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
