msrecant

Cool idea!

A speedo light that is red when you go over the speed limit and a tach light that is red when you go over redline. What more info do we need?

ltrx8

ya man

ltrx8

Anyone install the hks twinfire ignition amp??? Thinking about it but just want to hear if its been done yet.Any gain???

Krankor

Ok, so Gord96BRG gave us an excellent explanation of why the oil gauge is as it is; zoom, can you (or anybody else) explain why the temp gauge has the 200 degree dead zone?

rx8wannahave

In an engine like the rotary (where oil is even more important than a piston engine)...I still don't think Mazda should have stuck that trash in our cars.

zoom44

as rotor mentioned above the end result is the same. it tells you when you lose pressure. having a threshold of 5psi is is good enough for probably 90% of the owners. Having said that ill be putting a real unit in one of these days. especially when i go FI.

Krankor

Leaving aside the squabble for the moment, I would point out that there is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem here. I, myself, wasn't aware of how an actual pressure guage should behave, because, apparently, I've NEVER had a car that had a real one. For instance, I know I had a guage in my old Mustang ('79) that was apparently also fake, because it never moved in any way I can recall. If manufacturers would put real ones in cars as a matter of course, people would know what they are and how to read them.

Perhaps not, but it's not exactly gonna get you an invitation to my birthday party.

Indeed, I'd probably take offense, if it weren't so patently accurate.

zoom44

true dat. 100%

RichardK

Thermostats fail. I'd rather know it has happened BEFORE the car suffers any damage, be it merely running a little colder than normal, or coolant loss, to serious failure.

*sigh*

RichardK

Okay. I've read posts (and the material on Racing Beat, where they try to sell you a new water sensor adaptor) which seemed to imply that the temperature gauge was fundamentally an idiot light - like on my VW Beetle which had a blue light to show cold, and presumably a red one to show overheating. I don't expect the bloody gauge to move in normal conditions.

Now, go patronise someone else. I've probably owned more, and more variety of cars, than the whole of this forum put together, and I am fully aware of what a thermostat does.

MyRXdrug

I doubt there is anyway to use that oil gauge by converting it into a real useful gauge? Maybe add a sensitive sensor that can detect oil pressure?

RX8_GT

Not sure if truly want to add to this hatefest but I sure would like an option to have a actual oil pressure gauge and a more detailed temperature gauge I have a couple cars with such gauges and I have been alerted to problems before they were big issues.

But for most RX-8 driver a 'idiot light' gauge is OK.

Perhaps an optional gauge package is something Mazda could offer to those who want it.

Oh - I have a aftermarket temperature gauge in my 10th - I can 'see' the thermostat open at 184 at close at 178. I like it - especially when I'm boosting a little hard.

Again each to his own.

zoom44

have to pas it by the bean counters


absolutely. for FI adding as much info as possible is the way to go.

r0tor

iTrader: (1)

oh good for you... i guess then you can stop asking questions that point out how little you then must about your variety of cars owned


BTW - if the thermostat fails, its going to fail open and your car will never get up to operating temperature... which the dumbed down temperature guage you see on your dashboard will tell you as well as a check engine light

msrecant

A question for anyone.

If you lose all your coolant what will the Engine Coolant Temperature sensor show? The air temp in the coolant path or the temp of the engine block?

In other words, will it show the engine overheating if all the coolant is gone? Or does one need an oil temp gauge to see overheating when all coolant is lost?

ltrx8

I think you would at least get a light on your dash ie coolant level/check engine...

zoom44

yep he's correct- i overheated on the dyno- you get a spike on the temp guage a coolant light and a CEL

StealthTL

iTrader: (1)

An answer for Msrecant - not sure what alarms you would get with an '8, but i do have a Hyundai story. (they're the best!)

A guy where I work went out at quitting time and found a big pool of antifreeze under his shitbox Hyundai. Loads up the carpool guys anyway, and takes off for home, about 20 miles. (You can see where this is going...)

My favorite comment the next day as people asked him about his welded engine block, was "....that gauge never said it was overheating, I watched it all the way, the highest it got was just below normal." I'm guessing the smoke was quite cool too!

S

Glyphon

never had a probe, but i did have a 89 grand prix in college. that car had cyclical problems. every year the altenator would go out (almost to the day), and every 1-1-.5 years the thermostate would fail. so over the years that i had it, i the thermostat failed 3 times. all of them in the summer. while the thermostat was closed (cars overheat real quick in august and traffic when the thermostat fails closed). it also had bad brakes and an oil leak. can't say i was sorry to see that car go

Krankor

This is what I was trying to express with my Burma Shave.

alcimedes

How 'bout you guys just insult each other via PM's and see if someone in this thread can come up with a way to get the ECU to control the oil/temp gauges a little better.

zoom44

there is no way to get the PCM to control the gauges. the only remedy is aftermarket senders/guages

r0tor

iTrader: (1)

there is no way to get the ECU to control the oil pressure any differently as its a pressure switch and not a pressure guage - so all it knows is if its above or below X psi...

there is nothing wrong with the temp guage except lacking numbers...

captain mercury

indeed

Nemesis8

iTrader: (3)

How about this one: https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-multimedia-photo-gallery-6/mazdaspeed-navi-gauges-44297/