Elantra Temp Gage: Lack Of

No one can say for certain how far you can go. It depends on the reason for the overheating. It the thermostat is stuck partly open causing extremely hot running, you may very well be able to travel a good distance with no damage. If a hose breaks and you lose all coolant, you'd trash the engine in just a few miles.

I agree that a gauge is better, but 80% (maybe more) of drivers have no idea what is safe and what is not safe looking at the actual temperature of the coolant.

Old story, I don't know if it is true, but certainly possible. Back in the

50's a woman was complaining fuel mileage on her car was terrible. She went back to the dealer and everything checked OK. The mechanic suggested he rake a ride with her to assess driving habits. Woman got into the car, pulled out the choke (remember them?) and hung her pocket book on it. Started the car and proceeded to drive away.

From what I hear, most of the ones with dials are, for all intents and purposes, "Dummy Dials" - they'll automatically rise to a preset "all's OK" position once the thermostat opens, sit there (regardless of minor variations), and rise straight to the top once it passes an overheating threshold. It might as well be a dummy light, at that point.

Would have to agree with this assessment. In fact, if I had my choice, I would turn the coolant gauge into a (idiot) light, and add a gauge back for the charging system, like there used to be. Okay, the current charging system light is supposed to come on if the alternator fails or you lose the alternator belt (in the rare vehicle where it isn't a composite serpentine belt), and usually does.

But I have trashed two batteries on vehicles where the voltage regulator (usually built into the alternator) failed, and gave me a full, full charge. A gauge would have shown that instantly. I was only lucky I started smelling something really foul inside the car, and pulled it off to the side of the road to check. It was cooking battery acid, and it was close to blowing the top off the battery. I had to get both a battery and an alternator each time.

BTW, another good idiot light is an oil level light, that checks your oil level, especially when you start the car. The light in the vehicles I've had it in shines yellow, like the check engine light. But it kept me on my toes every bit as much as the red oil pressure light does (and should).

BTW #2, good to be back in the group, after my phone company, sold for about the seventeenth time, shut down the usenet subscriptions. I had to access this via Google groups.

Rev. Thomas Wenndt

BTW #2, good to be back in the group, after my phone company, sold for about the seventeenth time, shut down the usenet subscriptions. I had to access this via Google groups.

++++++++++++++++

Since your ISP dropped Usenet, you can use one or both of these free news servers:

news://news.aioe.org

news://news.eternal-september.org

I forget the details about how you set them up, but I think both require that you pick a user ID and password. And, I think information about doing the registration for eternal-september is located at

-- clcik on"register".

Agreed. Stupid, and cheap. I'd never buy a car without a real actual temp gauge. It's bad enough most cars now have idiot lights for oil pressure as well. If the OP lamp comes on you're going to be in even more trouble than the light for temperature. And you get no warning of impending trouble with either system if all you have is a light.....either the light is on, or off.

Idiot lights are like bleeding wounds. By the time that light comes on, you're already up the creek without a paddle. Best bet is to pull over immediately lest you blow the head gasket. Go another 50 miles...you're kidding, right?

It's been my experience that your engine should warm up to the same point on the temp gauge every single time and never, ever deviate from that point. If it does, you likely have a problem. But having the temp needle slowly rise gives you a little more time to assess what is happening and look for symptoms(do I smell coolant? Does it get better if I switch off the AC and turn on the heat?, etc.) All of that is for bunk if all you get is a warning lamp. It's too late once that comes on. Just pull over and stop.

Chris

My advice-- just don't do it. The number one engine repair I do to the 2.0 Beta engine is cylinder head replacement due to excessive warpage from severe overheating. This is a very good engine under normal use, but the head doesn't take overheating well at all.