What happened to radiator blinds?
Discussion
Yeah modern day water temp gauges are glorified idiot lights.
I recoded my E36 328i cluster to the M3’s characteristics, so it’s less buffered.
Playing around with the numbers, you can code out the buffer completely.
In my old scooter tuning days we had a digital meter and it fluctuated constantly i.e. perfect normal behavior.
I guess 99% of drivers would think their temp gauge is broken when it showed the real time temp.
I recoded my E36 328i cluster to the M3’s characteristics, so it’s less buffered.
Playing around with the numbers, you can code out the buffer completely.
In my old scooter tuning days we had a digital meter and it fluctuated constantly i.e. perfect normal behavior.
I guess 99% of drivers would think their temp gauge is broken when it showed the real time temp.
In most cars if you plug in an obd2 gauge you will be able to read the realtime temperature.
In cooler weather like we are currently experiencing I cover one of the two oil coolers on my Mazda and it gets upto temperature a lot quicker, oddly enough Mazda only specified one oil cooler in USA/Australia so having dual coolers in the UK isn't necessary unless on track.
In cooler weather like we are currently experiencing I cover one of the two oil coolers on my Mazda and it gets upto temperature a lot quicker, oddly enough Mazda only specified one oil cooler in USA/Australia so having dual coolers in the UK isn't necessary unless on track.
Pica-Pica said:
frisbee said:
Mr Tidy said:
Yes, but BMW decided to stop fitting a temperature gauge! 
Manufacturer water temperature gauges are intentionally designed to sit in exactly the same place on the gauge over a 40 degree range of water temp. They are next to useless.Many gauges are stabilised. Fuel gauges are stabilised. I remember the old fuel gauges that used to oscillate all over the place. Modern fuel gauges are stabilised for various vehicle attitude and road conditions. One particular test is three circles at 50m diameter at maximum lateral g, and also at various other diameters, obviously on a test pan. The gauge had to be stable for that period - the signal was electronically stabilised. You would never comfortably drive those three circles at maximum lateral g, quite a feat for the drivers.
My E86 3.0Si has a water temperature gauge, which is handy when the electric water pump dies!
My E90 330i with the same N52 engine has no temperature gauge of any sort, which is not so handy when the electric water pump decides to call it a day.
But my Z4M Coupe has an oil temperature gauge, but thankfully no electric water pump - there is plenty of other stuff to spend my hard-earned cash on instead.
Mr Tidy said:
Well a yes and no response!
My E86 3.0Si has a water temperature gauge, which is handy when the electric water pump dies!
My E90 330i with the same N52 engine has no temperature gauge of any sort, which is not so handy when the electric water pump decides to call it a day.
But my Z4M Coupe has an oil temperature gauge, but thankfully no electric water pump - there is plenty of other stuff to spend my hard-earned cash on instead.
Your E90 will come up with a message stating that the water temperature is too high. You won't be able to do much about it though other than pull over and call for recovery. Can you wait for it to cool and make it another 0.5 miles to work - no you can't, the b&stard will be back up to a billion degrees by the end of the road.My E86 3.0Si has a water temperature gauge, which is handy when the electric water pump dies!
My E90 330i with the same N52 engine has no temperature gauge of any sort, which is not so handy when the electric water pump decides to call it a day.
But my Z4M Coupe has an oil temperature gauge, but thankfully no electric water pump - there is plenty of other stuff to spend my hard-earned cash on instead.
I speak from experience, bloody electric water pump, what's wrong with a belt-driven pump, you never had these problems in the old days, etc.
)ecs0set said:
Mr Tidy said:
Well a yes and no response!
My E86 3.0Si has a water temperature gauge, which is handy when the electric water pump dies!
My E90 330i with the same N52 engine has no temperature gauge of any sort, which is not so handy when the electric water pump decides to call it a day.
But my Z4M Coupe has an oil temperature gauge, but thankfully no electric water pump - there is plenty of other stuff to spend my hard-earned cash on instead.
Your E90 will come up with a message stating that the water temperature is too high. You won't be able to do much about it though other than pull over and call for recovery. Can you wait for it to cool and make it another 0.5 miles to work - no you can't, the b&stard will be back up to a billion degrees by the end of the road.My E86 3.0Si has a water temperature gauge, which is handy when the electric water pump dies!
My E90 330i with the same N52 engine has no temperature gauge of any sort, which is not so handy when the electric water pump decides to call it a day.
But my Z4M Coupe has an oil temperature gauge, but thankfully no electric water pump - there is plenty of other stuff to spend my hard-earned cash on instead.
I speak from experience, bloody electric water pump, what's wrong with a belt-driven pump, you never had these problems in the old days, etc.
I'm glad mine has an oil temperature gauge, takes a while to get up to proper temperature where it's safe to drive it quick. If I just had a water gauge, I wouldn't appreciate how long it takes to get warm and would likely have a blown head gasket pretty quick!
ecs0set said:
Your E90 will come up with a message stating that the water temperature is too high. You won't be able to do much about it though other than pull over and call for recovery. Can you wait for it to cool and make it another 0.5 miles to work - no you can't, the b&stard will be back up to a billion degrees by the end of the road.
I speak from experience, bloody electric water pump, what's wrong with a belt-driven pump, you never had these problems in the old days, etc.
And you could fix it with a pair of tights if the belt broke. Allegedly; I suspect the hard bit would be getting your female passenger to sacrifice her tights.I speak from experience, bloody electric water pump, what's wrong with a belt-driven pump, you never had these problems in the old days, etc.
ecs0set said:
Your E90 will come up with a message stating that the water temperature is too high. You won't be able to do much about it though other than pull over and call for recovery. Can you wait for it to cool and make it another 0.5 miles to work - no you can't, the b&stard will be back up to a billion degrees by the end of the road.
I speak from experience, bloody electric water pump, what's wrong with a belt-driven pump, you never had these problems in the old days, etc.
I was going to say, the gauge is as much use as a light. Newer BMWs have two stages, orange or red. Same as the gauge pointing to a little too hot, or in the red. Either way you get the same level of warning the pump has failed, which is massively quick overheat. The benefit of the light is you'll get a bong and warning as it warms up. With the gauge it only puts the light on once overheat conditions occur.I speak from experience, bloody electric water pump, what's wrong with a belt-driven pump, you never had these problems in the old days, etc.
But the electric water pump is no worse really than the belt driven pumps of old on BMWs, they're all a bit crap. Benefit is that if the belt breaks the car can still be driven as long as the battery lasts.
To bring it back on topic a little more, some commercial stuff still comes with the rad blind for winter usage. I guess the move to make cars less user maintained, these have been done away with.
UK Land Cruiser 80 series came with a factory fitted radiator blind - came as part of a "cold weather package" fitted to vehicles sold in non tropical regions.
From memory the package included
Roller style radiator blind
Heated front seats
Heated mirrors, windscreen and headlight washers
Seperate rear auxiliary heater
Heated fuel filter
Twin heavy duty batteries with 24v switchover.
(changes the batteries which are normally wired in parallel to be in series giving 24v to the power a more powerful starter motor).
From memory the package included
Roller style radiator blind
Heated front seats
Heated mirrors, windscreen and headlight washers
Seperate rear auxiliary heater
Heated fuel filter
Twin heavy duty batteries with 24v switchover.
(changes the batteries which are normally wired in parallel to be in series giving 24v to the power a more powerful starter motor).
Back when I was unaware of things like stabilised gauges, I had a new Peugeot 306 cc on hire for a road trip round part of the country. Climbing the Hardknott & Wrynose passes in Cumbria, on a hot day, I was surprised how the temp stayed stable & I didn't hear the fan coming on, despite the mile after mile of 1st gear 1 in 4. Until the ECU decided that it wasn't going to stabilise much more, the gauge shot off the scale and I got the "STOP" warning flashing on the dash. Luckily I was near the top, so able to park up & wait for it to cool. Had visions of having to get a tow truck up there, but it was able to run on after sitting stopped for a few minutes.
pyruse said:
And you could fix it with a pair of tights if the belt broke. Allegedly; I suspect the hard bit would be getting your female passenger to sacrifice her tights.
You really need to watch this ad. One of the best ever. https://youtu.be/B7SIFtKoh-A
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