Hello all,
. . . . One thing that I really miss on my new 2019 Mirage is an Engine Coolant Temperature Gauge. Is there a way to display the engine coolant temperature using the OBD data??
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!
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Hello all,
. . . . One thing that I really miss on my new 2019 Mirage is an Engine Coolant Temperature Gauge. Is there a way to display the engine coolant temperature using the OBD data??
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!
Hi Mechanic. Yes there is a way. I have a cheap universal OBD gadget bought for a few bucks at a flea market, and it shows coolant temp.
I also have a contact-less thermometer for body/object measurements, and have used it for checking on temperatures in the engine compartment, to see what's normal on this car. Following observations may be of interest. The lower parts of the engine block warm up almost as fast as the cylinder head.
The oil temperature warms up faster than on most small cars, but never exceeds coolant temp, even at high speed on the highway in summer. I have never measured more than 68°C oil temp.
As long as there are no leaks, no air in it, the coolant OK, and the thermostat in order there will not be much reason to worry. Said that, I have replaced the thermostat on the then four year old car already. It would open at correct temp, and it would close properly when cold, but it would only open just a little bit and no further and the car would get hotter than normal. I know it is unusual for a thermostat to die like that, but things happen.
I grew up in the early 60's in a garage that specialized in European cars, mainly English and German makes at the time. Thats why I never wanted to become a professional mechanic. The first complete engine overhaul at age 14, gearboxes and differentials too. I always repaired my own cars because they were cheap bangers, I had low wages in the media business and needed cheap long-distance transportation. If I missed an event by not showing up, it would get me fired, so I fixed virtually everything on the spot, at 3am in a blizzard in the wilderness if needed...
If you are interested in details, look at the location of the thermostat, and look how the coolant of this engine circulates. It is an unusual arrangement. One other nice detail is the location of oil and coolant passages, actually a very effective heat exchanger cast into the block. They put a lot of thought into these engines.
The ScanGauge is a super-handy device which can display some of the things shown below. I use it as a water temp and voltmeter gauge. It can also read/clear OBDII codes.
Attachment 17494
Does the thermostat just allow some coolant to bypass the radiator? I know some (all?) Motorcycles are made this way. If it failed open, that would explain why the engine got hotter, but didn't overheat.
I don't want to go into too much detail that may confuse non professional hobby mechanics. In simple terms if a thermostat does not open, coolant will not flow through it and consequently through the radiator where coolant temp would be lowered. The engine will heat up quickly, and if the thermostat then fails to begin opening after operating temp is being reached, it will overheat and most probably get damaged.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nobu
The usual setup is a thermostat in the top coolant pipe leading to the radiator, and a small bypass to keep coolant flowing in the block when the radiator path is closed for coolant during warm up.
Our cars have a different setup! It explains why the cylinder head and the entire block warms up together. The bottom of the block warms up almost as fast as the cylinder head. On most other cars the cylinder head warms up completely first while the block is still warming up and will reach operating temperature some time later.
The thermostat of our cars is at the bottom of the engine block near the water pump where it meets the lower radiator pipe. The thermoelement of the thermostat located in such a fashion, that the coolant bypass controls the thermoelement's temperature and consequently makes the thermostat open. If you want to understand it closer and see more details, you could examine an engine, preferably one outside the car.
This setup was designed in Kölleda when Mitsubishi held a stake in that factory together with Daimler Chrysler (Mercedes Benz). It was intended for a Mercedes model that did not make it to production. Our engines, the engines of the Smart, and a few others from Mitsubishi and Daimler Benz are all based on this very modern design. Therefore the apparent similarities. The Kölleda factory is now 100% Daimler Benz owned, and most of their engines were designed and are built there.
I found an article with a diagram that does a pretty good job of illustrating the cooling system loop (as it applies to automobiles in general). So, in the mirage the thermostat is on the cold side? Should still work the same, more or less.
https://www.carparts.com/blog/a-shor...oling-systems/
Foama,
. . . . I concur with you but it is nice to be able watch the temperature rise as the engine warms up. I don't like using full power until the engine has reached at least 140F. It can be handy in hot locales. I had taken my wife and grandson to CA and we were at Dummont Dunes on the edge of Death Valley. It was about 110F outside and I had the air running. The temperature gauge on my Protege was right in the middle which is about 190F. After looking around, taking pictures, and feeling the sand we decided it was time to leave.
. . . . The wind was blowing at about 20 mph and as I swung the nose of the Protege around it started to heat up. The wind was now coming from behind us and it was shutting down the airflow through the radiator. I turned the air off and continued to turn around. The temp was now up to 220 and still climbing. I was getting concerned. It takes a lot of power to move a car in deep sand. I brought the nose around so that it faced in to the wind. I stopped and let the engine drop back to an idle. The temp had hit about 240. Not good. It had also started coming down. In about 5 minutes it was back to about 190. This happened at about 20K miles and I never had any other troubles with it. If I hadn't had a gauge I would not have known about the overheating until it was too late. In my professional opinion a Engine Coolant Temperature Gauge is a necessity.
. . . . You can also use a gauge to diagnose a developing problem. If the temperature overshoots and then drops low before finally reaching normal after a cold start you probably have a thermostat that is sticking. If the temperature has started running higher and higher month after month then the radiator is probably partially blocked. If it runs hot in city traffic but it is normal at higher speeds than there is probably a fan problem. I have worked on several cars where the thermostat is located on the intake side of the cooling system rather then on the outlet side. It is very hard to get all of the air out of these types of engines when you have drained the cooling system. Just my opinions and observations.
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!
Top Fuel,
. . . . I appreciate this. I have looked at it and it looks good. I will have to save up for it. Have you installed one on your car? If so do you have any pictures? How and where did you mount it?
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!
Rich - Top Fuel can surely add more insight than myself, but you can find numerous youtube clips on this scan gauge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mechanic
Example of one: Review of the Scan Gauge II OBD2 tool - Auto Information Series
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj34dakoayM&t=374s
Just looking at the price of it, I found my local AutoZone carries it for the same price as Amazon.
Mark,
. . . . I just finished watching the video. Handy little gadget. I just have to save the money for one. Do you have one?
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!