Yaris, Scion xD, Honda Fit - no water temp gauge

Because, unlike a car, a refrigerator's refrigerant system is hermetically sealed. It CANNOT leak unless its physically punctured. Refrigerators don't fail by losing refrigerant, they fail when the compressor locks up or burns out.

That is without a doubt the STUPIDEST analogy I've ever read.

And if you really see a car as equivalent to an 'appliance,' then we've really got nothing to discuss anyway.

Reply to
Steve
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Oh, REALLY?

That's patently nonsense, and I can give you a concrete example. The whole point is that the gauge will tell you when some things are wrong that a dipshit light will not. My wife's car (1993 Chrysler LH) has an analog temperature gauge which, despite actually being routed second-hand through the engine computer, has come in very handy. That car has dual electric cooling fans, and a few years ago one fan motor failed. Because it had a GAUGE and not an idiot light, she was able to see that it was running just slightly hotter than normal (about 1/2 division, or maybe 15 degrees F) in traffic, so we opened the hood and checked things out. The one remaining fan *SOUNDED* normal, so I would have ever noticed the problem without that gauge, and my wife could have been stranded somewhere or I could have wound up with a pair of warped cylinder heads and a ruined engine if the second fan had failed also. Instead I was able to put the fan motor on order and then replace it without ever having to take the car out of service except for the actual time required to change the fan motor (about half an hour).

Similarly, I've had oil pressure gauges behaving in an abnormal way warn me that the oil filter had collapsed internally and was bypassing all the time- something that an idiot light would never do.

Lights are ONLY useful to call attention to a reading that's gone out of range. Gauges warn before the problem gets critical. The best of both worlds is a light that tells you to check the gauges.

Reply to
Steve

Then you must have really crappy engines....

Reply to
Steve

Ah, so it CAN leak. Wouldn't you want to know if that happened?

The point is, something could go wrong at any time, refrigerator or car. Wouldn't you want a gauge showing you at a moment's notice as the refrigerant is slowly leaking out, so that you don't end up with a warm fridge and spoiled food?

of COURSE that's abnormal. But then, so is the car overheating.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

You really don't understand how the world works, do you.

Yes, the car is an appliance--for 99.9% of the people out there. Yet you, somehow, think that your desire to have a temp gauge that behaves the way you want it means that it's a necessity.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

Hardly. There's a car, actually a plethora of them, for every taste.

At any rate, now we know what your ACTUAL complaint is. You can't find a car to suit your particular tastes.

Ain't that a bitch.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

My 2001 Trans Am has gauges. And a "check gauges" idiot light. And they appear to either be real gauges or very convincing software "clones" - oil pressure starts high at a cold start, varies with RPM and is lower at idle when the engine is warm. It even registers a bit higher when I run 10W30 in it vs 5W30.

Of course, it didn't come with a shift light.

Ray

Reply to
ray

Unless most of the leaks ended up being at the gauge.

Reply to
Steve Austin

The probability of a rock flying into the condesor coils underneath my fridge and causing a leak is astronomically low. The odds of a rock nicking a tube in my radiator is not nearly as low (lower if the car has A/C because the condensor would take the hit first....). Also there are about 4 to 9 pressurized rubber hoses and 8 to 18 hose clamps all waiting to leak on a car cooling system, not to mention fans that can fail, thermostats that get sticky, and radiator caps that quit holding pressure, etc. etc. And that's just the SUBTLE failures that will first show up by mild overheating, not the disasters like a burst hose or blown head gasket.

A fridge failing is FAR more abnormal (and less expensive when it does happen) than a car running hot.

Reply to
Steve

Yes, I do. The manufacturers build for the majority of nitwits. I just don't necessarily LIKE the way the world works....

Actually, >>I

Reply to
Steve

Anyone who actually uses a shift light should stick to driving automatics.... ;-)

Reply to
Steve

Again, its not MY problem, I'm just commenting on it as a symptom of how ignorant of how a car works the average driver has become.

Besides I have 5 cars that suit my taste beautifully, and there are plenty of others I'd love to have (a Challenger SRT-8 tops the list, but that aint gonna happen unless I were to sell the '69 R/T convertible and that's not bloody likely)

Reply to
Steve

No, it's a symptom of how appliance-like the cars have become--which depends on, and also feeds, the fact that auto transportation has become a necessity--not a hobby, not a luxury.

When the Model T came out, you had to know everything about the car and be your own mechanic. Of course, that was OK back then. Now imagine the Model T being the primary source of transportation today.

Face it: technology starts out in the labs, then hits the early adopters, then eventually becomes mainstream--and appliance-like. I don't have to know how a computer works just to be able to take and send pictures on my cell phone.

You don't like that technology becomes an appliance. Tough shit. That's how life works.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

True. But the probability of your $900 fridge being a cheap piece of Chinese junk and leaking coolant and ruining the food in your fridge is MUCH greater today than it ever has been.

Hence, it would be prudent to protect your food investment, if nothing else, by using such a gauge.

And modern refrigerators are Chinese junk made for the sole purpose of making the manufacturer money by appearing JUST ENOUGH to be an actual fridge. The details are different from the car, but the risk of failure is just as great.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

The purpose of the shift light is for drag racing. When the nitrous kicks in, it's important that I don't hit the factory rev limiter.

(why? because the factory rev limiter works by dropping a cylinder, and if the nitrous is flowing and I don't get a spark, I'll probably end up blowing the engine sky high.)

And anyone who makes a comment about shift lights and automatics probably doesn't (a) bracket race or (b) have 400+ hp on tap. :)

Ray

Reply to
Ray

no dude, it's the other way around. the engineers doctor the gauge so it only tells you two things - normal and too hot, and only one of those is important. left to their own devices, they'd leave the waste of space out. it's the marketing lizards that insist on a gauge because people like you think they need one and get all amped up about a subject they haven't bothered to analyze or don't understand. even when given the facts.

Reply to
jim beam

like the ignorant average driver that thinks the "temp gauge" in his car is actually telling him anything other than "normal" and "too hot"?

Reply to
jim beam

An interesting note to the "Godsend" GM shift light is that it was operated by the same circuit (and then slightly modified by vehicle speed rationality logic) as the torque converter lock up circuit used on automatic trans models. Sure miss *that* feature :-)

Toyota MDT in MO

Reply to
Comboverfish

I forgot about that "shift light" - my truck has one... the upshift to save gas nag light. On my old Jimmy I just took the bulb out. On my current truck, where I like the steering wheel it just blocks it.

Ray

Reply to
ray

Comboverfish!

Stop hanging around in r.a.t (hey, how about that!) and come back to us!!!

As for those lights, I had one in a Jetta, and got WORSE fuel economy using it!

Reply to
Hachiroku

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