[DaveN]

I have been bit by the coolant loss faery twice now, the last time with ugly results. I know we're all supposed to look at the gauges while driving but there are times when I actually look at the road and traffic for extended periods of time <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.png" class="smilie" alt="" />

I don't know if my car isn't working as intended but I would like more than a pinned gauge next time. I am thinking about building a audible alarm when the upper temp zone is nigh. If there is an aftermarket product someone has heard of I would like to know otherwise the cct isn't too hard to create. A simple piezo buzzer could save me a lot of money - next time <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/rolleyes.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Cloud9...68]

What a great idea - that should be standard equipment on every car. There are all kinds of outlets for gauges on the net - I would contact someone like eGauges or Summit Racing and ask if something like this is already commercially available. I would think it should be. Let us know what you find.

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[flash]

yeah yeah - and let's put one on the tach, the speedo, and the voltmeter. ooh - and let's assign different ring tones to the various gauges. lol



how about we learn to look at the gauges every 5-10 seconds, like we're supposed to? after all, we learned to do it with looking in our mirrors every 3 seconds.



seriously, it's not a horrible idea, but where do you stop? also, the temp gauge/temp sender is pretty slow moving. by the time you hit the "ouch" mark, it's already too late. you really have to watch it climbing and look for unusual behavior, and then react before it gets to the danger zone. if the needle is sneaking up on you, you really just aren't paying enough attention.



now, if you want to add a faster acting sender, you might be onto something. i've certainly had occasion to want something like that. i narrowly escaped tragic failure twice when an oil line blew. only the gauge and idiot light, and the fact that i look at my dash every couple of seconds, saved me.

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[94SilverCab]

I want a t-belt/bs belt monitor...



Jay

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[MB968]

My TecGT on my Mazda can be set to switch on a light if any of the sensors exceed a predetermined (set by the user) high or low voltage. So, my idea would be to use something similar to turn on the big red lights at the middle of our dash when a preset voltage is exceeded. It would be easy to tap into that light and give it a parallel ground path that would turn it on under these circumstances. You'd just have to find a way to have a high or low voltage, if it was exceeded, to ground that path. I'm not sure how a "shift light" is triggered (probably by frequency rather than voltage). If it can be triggered by high voltage, this could probably work. Other than that, maybe there is someone else on this forum who knows of available hardware to do this.

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[DaveN]

Yea, I can build a simple cct to do this so not too much of a problem. Mostly I was unsure of whether the car was actually supposed to do anything, seems not. I don't want a ringtone or any more clutter as far as another custom gauge <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.png" class="smilie" alt="" /> , just a simple buzz. During spirited driving some of us don't catch every gauge at 10 second intervals so a little buzz now and again couldn't hurt. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/rolleyes.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[flash]

interesting - during spirited driving, or on the track, is when i spend the most time looking at the dash. i sit more upright, and am paying attention to everything a lot more. i deliberately force myself not to look at anything for more than a second or two, and then move on to something else. i usually establish a "glance routine" (a fixed order of what i look at - i.e. dash - left mirror - windshield - right mirror - windshield - center mirror - dash - windshield - repeat)

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[Lear35A]

Come on, let'd do it right guys...like the jets. First there's a gauge for everything. Then there's an annunciator panel with orange (cautionary) or red (warning) lights that come on if, among other things, a gauge goes out of range. Then there's a master warning light mounted prominently in the panel that comes on right in front of you if an annunciator light comes on. Oh, and there are audible alarms for certain things on top of that too.



<img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/tongue.png" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[rhudeboye]

The buzz makes sense.



Hard to imagine with all the safety/warning dings in cars that a temp audible was never implemented. Leave a door ajar-ding, leave the sunroof open- ding. Don't fasten your belts- ding ding ding. But no one sees the need to send a strong signal for something as catastrophic as your engine about to blow.

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[94SilverCab]

[quote name='Lear35A' timestamp='1355867868' post='136359']

Come on, let'd do it right guys...like the jets. First there's a gauge for everything. Then there's an annunciator panel with orange (cautionary) or red (warning) lights that come on if, among other things, a gauge goes out of range. Then there's a master warning light mounted prominently in the panel that comes on right in front of you if an annunciator light comes on. Oh, and there are audible alarms for certain things on top of that too.



<img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/tongue.png" class="smilie" alt="" />

[/quote]



Is this the interior of the Flashmobile???



Jay

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[Lear35A]

No, here's the Flashmobile. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.png" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[flash]

hey - where's my milk crate?

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[John]

The coolant temp sender that drives the temp gauge is the 2nd sensor from the front of the engine on the left side, the one with two seperate wire leads. Inside are a temp sensor and a switch. The sensor is the wider of the two connector blades, and its wire goes directly to the gauge. The other is a normally open temp-actuated switch, and its wire goes three places. Should the temp become excessive, the switch closes and does the following: actuates the CWL, grounds one of the CU inputs (labeled "115 degC"), and turns on a lamp in the temp gauge. So, the driver is alerted of a coolant temp problem by two visual warnings, the CWL and Temp Gauge lights. Presumably the switch reacts more quickly than does the gauge. Unfortunately, the lamp in the temp gauge isn't included in the key-on bulb test, so it could be burned out. To test it, pull the narrow connector, ground it, turn the key to run (don't start the engine), and the temp gauge lamp should come on. It's interesting to speculate just what the CU does with news that the switch has closed. Curiosity would have me start the engine, short the wire to ground, and see what happens, but my 968 is all prep'ed for winter hibernation. If one of you tries it before spring, let us know. If you want to persue an audible warning, this switch signal could be used, but since we don't know what's inside the CU, you'd want to interface with a high impedance driver for the buzzer.

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[MB968]

In my experience working with engine management control units, there only a couple of things where coolant temperature are part of the equation. There are several fuel enrichments, like starting enrichment, and enrichments due to rapid throttle increase, and enrichments when the injectors are turned back on after being off due to a decel. But, all of these enrichments add fuel at lower coolant temperatures, and once the coolant is up to normal operating temp no enrichment is added.



Also, at low coolant temps, there is usually more ignition timing added.



Other than that, I am not aware that coolant temp is used by any ECU. So, especially if the high limit toggle is used for the buzzer, I can't see an issue.

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[flash]

for whatever reason, there are quite a few maps in our ECU that use coolant temp, and i'm not sure what all of them are doing, but after looking at them, i tend to agree that they are not likely to interfere with a high temp alarm.

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[DaveN]

John - Yea I know that I need a hi Z cct but thanks for the reminder. The little tiny light at the top of the gauge may or may not be functioning correctly and I will test that when the engine is back together.

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