Not so cool

Some vehicles made without temperature gauge

Chad Bryan, Gleaner Writer

With advances in motor vehicle design, in some cases, there is no longer a traditional temperature gauge on the instrument panel. Instead, there is a blue indicator light signalling when the engine is cold and red when it goes above safe operating temperatures.

When the engine temperature is within a normal range, there is no light at all. With the traditional gauge, there is a range from 'C' to 'H', with a danger zone indicated at the very top. Normally, when the vehicle is being driven, it is expected that the indicator would be slightly below centre.

The purpose of the temperature gauge is to warn motorists when the cooling system is failing. The indicator would then move towards the 'H'.

Although he could not account for the absence of the traditional temperature gauge, managing director of Jetcon Corporation, Andrew Jackson, explained the benefits of having a traditional temperature gauge in the instrument panel.

"The advantage of having the traditional gauge is that if the running temperature of the car changes, you can probably notice it before it reaches to an overheating stage," he said. However, Jackson said with the coloured temperature lights, there is difficulty in readily identifying when the car starts to overheat. "With these temperature lights, that light tends to come on at or close to the point that it is getting too hot. With the gauge, you may be able to catch it gradually going up before it gets too hot, and you can take corrective action," he said.

NO NEED

On the other hand, Joe Ferreira, director of New Markets for Metis Motors, the Hope Road-based business retailing the Tata Nano, dismissed the traditional temperature gauge, which the car he markets does not have.

"The temperature gauge, nobody needs to know whether it is at 105 degrees, 115, or even at 170. What they need to know is that the temperature is normal or if it is hot, and does this require attention? What you need to do is keep the focus of the driver on the speedometer, tachometer, stuff that you can actually act upon," he argued.

Common causes of engine overheating are insufficient coolant, which in turn can be caused by a defective radiator cap or broken hose. Also, if the engine runs low on oil, it will overheat. While most motor vehicle engines will shut down if they are operated for an extended time while overheated, it can lead to complications such as a blown head gasket.

There are vehicles that even go as far as to have neither type of gauge. Instead, on one particular model there is a curved lit bar that remains in the 'C' area when the engine temperature is normal and increases towards the end when temperatures increase.