drivers who monitors all meters constantly despite no fluctuation. Therefore I have given 5 percent margin for them.

Once your coolant come out of radiator during high speed no way driver automatically look into temp-gauge unless he feels other symptoms from engine. I personally experienced this in a brand new SUMO during 90s. Please let me know how many percentage of engine seizure being averted by looking in temp-gauge.

So, now it is big NO for me if it is controlled by ECU.

[Delta Wing]

Originally Posted by GTO

Many new generation cars have entirely done away with the temperature gauge. Somehow, I'm not comfortable with this line of thought.

Which modern car overheats, right? Well, my Honda City Vtec - a hallmark of old school Japanese reliability - did so recently. A rat chewed the electronic fan's wiring. If it weren't for the temperature gauge (and thus, my switching the car off immediately), I'd have ended up with a roasted engine.

Please read GTO's beginning of the thread where his engine was saved from overheating.

Another example is my own esteem which overheated in journey from Bikaner to Delhi somewhere after Loharu (the Haryana route) and I drove it all the way to Delhi using heated-stop/cooled-move method. Electronics, computers can fail in which case their accuracy means nothing. However, you're entitled to your opinion. Cheers.

[cogweelz]

I would definitely say a big yes because:

1. It saved myself from making an tandoori of my engine and i was able to cut short my Looong drive down to the nearest workshop.

2. It helps us to keep our driving styles good without revving unwanted.

3. Electronics are susceptibility to err and when mixed with 'Human err' its catastrophic

4. You never save a billion dollar by removing it.

[shankar.balan]

it's absolute necessity is a no-brainer!
of course any vehicle needs a proper temp gauge! without it one's engine and other bits and pieces may be getting fried inside and one wont even know!

[Vid6639]

Do all the cars coming now have the blue and red temperature indicator or is it only red one which lights up when overheating occurs?

I prefer the gauge not just for overheating but to see when the engine reaches optimum temperature.

I usually keep the revs low below 2000rpm till the needle climbs up and also AC off till the temperature is optimum so as to not put additional load on the engine.

If there is a cold and hot indicator then that is somewhat acceptable. Cold start the blue light glows till the engine sufficiently warms up and for overheating the red one glows.

[tantragna]

A gauge/meter is the instrument to analyze a particular energy activity, may that be temperature, speed, current, etc. A person who is literate enough to read the measures requires needs it absolutely to analyze the status of the automobile.

Why I mentioned word 'literate' is because once my uncle's car driver didn't care to notice the temp reading in the Indica & unfortunately blew up the engine. It all happened because of a faulty cooling fan of the radiator. So the necessity lies on the user, whether he understands the engine language.

I would definitely need so voted 'YES', this is because even if the user is ignorant, either the adviser or mechanic or road side samaritan can know the status without much issues & assist accordingly.

Also need the Ammeter (current meter) too, since it would be helpful to know the electrical load at any given point of time & may help in loss of lighting or even basically the engine sparks (for a non-diesel engine).

[GTO]

Originally Posted by vid6639

Do all the cars coming now have the blue and red temperature indicator or is it only red one which lights up when overheating occurs?

Most modern cars now come with only a single warning lamp.

[ph03n!x]

I haven't voted in this poll - I am not sure, that's why.

My Indica DLX (2005) had a temp gauge, and I have never seen it even on the 1/2 mark. On the other hand, the Getz CRDi I drive now has a cold (blue) and a hot (red) warning lamp. The cold warning lamp goes off after a few KM of driving, while the hot never comes on (ofcourse, if it did it would mean am in a soup!!)

While I like the idea of knowing what my engine's temperature is (a la Indica), I am ok with the idea of knowing when it is too cold or when it is too hot (a la Getz). I am not sure but, if a LED can fail, so can an analogue temperature gauge, right? And what are the chances for either - I have a feeling that LEDs outlive an analogue gauge (of course not always!!).

I have driven W123 which tends to overheat -the gauge was oh so helpful to stop before things went haywire. But I don't think I would be worrying about that in, say, my Getz. Even if there was a rodent-initiated overheating problem, the red light *should* come on. If the rodent chewed through the radiator hose, as well as my red light indicator, then ya, am done! But then the rodent can choose to chew through the hose and the gauge's leads too...

[speedmiester]

I was saved by the good old temperature gauge yesterday.

Sitting at a traffic junction, I noticed the engine temperature rising in my Zen. I immediately pulled over to check and noticed that the plastic bit on top of the radiator to which the rubber pipe of the coolant tank is connected had broken resulting in coolant leakage and completely draining the coolant tank.

I waited for the engine to cool and drove slowly keeping an eye on the gauge to my home. Today morning I went to the MASS to have the radiator replaced and the coolant filled up.
Damage: 2720/-

If there was no temperature gauge in my car, there would be just an engine check light on, with no indication to the exact problem.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

If there was no temperature gauge in my car, there would be just an engine check light on, with no indication to the exact problem.

Most newer cars have a "high temperature warning light". This is independent, and over and above, the check engine light.

Glad to hear that you prevented your engine from getting fried though