Temperature gauge question

[Sloppy96]

Hi All,

My temperature gauge sits in the middle when the car is warmed up, is that normal?
The temp in my others cars has usually hovered a little over a quarter of the way up.

Thanks

 

[blwnsmoke]

Hi All,

My temperature gauge sits in the middle when the car is warmed up, is that normal?
The temp in my others cars has usually hovered a little over a quarter of the way up.

Thanks

Yes it sits just a hair below the 1/2 mark. The lie-o-meter will stay there regardles off temp once it hits that point. Ford vehicles for the longest time have been lie-o-meters.. mostly so customers aren't freaking out when it bounces up and down.. but if it were to overheat, it will jump up very quickly.

 

[JFUSION]

yup you can't count on much information shown by these electronic guages, just about all you can get out of them is fully warmed and fully cool or overheated.

The only car I had with an accurate temp guage was a Dodge SRT4, that meter went up and down every few minutes because it was reading distinct temps, it made me worried when I first saw it happen as very few vehicles operate like that.

 

[w1kedz]

Yes it sits just a hair below the 1/2 mark. The lie-o-meter will stay there regardles off temp once it hits that point. Ford vehicles for the longest time have been lie-o-meters.. mostly so customers aren't freaking out when it bounces up and down.. but if it were to overheat, it will jump up very quickly.

I don't know that it's a "lie-o-meter"... I'm sure it's averaging the temperature over the last x intervals so that it can stay smooth and consistent ...

 

[JDraper]

I don't know that it's a "lie-o-meter"... I'm sure it's averaging the temperature over the last x intervals so that it can stay smooth and consistent ...

If it's like any of the recent Ford temperature gauges, it's actually just a switch that has Low, Normal and High settings. It is basically a needle version of an idiot light. They control the sweep rate with a capacitive circuit that lets it move like it was a real gauge.

 

[blwnsmoke]

I don't know that it's a "lie-o-meter"... I'm sure it's averaging the temperature over the last x intervals so that it can stay smooth and consistent ...

It's a complete lie-o-meter. It doesn't give you any information except Normal or Overheated just like someone else just posted.

I have an F250 with an aftermarket temp gauge installed, it is tapped into the thermostat wire so I get an exact readout of the temps as a digital number. My normal operating temp is about 195*. The gauge reads normal at 140ish and it can go all the way to 225* before it even starts to budge up.

My tranny temp gauge runs about 140* as an average temp, my gauge shows normal before it even hits 100* on my aftermarket tranny gauge. As I said, you can't trust them at all except for when it is too late.

 

[w1kedz]

I still find this really hard to believe... if the temp gauge is supposed to be representative of the operating temperature of the engine, and it doesn't accurately represent that temperature, then it seems that this would be cause for warranty repair, and/or lawsuits. If the temp gauge went from middle, to overheating with no indication of rise in between, I'd be very upset.

I just went and tested this theory... I cold started the car (temp was at very bottom).. I watched the gauge rise relative to the warming of the engine... I stopped the car after 5 minutes... it was around 40% (50% being dead center where it normally hovers during operation).... I waited 10 minutes then went back out and started the car.. it immediately came up at around 25%.. this indicates the gauge is accurately showing the temperature.... I'm calling bogus on the "cold, regular, overheat" statement

 

[Car 54]

Coming from the BMW community, we refer to these gauges as "buffered". Middle position is considered operating temperature(s). You won't see 190 degrees and a change at 200 degrees. The needle sits in the middle.

If you're talking about testing outside of operating temperatures, you'll see the gauge deflect. Once outside of operating temp, cool or hot, will show some variability.

Believe it! It's done by almost all cars...some don't even have a temp gauge these days. The average consumer is not comfortable with the amount of variance in water temps...especially on new cars. Newer cars with electronic water pumps will run a car at 200+ degrees to increase fuel economy.

Hope this helps explain.

 

[Sloppy96]

Glad its normal, thought my car was running hot.

Thanks

 

[Fab]

I tried a while ago to find the temperature guage on my Limited. Can someone tell me how to display it? Thanks.

 

[blwnsmoke]

Your left lcd screen, use the left steering wheel controls. Should be the first menu, hit to the right 2 times I believe.

 

[Fab]

I previously went through the entire left LCD screen options and couldn't find a temperature guage. the top menu option as i recall only displays the miles until empty and a tachometer. Not sure what i'm missing or if i have to do some sort of programming to display a temperature guage. Is it possible it doesn't display on a Limited?

 

[GWA1]

I previously went through the entire left LCD screen options and couldn't find a temperature guage. the top menu option as i recall only displays the miles until empty and a tachometer. Not sure what i'm missing or if i have to do some sort of programming to display a temperature guage. Is it possible it doesn't display on a Limited?

Using display screen(top screen with the gauge symbol) scroll right. It's the third setting. Should show round tach with bar fuel and bar temp.
If you set the memory setting( in settings) "on" it will always show up instead of reverting to first setting.
Hope this helps. 2011 limited

From pages 28,29, and 30 of owners guide..
Display Mode
Press the right arrow on the left steering wheel mounted button when
display mode is selected. The boxes in the upper right corner of the
screen indicate that there are multiple screens that you can navigate
through. Each press of the right arrow will navigate to the next screen
until the last screen is reached. The white highlighted box indicates
which of the screens you are currently viewing:
Note: Regardless of display mode chosen, when SST is activated, the
cluster will change to the tachometer if not already selected, and the M
will light up in the shift select indicator and also in the message center.
Refer to Automatic transmission operation in the Driving chapter.
Distance to empty (DTE) + Fuel
gauge + Bar tachometer

Distance to empty (DTE): Shows approximate fuel level before the
fuel tank reaches empty. The value is dynamic and can change (raise
or lower) depending on driving style.
• Fuel gauge: Indicates approximately how much fuel is left in the fuel
tank. The fuel gauge may vary slightly when the vehicle is in motion
or on a grade. When the fuel level becomes low (50 miles [80 km] to
empty), the level indicator will change to amber. When the fuel level
becomes critically low (0 miles [0 km] to empty), the level indicator
will change to red.
Note: When a MyKey is in use, low fuel warnings will display earlier
.
• Bar tachometer: Indicates the engine speed in revolutions per minute.
Driving with your tachometer pointer continuously at the top of the
scale may damage the engine.
Note: You can also choose to have only the fuel gauge show in this
mode. Refer to Display > Gauge Display found in the table under the
Settings section later in this chapter.
Round analog tachometer +
Fuel gauge

Round analog tachometer +
Fuel gauge + Engine coolant
temperature gauge
For descriptions of the tachometer
and fuel gauge, see the description
listed previously.
• Engine coolant temperature
gauge: Indicates engine coolant
temperature. At normal operating
temperature, the level indicator
will be in the normal range. If the engine coolant temperature exceeds
the normal range, stop the vehicle as soon as safely possible, switch
off the engine and let the engine cool.
Intelligent 4WD (if equipped) +
other gauges
For a description of the other
gauges, see the descriptions listed
previously.
• Intelligent all-wheel drive: shows
the 4WD mode that the vehicle is
in. Refer to Four-Wheel Drive
(4WD) system and Terrain
management in the Driving
chapter.

 

[Chicago Lion]

I had wondered the same thing. I am glad to know that somewhere in the middle is normal. I had noticed that my previous car ran much lower in the temperature guage.

 

[Fab]

Thanks GWA1 for the information!! Much appreciated.

 

[RandyH2]

To the IVT Team- I would like to display the tach, temp, fuel, AND fuel economy (just the number) at the same time. It seems like there is room on the display but no way to get them all up at the same time....

 

[JDraper]

To the IVT Team- I would like to display the tach, temp, fuel, AND fuel economy (just the number) at the same time. It seems like there is room on the display but no way to get them all up at the same time....

Same here.

 

[AZwoodman]

Temp gage

2013 explorer XLT
My temp gage moves to mid point smoothly but never raises any higher even when the service tech left my coolant cap off. I lost 3/4s of the reservoir but if I had not smelled antifreeze I would of never known.
I live in Arizona so I am use to cars running hot some times.
I take my car in for service a lot so I know the car is well taken care of and just got my 20K check up.
Bought the explorer from San Tan Ford and keep taking it back there for normal service and parts...so far no issues. They have all ways be nice to me.

So is my car normal or nuts?

TIA

 

[AZmom]

AZ - where do you take your Ex to get serviced?

I just hit 11k miles and have not experienced that.

 

[blwnsmoke]

Temp gauges on ford vehicles are dummy gauges. It will not ride above the mid point unless you are about to overheat, then it will move up rather quickly. It is like that on all fords.