Useless temp guage

[donc]

I have yet to see the temperature guage register anything but normal once the engine has warmed up on my 1.8t. This applied even when loosing all coolant due to a split hose. Surely especially during this warm weather the guage should rise slightly at times. Is there a way around this? As it is the guage is useless!

[suzublu]

https://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/for...d.php?p=479038. Use this on board display
or a hans gauge/ separate gauge

[Tracker]

You can always drive with the diagnostic temp display on. It's quite instructive to do regularly and see exactly what the engine is doing in different driving conditions.

[donc]

I didn't know about this! Many thanks

[SD1too]

Hello Don,

Here is the guide to displaying the actual coolant temperature (test 7.0) in your instrument pack. It's a good idea to check it now and again.

Originally Posted by donc

Surely especially during this warm weather the guage should rise slightly at times.

No, I'm afraid it won't. In common with other manufacturers it's designed to remain at reading "normal" for coolant temperatures between 75 and 115˚C. But it's worth remembering that an engine with a correctly operating cooling system should maintain the optimum temperature even during changes in the weather.

A bit of automotive history might be helpful to explain the "useless" temperature gauge. When engines had continuously running mechanical radiator fans the coolant temperature was automatically regulated when road speed fell. Even so, their gauges had a form of "damping" which slowed the reaction of the needle to temperature fluctuations. This could result in the driver observing at times a slight increase, as you've said Don.

With the change to electrically driven fans, modern engines have no established forced cooling when the car's road speed falls so the coolant temperature rises rapidly. If a more accurate temperature gauge was fitted in these circumstances the driver would be alarmed at the engine's temperature cycling between about 93˚ and 104˚ as the car encountered different road conditions (your 1.8T electric fan doesn't turn on until 104˚ is reached). You can imagine that dealers would be overwhelmed by disgruntled owners and the marque would be branded as unreliable. That's why manufacturers limit the indications that the gauge can give.

Simon

[suzublu]

Already put the link in my reply Simon 👍

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[SD1too]

So you have Ron, my apologies.
I didn't notice it lurking above the massive picture of burr walnut trim and the soft leather gearstick gaiter.

Simon

[MSS]

Originally Posted by SD1too

...........

No, I'm afraid it won't. In common with other manufacturers it's designed to remain at reading "normal" for coolant temperatures between 75 and 115˚C. But it's worth remembering that an engine with a correctly operating cooling system should maintain the optimum temperature even during changes in the weather.

A bit of automotive history might be helpful to explain the "useless" temperature gauge. When engines had continuously running mechanical radiator fans the coolant temperature was automatically regulated when road speed fell. Even so, their gauges had a form of "damping" which slowed the reaction of the needle to temperature fluctuations. This could result in the driver observing at times a slight increase, as you've said Don.

With the change to electrically driven fans, modern engines have no established forced cooling when the car's road speed falls so the coolant temperature rises rapidly. If a more accurate temperature gauge was fitted in these circumstances the driver would be alarmed at the engine's temperature cycling between about 93˚ and 104˚ as the car encountered different road conditions (your 1.8T electric fan doesn't turn on until 104˚ is reached). You can imagine that dealers would be overwhelmed by disgruntled owners and the marque would be branded as unreliable. That's why manufacturers limit the indications that the gauge can give.

Simon

The temperature indicator fitted to the 75 serves its purpose - which is to indicate sustained temperatures under or over the 'normal operating' range.

A lot of modern cars do not have any temperature indication other than highlighting when an exceptional state occurs.

If the owner wants a continuous readout of engine temperature, the solution is to a) fit one such as shown in member subulzu's post b) use the diagnostic diplay or c) purchase a generic handheld code reader for circa £20. For the reasons explained in Simon's post, the information from such continuous monitoring devices would need to be used judiciouly.

[BillyMG]

I've been using my phone and Torque Pro having recently had a bit of a saga with my KV6 coolant. I've searched the forum and it looks like there was a digital temp gauge a while back which would alert you if it went over maximum but from what I can gather it was a bespoke product and I can't find anything similar. I like you am entirely paranoid about my coolant temperature and would also like a solution so will follow this thread closely. I presume the talk around the instrument pack means you could display it on the digital screen but as both of mine are entirely unreadable and quite expensive to repair it's not really a solution for me. Plus I'd much rather just have a dedicated gauge or digital readout.

[suzublu]

Originally Posted by BillyMG

I've been using my phone and Torque Pro having recently had a bit of a saga with my KV6 coolant. I've searched the forum and it looks like there was a digital temp gauge a while back which would alert you if it went over maximum but from what I can gather it was a bespoke product and I can't find anything similar. I like you am entirely paranoid about my coolant temperature and would also like a solution so will follow this thread closely. I presume the talk around the instrument pack means you could display it on the digital screen but as both of mine are entirely unreadable and quite expensive to repair it's not really a solution for me. Plus I'd much rather just have a dedicated gauge or digital readout.

It displays on the tripmeter, so unless your mileage display is goosed, it'll be legible 😎

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