[davidag]

I asked a similar question on here a few months back, as I too like ti keep my eye on engine temperature and oil pressure.
Someone did put up some pictures of their 'project' which involved replacing the centre two 'face vents' with gauges.
The finished item looked quite smart.
I too will take a look at the Autocool as above.

Regards

 

[davidag]

Thanks for feeding back their reply, I too was hanging my nose over the X60 for the same reason that you were, namely, wishing to keep an eye on coolant temperature.
In one of the videos on the X60, the chap seemed to imply that he fitted these to all of his cars (maybe he buys cars that suit the gauge )
I would have thought that any vehicle with OBD2 would have been compatible, but it seems not so.

Regards

 

[davidag]

Wouldn’t it be easier to cut and t piece the hose and fit a secondary sensor for the temp and have conventional temp gauge somewhere on the dash as something like a caterham kit car might have from somewhere like demon tweeks????

That of course would work, but the new sensor would be down stream of the thermostat. OK, so you would soon get used to what 'normal' engine temperature would look like, but it would always be lower than the actual temp.

Regards

 

[davidag]

Update: Deep breath and plugged the X50 Plus into the diagnostic socket without turning on the ignition. The unit powered up and tried connecting through every protocol / data rate combination it knew (a surprisingly long list) and then announced that it could not connect.

Attempt #2: Turn the key to the 'live' position first, where the dash lights and indicator comes on - with the OBD2 connector already plugged into the diagnostic socket, plug the USB-style connector on the other end of the cable into the unit - unit turned on and very quickly paired up with the car - a few steps through the display mode menu and it was showing the coolant temperature on the large digits, but in Fahrenheit.

Into the menus and there is a global setting for Imperial / Metric units - changed that from default Imperial to Metric and the unit now displays temperature in degrees Centigrade. I don't know whether the Metric / Imperial setting can be defined individually for each property but I suspect not, so for the UK where we like our temperature in Centigrade and our distances in Miles, this could be an awkward problem.

Long story cut short, I went out on quite a long journey today, stopped in several places so the car was turned off and on again several times, the display unit started up every time in the same display mode as I had left it in. When I turn the car off the display stays on for a length of time determined by its power-off timer setting which I have set to the shortest possible time.

I was interested to see that the temperature rose to about early eighties and then stayed there (and this is also what the temperature readout on the 'hidden' menu says). The fact that it goes to a specific temperature and stays within 2-3 degrees of that temp suggests that everything is normal (ie, thermostat working). My previous car (diesel Astra G) also hovered in the early eighties.

So, it's a provisional thumbs up for the X50 Plus, at least for this 2013 Corsa D Diesel. I can't guarantee that it will work with your specific version, so I advise buying from a supplier that you can return the unit to if necessary.

This is very interesting, so thanks for posting it.

I would say that it is not too important as to what units the temperature is shown in - it wouldn't matter if it were shown in beans, just as long as you know how many beans it normally runs at.

Have you got round to mounting the unit yet? It would be interesting to hear where you have placed it - better still if you can provide a photograph.

Thanks again for taking the time to discuss this topic.

Regards

 

[davidag]

If there is a low coolant level warning, I would imagine the sensor would be in the reservoir, I can't remember seeing one, but next time I have the car out of the garage, I will have a look.
Blessings

 

[davidag]

I can't find any reference in my 2013 manual to a coolant temperature low warning indicator or a coolant level low indicator, only to coolant temperature high which is the one which lights up under the fuel gauge during the ignition-on sequence. Of course these cars had quite a long production run and maybe very late versions of the 'D' did incorporate something like this.

davidag, since caaa and myself have now successfully tried one of these in our respective Corsas (and nothig exploded and the car didn't throw a fit) does that make you any more inclined to try one as well?

I'm rather too busy to do so at the moment, but will have a go later in the year - I do like your idea of mounting the unit. Is the display large enough to be seen so far away though? If it is, this has to be the ideal place to fix it to.
Blessings

 

[davidag]

There is nothing in the coolant tank because I changed mine recently because it was very dirty and I didn't find anything.

I had a quick look at my own, and agree that there is nothing there, or, as said above, no mention of it in the hand book.
Blessings

 

[davidag]

When shown on the main numeric field the temperature digits are (rough guess) about 2.0 to 2.5cm high so yes, easily.

Thanks for that