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Mechanical temp gauge

Tom gee

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#1
Has anyone installed manual temp gaige on a 2014 fiesta .. Amy links on how too to what to order
Any help woukd be appreciated
 

scotman

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#2
By " manual", do you mean " mechanical" type temperature gauge? If yes, why?
 
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Tom gee

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Thread Starter #3
Hey there I just prefer to have a a actual Guage rather then the bars ..yes mechanical I've had a few issues with the heating system and just don't trust the bar graph on the dash seems to always be at 4 bars or half ...
 
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scotman

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#4
I would recommend that you just use an electrical, resistance type temperature gauge. The factory temperature gauge outputs are heavily buffered because the gauge would be telling us that the engine is damn near ready to overheat under some situations.
I don't know what the Summit racing parts of Canada is, but you shouldn't consider anything except a known high quality brand for the gauge you finally get. You can get an enhanced scan tool that has the ability to show you how much the operating temperature can climb under seemingly normal use.
I would make sure that the sensor is located as close to the cylinder head coolant exit as reasonably possible. That is the best tell of engine temperature.
Just be sure to power it separate from the engine and instrument panel circuits. Pick a circuit that is hot at keyon and meets the amperage required.
I have to add that you should get rid of the coolant reservoir and install a new one. Reservoirs age out within three years of age. When they fail it is often sudden and catastrophic.
 
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Tom gee

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Thread Starter #5
Thank u for detailed answer... I will look at the summit catalog...
What about the reservoir.. how does it fail....
 

scotman

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#6
The reservoir can fail in any of several areas. I personally have seen them fail at the seam between the upper and lower halves, on the top at a mold release mark and also had the neck of the filler crack. I thought that the cap had failed! It was the threaded neck. Take a Sharpie pen and tattoo the install date on the damn thing when it's installed. I won't trust them for over three years of age.
 

Handy Andy

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#7
There is also a built in Thermometer that those 4-bars (bar graph) works with - it might give you an idea as to the dynamic rise and fall of the engine coolant temperature as you drive, then stop and idle or slowly move along in traffic.

IF you are aware - there is a HEC test mode.

1730681125619.png

PDF to do it is attached.

When you're parked, try to do a practice set of runs to engage it and used to and comfortable with it before you start to drive - do this several times so you're comfortable with and can understand the display information.

As you use the HEC, the POD consoles Analog gauges works normally unless it's in the GAUGE setting - so if you just want to see the TEMP or the Throttle or even RPM - you can set this mode by pressing the buttom a given set of times then just drive to see the comparison to LOGIC to the Analog POD display gauges.

You don't have the upper info display like you'd normally see - so the HEC is a rather powerful diagnostic tool but don't let it get in your way of driving - you can use it to help understand the gauges, Fuel - Throttle in a hexadecimal format and changes in status - along with Celsius temperature of the coolant sensor reading.

The HEC can help offset the desire to find another gauge that although is nice to have - forces you into a position of having to install something you may not need the use of later once you're done with the diagnostic of temperature
 

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grenlould

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#8
Hello, I will not open a new topic and that I write here. Is there a way to add some engine temperature gauge for Ford Fiesta 11.2010 1.6tdci 90 hp ??? Is there an appliance available for this?? It's weird that I can't see the temperature so I'm looking for a solution, thanks.
 

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Handy Andy

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#9
Since you've asked, the HEC mode is only possible means to show actual Temperature - not a bar-graph.

In the above photo - do you own an S model? IF so then the Bargraph is not possible due to the level of the display complexity in the unit - only SE and above will it be "Standard" to see.

1729874158895.png

IF you wish to use a mechanical - there are very few places to even put one on engines these days - let alone with a hole it can fit into to sense temperature..

Most of the time, the mechanical types use a Bourdon tube - that converts a pressure of expansion as a force exerted in a bulb and tube into a mechanical movement.

The bulb that contains a fluid that expands at a given rate - that is used to show this - is what limits you in where it can be installed.

That is why @scotman mentioned using the electrical version of it - which is far easier and the sensor itself can be located in a more convenient spot.
1729873487454.png

There are few places to fit gauges in a Fiesta although the places to fit the sensors to them are even fewer.

You can locate the Alternator and it's bracket there is a "hole" just above it in about 8mm size - that is open on the Cylinder head. But to fit something like a tube in there might be difficult.
1729874791951.png
The top of the engine between the Valve cover - front timing belt cover and right between the Valve timing solenoids.​
1729874741434.png

Each temperature gauge system that uses Mechanical has it's own bourdon chamber tube, the fluid it uses to expand and contract by, and the capillary tube used to send this pressure to the gauge to register it as temperature or what it is calibrated for.

  • I'm doing this as a "LEGACY" post for others following this might not know the older systems that vehicles whether Gas or Diesel used to use Mechanical gauges as physical means as Proof for DOT. Each gauge reported a specific functional result temperature or pressure or level which had ports on the engine block by the sub-system - for not only Water (Coolant) but Oil and Transmission Fluid Temperature and or Pressures - they used a "knockout" or threaded plug to insert their specific type of tube used for their mechanical gauges on the dash. They were specific to the vehicle as well as engine and the location of it on that engine.

So to offer a solution - requires you to search the various gauge manufacturers for a style and type of gauge to meet your needs, then select where to install it and it's sender sensor.
 

grenlould

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#10
I understand it's possible, but no one has done it? I don't know if it's worth doing or if the car is smart enough to keep track of these things. The car is 1.6tdci 90 hp generation 6 2010
 
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Handy Andy

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#11
We've worked on this before...

Here's a thread you might be able to get a better idea as to what to get...
https://www.fordfiesta.org/threads/welcome-newcomers-please-introduce-yourself.850/post-22330

To me, the places left to install a sensor on the Fiesta are less than it's worth unless you can find a sensor that can take a physical measurement for the smaller places - unless you drill, break a line or install a fitting to tap - meaning that Oil pressure is possible, if you use a "tap" but Water temp requires a fitting and an adapter to splice one into an outlet hose. Heater Hose splice can provide a possible tap point but you'll need room to mount it. Remember, if you try to tap into even the Oil cooler line- you won't get a "good reading" until the thermostat opens and the heat from inside finally flows out so you can get a reading, and unless you run the heater all the time, that hose won't let you see much to display until you turn the heat on to make the coolant flow thru that hose.

So what I find at local stores for physical sensor readings - unless they are electrical - they won't work on the Engine - the holes left to mount them are either too small or in the wrong location.

Now if this was a Chevy - Scion or older Ford using USA-cast blocks - we'd have something to help you but the Fiesta doesn't provide that - unless you have Electrical senders - not physical tube or bulb sensor that requires immersion or bolted fitment. The size of what I see on store shelves doesn't make this possible and there are "aftermarket" but being Foreign and mostly overseas - Amazon and or eBay might provide you a means to locate something exotic but as far as what I've seen with local suppliers - these newer units make me question their ability to provide fitment.
1730592999303.png
The image on the Left is enlarged to show texture...
The one on the Right is - it's on an engine block with lots of its Emission
lines and hoses removed (e.g- pulled out mounted on a stand)
The device next to it is a spark plug and it's heat shield shield canister​

A good example would be Speedway Motors on Amazon, they provide adapters to help you fit a mechanical bourdon tube unit to basically bolt onto a hole but that hole size looks for 12mm X 1.5 pitch - but the standoff result is about 2 inches off the motor - so it's going to have to wait for that adapter to transfer the blocks heat thru it into that sender tube - so it may not be as accurate as you want it to be - so you may need to make some hard choices.

If you're looking for accurate - the physical/mechanical are the way to go, but they don't interface well with the newer smaller blocks and their clearance issues, on top of the fact that 12mm holes on the block are used mostly for the motor mounts and are well away from any sort of sources you can use to get any worthwhile readings.

The other units shown on Amazon like Dweekly - offer the Electrical style and can fit holes with single wire installs but you're stuck with electrical powered and some units are not regulated well and require pure feeder power so any noisy lines will get you lousy erratic results.
 

grenlould

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#12
We've worked on this before...

Here's a thread you might be able to get a better idea as to what to get...
https://www.fordfiesta.org/threads/welcome-newcomers-please-introduce-yourself.850/post-22330

To me, the places left to install a sensor on the Fiesta are less than it's worth unless you can find a sensor that can take a physical measurement for the smaller places - unless you drill, break a line or install a fitting to tap - meaning that Oil pressure is possible, if you use a "tap" but Water temp requires a fitting and an adapter to splice one into an outlet hose. Heater Hose splice can provide a possible tap point but you'll need room to mount it. Remember, if you try to tap into even the Oil cooler line- you won't get a "good reading" until the thermostat opens and the heat from inside finally flows out so you can get a reading, and unless you run the heater all the time, that hose won't let you see much to display until you turn the heat on to make the coolant flow thru that hose.

So what I find at local stores for physical sensor readings - unless they are electrical - they won't work on the Engine - the holes left to mount them are either too small or in the wrong location.

Now if this was a Chevy - Scion or older Ford using USA-cast blocks - we'd have something to help you but the Fiesta doesn't provide that - unless you have Electrical senders - not physical tube or bulb sensor that requires immersion or bolted fitment. The size of what I see on store shelves doesn't make this possible and there are "aftermarket" but being Foreign and mostly overseas - Amazon and or eBay might provide you a means to locate something exotic but as far as what I've seen with local suppliers - these newer units make me question their ability to provide fitment.
View attachment 9631
The image on the Left is enlarged to show texture...
The one on the Right is - it's on an engine block with lots of its Emission
lines and hoses removed (e.g- pulled out mounted on a stand)
The device next to it is a spark plug and it's heat shield shield canister​

A good example would be Speedway Motors on Amazon, they provide adapters to help you fit a mechanical bourdon tube unit to basically bolt onto a hole but that hole size looks for 12mm X 1.5 pitch - but the standoff result is about 2 inches off the motor - so it's going to have to wait for that adapter to transfer the blocks heat thru it into that sender tube - so it may not be as accurate as you want it to be - so you may need to make some hard choices.

If you're looking for accurate - the physical/mechanical are the way to go, but they don't interface well with the newer smaller blocks and their clearance issues, on top of the fact that 12mm holes on the block are used mostly for the motor mounts and are well away from any sort of sources you can use to get any worthwhile readings.

The other units shown on Amazon like Dweekly - offer the Electrical style and can fit holes with single wire installs but you're stuck with electrical powered and some units are not regulated well and require pure feeder power so any noisy lines will get you lousy erratic results.
Is it possible to monitor the temperature via OBD2 on the 2din? Or this product: https://a.aliexpress.com/_Ezkas5L
 
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