I recently had to replace my 2002 Outback after a collision. My "new"
2014 Outback is a lot newer than I really wanted, but it had some features my wife wanted and there are not many used Subarus available around here: AWD and Subaru are very popular in our northern US climate, and Subys last a long time!
Is there some way to set up the instrument panel so that I can see both the fuel level and the engine temperature? Now I see fuel level and the stupid "ECO meter", and I cannot find the combination that I want, either in the manuals or by just trying things in the car.
So what I basically want is just to replace the eco meter by engine temperature, while retaining fuel level. In my sixty-some years of driving I have several times detected developing problems before they became critical. I do care about the environment but when driving I also care about my car's engine)
(As if I believed their fuel use predictions were likely to be very accurate anyway...)
I selected 2014 and Outback, but could not select a matching trim level since you didn't mention yours. I picked 2.5 Premium. Several manuals were listed. I don't know the dash for your car, but am assuming the Eco, fuel level, and engine temperature would not be displayed by the head unit, but within the cluster panel of the dash ahead of the steering wheel. Chapter 3, Instruments and Controls, seemed the likely candidate on how to program the cluster (aka instrument) panel.
On page 138 (per the viewer's page count as there are no page numbers displayed on some pages) is a list of sections in Chapter 3. Mentioned in the TOC is "Temperature gague (models with type A combination meter)". Type A is illustrated on page 22. That's an old style analog cluster gauge set where the temp dial is at the lower left and the fuel dial is lower right. Type B is how you describe: MPG is lower left, and fuel is lower right. These are fixed function cluster panels. There is no substituting different guages in place of the current ones. To change you would have to replace the cluster panel to get a different set of guages. However, I suspect you would need to do a lot of rewiring to make a different cluster type work when substituted for the original unless they already include the cabling plugs figuring to use the same cabling harness regardless of which cluster type was installed.
I did notice on the type B cluster panel which apparently you have there is an MPG button at middle right, and the illustration says "5) Multi function display switching knob (page 3-33)". The manual doesn't use any links, so I had to scroll far to get to page 3-33. Alas, the description there for the Type B combination meter has it switching between the following modes:
.--> Driving range on remaining fuel | \__ Average fuel consumption | \__ Current fuel consumption | \__ Blank '_________________________/
So, all the MPG button does to the MPG guage is to change showing what type of mileage calculation is being shown. There is no switching to a totally different function, like engine temperature.
You're at the mercy of the Check Engine light which tells when there is a problem after it surpasses some threshold, and that can be too late. Yep, I like using the engine temperature guage to let me know if the engine is running hotter than normal, like the engine is okay but I'm freezing inside which means a thermostat is stuck closed (all coolant stays inside the engine, none goes to the interior radiator), or the engine is too hot (maybe not enough coolant, or a leak), or maybe when the needle gets up far enough and for long enough before I can expect to get heat inside the car (passengers will whine "where's the heat", so I turn on the electric seat heaters for them).
Since Subaru won't show you the engine temperature, maybe you should get an OBD-II monitor to plug into the car's OBD port. Then pair the monitor to your phone via Bluetooth, and use an app to show you lots of stats about your car (I use both OBDLink and Torque). The OBD monitor that I got was the OBDLink MX Bluetooth. Back when I bought it, price was somewhere around $80. Now it's up to $140 (for the MX+ model since they don't make the MX model anymore). While the OBDlink app is useful for diagnostics, you might find the Torque Pro app better suited to showing you gauges.
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?id=org.prowl.torque Maybe if you can link your smartphone to your head unit, so the head unit shows your smartphone's display, you could see the gauges from OBDlink or Torque apps on the head unit. I played that far it casting my smartphone's display onto the head unit.
Thanks! I had known from my manuals and the actual dash board that I have type B, I probably should have mentioned that. I'll think about what I can accomplish with the phone link, I already have those linked for some purposes.
Thanks for your work. I will just have to regret getting this late model a car. It is just barely short of compelling me to replace the car. I don't think technology needs to be made harder than necessary to use, but the idea that people should be able to use their phones/computers/cars, etc., without thinking is, I fear, responsible for a lot of what I dislike about today's world. (Among other things I have been a manager, as well as individual contributor, in Silicon Valley industry, so I do have experience with system design.) Bob W
Give any thought to a ScanGauge? I use it on the same vintage Outback, it wedges into the slot on the bottom of the center stack. Displays water temp, CVT temp, battery voltage and intake air temp.
there is an OBDII plug that plugs into the OBDII port in the car, but uses a cable to run to the ScanGauge module. The cord is 6-foot long, so probably long enough a run, but remember to get it out of the way that some of that run will be to go from OBDII port back to firewall or route underdash and then to wherever you mount the display module. Too bad they don't have a Bluetooth model.
The ODBII tool that I use has Bluetooth. Plug the ODBII adapter into the car's OBDII port, and link to my phone. Seems they should've been able to use Bluetooth between their adapter to their monitor. However, that would mean the display module would need its own power, like a battery, or plug into a USB port or cigar lighter port. With a corded connection between adapter to display, they get to use the power at the OBDII port.
The older models are just a dot-matrix display which is hard to read at a glance. Taking your focus off the road trying to read them would be hazardous. They didn't display gauges. The digital gauges in the III model are bolder and bigger, but then so also is the display module.
The ScanGauge III costs $270. Pricey solution. When I bought the OBDlink ODBII MX bluetooth tool, my cost was $55. Can't get that model anymore, and the MX Pro costs $140. No cabling, but Bluetooth means I have to use an app on my phone to connect to the ODBII tool. There are much cheaper ODBII Bluetooth readers, like $12, but it was the feature set and app combo that I wanted, and willing to pay more.
There are ways to mirror your smartphone's display to your car's head unit, so you don't have to be mounting your phone to see the gauges. You can see the gauges on the phone, but on the head unit. I think even Android Auto does phone mirroring.
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