Well, I didn't realize how much I depend on my Scangauge II. I left it at work because I used it on my wife's co-worker's truck to read the CEL it tripped. Well, I use this thing religiously ESPECIALLY since my low speed cooling fan setting has gone out. Just wanted to say how nice it is to see the actual water temp. The first time I noticed the fan didn't kick on is when my water temp jumped to 233 degrees. I promptly turned the ac on and within a few minutes, the temp was back down to 198 degrees. If I wasn't running a scangauge, I really don't want to know what could have happened. Anyway, can't wait to get it back into the car. It's become like OEM equipment to me!!!

 

I hear ya. My speedo now has a habbit of when i leave it parked out in the sun, that it reads 15 to 25 MPH lower then the actual speed, it kind of sticks I guess you can say, so I depend on the scanguage for MPH when that happens, I try to never take it out of the car

 

Yep - I use a DashHawk in my 2008 GMC diesel truck mainly to monitor EGT and to know when the DPF is regenerating itself. Also handy for digital MPH corrected for tire size and digital RPM gage. The coolant temp parameter is real handy for knowing when to crank the heater fan, no point in blowing cold air before it hit 90 degree coolant temp. Literally hundreds of parameters it can read, including percentage of fuel left - now that would be handy in a MINI with that funky fuel gage.

http://www.dashhawk.com/

Have it "permanenty" mounted in a dash pod. Feels pretty naked driving the MINI with nothing, but it's the wife's car and she would not find an engine monitor usefull.

 

Wow $300 bucks though

 

Wow!!! That looks really nice.

 

I hear you on that. I don't think I'll ever take it out again. I have a separate code reader for my other cars, but of course I didn't have it with me that day. So your speedometer is sticking? Have you done any work to the actual speedometer? I know my tach needle sticks on my Sidekick because I painted the needle and after it sits for a while, I guess it kind of sticks.

 

I don't know Raven, I payed almost $300 dollars for my Sprint Booster. Plus his monitoring system looks stock on the dash. But for now, the Sangauge works well for me.

 

There are fancier gages now...... gen 2 of that just came out (Edge Insight the same thing):

http://www.edgeproducts.com/product.php?pk=146&pvk=404

 

I changed out my LED's over a year ago never had a problem, but a few weeks back I had the trim rings around the speedo and Tach changed by the dealer. I had some rings painted up. They never gave me the old rings back and now i know why. they did something to the speedo, i am guessing they broke something and had to glue it., as i never had this problem, and it took them 90 minutes to swap the trim rings when it should have been a 10 minute job.
But again as long as I have the guage I am fine, I never really read the speedo anyways as I cant see it when I am driving over 50 MPH anyway

 

You are looking you left yours at work. I was doing some work on my car and left it on the engine. Closed my hood... squish. Your right though, I really miss having it.

 

We encourage our customers to get the ScangaugeII just for the coolant temp alone.

I miss it anytime I drive a customer car that doesn't have one. Heck I put a Scangauge in our Service Loaner car just so customers could see how useful it was. And when I drive it on occasion I have it.

 

Speaking of - what do people run for a normal H20 temp? Mine runs 193F. Some piece of my mind thinks it used to run in the mid 180s, but that may be a figment of my imagination after the low speed fan death.
I also use the AIT (Air Intake Temperature). Having the Nav, it's nice to have a reading, given no gauge whatsoever.

 

I have the nav also, and like you run 193 to 198 when it is hot. I also use the AIT and that runs about 8 to 11 over ambient.

 

Eeeeesh, that sucks!!! Sorry to hear about that. Hopefully you can get another one.

 

Depending on outside temps, I usually see anywhere between 188 and 198 degrees. Once I get stuck in traffic, that can easily start getting into the 200's. Of course, if I turn on the ac, it drops back down to around 198 degrees. Damn low speed setting on the cooling fan is gone!!! I think 198 is decent down here in this Florida heat. I just need to replace my fan unit now.

 

 

Got to love incompetent dealers!!! I never pay attention to the speedo either. I use the Nuvi nav system as my speedometer because it's easier to read.

 

I'm so dependent on seeing my SG II I had to buy a second one for my Miata. I keep looking for the temp info and not seeing it really bugged me.
I may not be able to ever drive without this direct info again.

I normally see about 198 for water temp and about 10-20 above outside temp for air intake (10 when I start out and up to 20 when I have been doing stop and go).
My other two settings are MPG for the tank, and instant MPG. It really makes a difference when I want to improve my MPG.

 

Looks great. Where did you find the dash pod? Is it vehicle specific or a generic one that could be modified?

 

I've been trying to talk the Wife into getting a SCII for a while.....

Anyone want to give me pros of having a Scan Gauge so I can present it to her?

The only cons are that it doesn't look great mounted and the $160 it costs.

 

I've got a Scangauge II in my Xterra, but in the MINI, I'm using the Garmin EcoRoute. Just as useful, but a bit more stylish.

 

Tell her it pays for itself. Everytime the car throws a code you can clear it and not have to take it to the dealer to read,clear and charge you. Plus you can save money when it is a real ploblem, she can walk into the dealer and tell them she threw a code for xxx and i need to have xxx done to my car, save $$$$ on diagnostic time, plus it shows the dealer you have some brains and they are less likely to take advantage of you

 

Tell her if it saves you from overheating the car once it's worth it.

Or you can use it for a corrected speedo, so she'll know exactly how fast she is going.

 

Way,

I don't think I want her to know how fast she is going because she has a lead foot and I think the speedo is reading high. I'd guess about 3-4mph high. Going 60mph in a 55, people pass me in it quite a bit.

So, I think that keeps her from being pulled over, which is a good thing.

I will still try and talk her into it.

Next mods, methinks....
Rear Sway Bar
Winter Tires & Wheels
ScanGauge II

 

So it seems a lot of us are running about the same water temp. That's good to know. I honestly agree with Thulchatt. Having the real time data just seems right. Now that I know that the idiot OEM temp gauge is unreliable (at 233 degrees, it didn't even move past the middle), I will always have that thing in my MINI.