Anyone know how the motion of the stock temp "gauge" is controlled? Is it by the sending unit, the computer, or the instrument itself?
It would be right swell if our little dummy needle could become a real gauge w/ a S.U. swap..

 

The stock temp gauge works by reading info from the ECU, which has been measured via a typical temp sender situated around the water pump. The reading from the sender is processed by the ECU and is used in governing engine operation. The info is also sent through the MINI's communications buss (CAN or K-bus, essentially a local area network which the car's subsystems communicate through). The gauge cluster takes this info and processes and gives it's interpretation via a needle position. Note that the temp gauge is NOT linear; as the engine nears it's operating temp the needle will approach half scale then remain in that position throughout nearly a 50 degree band of temperature. Once the engine temp rises above a normal upper limit, the needle will begin to deflect higher, and rather quickly. The gauge itself is not a 'true' temp indicator, it's more of a low/normal/high three-level setup.

The reason for this mode of operation is that during normal driving, the engine temp can fluctuate 20-40 degrees or more, making a 'normal' temp gauge wander around considerably. Some people would falsely see this as a malfunction and become worried or be contacting the dealer about a defect that does not exist. I would much rather have a 'true' temp gauge that would indicate the actual temperature. This is helpful to me in spotting trends and issues with the engine in varying conditions.

My MCS is equipped with Nav, so I dont even have the benefit of even the mediocre gauge in standard models. I ran into an overheating issue caused by a fan failure that would have been spotted earlier on by reading trends in a 'real' gauge instead of having the light come on and a minute later the car heaving coolant onto the pavement.

 

Hey Greatbear,was the fan failure caused by a blown fuse?2nd service is next week and they are splitting the rad fan and the" right now I can't remember what the other fan is for" fan.Looks like they add another 5 amp fuse,with a new harness to one of the fans.Nice of them:smile:

 

Greatbear that was a niceexplanation ofthe stock mini temp " gage '. I too have a nav system and it drove me crazy not having a ture temp gage. I finally got the mini gage panel which fits under the toggle swithces for $ 45 and installed the temp and amp gage from the Autometer ultra lite series . Bothj work great and even match the stock gages quite nicely.
Randy
Team M7

www.m7tuning.com

 

may I enquire to where you got those Items I have been wanting them and haven't seen it in a while

 

The two gage panel is a stock item from BMW mini and if your dealer doesn't stock it he can order it for you . It should be rite around $ 45. The autometer gages can be found at many online outlets such as Jeggs ( www.jegs.com ) . I think the water temp was about $60. The series you want is called ultralite and in the 2- 1/16 size. Many auto parts outlets carry them as well such as PAW or perhaps Kragen.

Randy
team M7

www.m7tuning.ciom

 

The the overheating was caused by failure of the power steering cooling fan under the car locking up and blowing the fuse. That fuse is also part of the control circuitry which operates the big radiator fan, so with the fuse blown the control circuitry was unable to function and turn on the radiator fan to cool the engine. I probably was going around for weeks if not months like this. In normal driving with very little sitting stopped with the engine running, the airflow through the radiator just by driving is enough to keep things cool.

If I had a 'real' gauge, I would have seen the temp climbing when I am stopped and dropping when I start down the road again. This is normal operation anyway, but I would have noticed the temp running higher than it normally would and started investigating why and found the failed fan. I dont even have the standard gauge, with Nav all that comes is an idiot light, and once that light came on, about a minute later the engine boiled over.

I have in the works a custom gauge cluster that will have a temp gauge added as well as others in the space below the switches. I can't wait till I get that done.

 

FWIW, I found the MINI panel wasn't quite at the correct angle for me, so I velcroed it to the downtubes:



https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ead.php?t=9914