Engine wachdog temp settings ?

Thanks for the info I wanted a day time temp for the car :-)

Now I have one !

hi d200dug
yes but remember the day time temp is only applicable if the motor has'nt been running
cheers

Yep I was guessing it was not 60oC outside at the moment :-)


I wonder if you could fit a second sensor and switch to read the air temp ?

hi d200dug
sounds like a good and feasable idea you could contact- engine watchdog-
and see what they say
signals australia ph 07-32776770
it can be used for trans temp etc so why not air???
cheers

I am thinking I want to keep this as simple and as fool proof as possible :-)

I do not want to cook and engine while I left it switched on air temp :-(

hi d200dug
i have been searching on google for--- car outside air temp guages-- and theres a few in america found one i like so have sent an email to them for shipping/payment advice so now await their reply??????

gauge and sender are 2 separate items -the senders are universal -
so just choose gauge of your liking

www.carparts.com also a company called jc whitney
cheers

I am not sure I can justify buying another bit for the truck ( or that I can find anywhere to put it :-)

Many thanks please let me know if and when they reply I will also have a look myself.

cheers doug

hmmm maybe at $10 ish

Do you want one ?

let me know what the postage and handling charges are and if they are cheaper if we buy 2 :-)

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=QM6326&keywords=thermometer&form=KEYWORD

Jaycar $22 no worries about the internet

Thanks I will experiment and see what suits

I have an idea of the range it should be running in now anyway

By all reports yes !

As soon as the temp starts to rise the alarm goes off, you may lose a pump but not the engine.

I am NOT going to test this if I can possibly avoid it but that is the basis the units are sold on, temperature is recorded every 2 seconds so it is far more accurate than the temp gauge in the dash.

The answer to that is, unfortunately, NO NO NO!!!!!

You see, if you suffer a sudden and catastrophic loss of coolant (say a blown bottom hose), your coolant will be gone and the temp of your engine will start to rise quite quickly....BUT this may not be apparent on your gauge/s because they have a sensor which (in many cases) needs to be immersed in coolant to be able to register. If the sensor probe is sitting in a thermostat housing or radiator hose without coolant around it, it may not register for some time.

I have a VDO temp gauge at the back of one of the Chev's heads, I have a TM2 with it's sensor bolted to the side of the block AND I have one of these:
Engine Saver Low Water Alarm

You asked if the TM2 will react IMMEDIATELY and I said NO.

However, THIS other device WILL react INSTANTANEOULY. To illustrate my point, a few years ago when I did a coolant change, the next time I drove the vehicle, I hadn't actually allowed all the air to evacuate the cooling system. This meant that the first time I drove it around a left hand corner, the alrm'd probe (in the top hose), was momentarily not covered by coolant....the alarm sounded briefly to alert me to the fact that the probe was not covered.

This is a brilliant device and it WILL save your engine in the event of a total and sudden loss of coolant....

So you are saying that having no coolant in the engine will cause damage before the engine overheats ?

Not exactly....what I'm saying is that you could lose all your coolant (and damage is done from that point onwards)........... then some time later, you may be alerted to this fact as the temp gauge "catches up". The temp gauge won't reflect the loss of coolant IMMEDIATELY in the same way that the LOW WATER ALARM will alert you.

IMHO, you really need both devices. Losing coolant isn't the only reason an engine might run hot.....it could accur with a blocked radiator or a thermostat stuck or a seized water pump. In all of these cases, the LOW WATER ALARM will not alert you to a problem, as there will/may be coolant still in the engine. This is when the ENGINE WATCHDOG (or a similar alarm set-up) will be of great benefit.

I should have added...... If you were parked-up overnight and (for whatever reason....it has happened to me) lost all your coolant due to a slow leak, then when you start your engine the next day and drive off, you could go for several kilometers before the Engine Watchdog's temperature reading reached the pre-set alarm point (say 92oC for example). However, with the LOW WATER ALARM you would know straight away that there was a problem before you even select a gear.....

Thanks roachie I understand what you are saying but my question is, if for sake of argument my engine loses coolant overnight and I drive off with an empty radiator and cooling system.


Will any damage happen to the engine of the vehicle before the engine block reaches say 92 degrees ?

I understand that it will probably damage the water pump by running it dry but the engine is my main concern.

I thought ( and I am no expert ) that it was the high temperature that caused the damage not a lack of coolant.

Sorry, mate, but that's a question to which I do not know the answer.

I (for one) would want to know I was out of coolant (or even just "low") before I drove off.... hence my decision to fit both devices.

Just an interesting aside..... my block temperature is generally approx 10oC cooler than the coolant temp at the back of the head.