I have just fitted the Realgauge and have just received my car back (with new radiator, intercooler, and other things), and I wonder whether it is running too hot. This is the position.

1. realgauge reads between 2/3 and 3/4 when the running temperature has been reached.
2. that equates to OBDII readings between 93 and 95 degrees C
3. under normal driving the temperature lies between 93 and 94 degrees C
4. in stationary traffic yesterday the temperature rose to 101, and sat there. When moving again the temperature started to fall again to the more usual 94 or so, taking perhaps a minute to get back there.

No overheat light or alarm, by the way. So do I have a problem, or is all this ok?

 

looks fine to me. I was worried too when I hooked up an obd reader and my temps were reading 101/102 deg C when sat still, but it turned out that it is quite normal.

 

And this is why Jaguar didn't fit a real temperature gauge in the first place.

 

The problem with raw data is that few owners today know how to interpret it.

The temps you are seeing are on the low side of the normal range, Wait till a hot day and 115-120 or even higher shows up.

 

Diddion, I too get the 3/4 reading on the gauge after the RealGauge install, but the OBD shows that all is fine.
I think Steve shows a way to calibrate the gauge to run in the middle at normal driving, but I had to tear it all apart to get back to the adjustment, I'll live with it.
His oil gauge works well also.


Wayne

 

I'm reminded of an old magazine road test of a late 60s E-type. The author mentioned that, to assuage owners' anxieties and misinterpretation of the readings, Jaguar abandoned numeric markings on the temp gauge and went to the "Cold-Normal-Hot" style. But, the article went on to say, Jaguar missed the boat somewhat by calibrating the gauge so that it typically registered on the higher side of normal long before there was any cause for alarm.

Cheers
DD

 

It's pretty normal for all cars and trucks to have these swings in temperature. The only thing you need to worry about is the upper spikes. If it climbs to the redline then you have an issue. I drive semis, and I like a manual fan. When I'm climbing a huge grade, I watch my real temp gauge closely. I can moderate it some by what sort of rpm am I climbing with. When I see the gauge start to get close to 225, I can back off the throttle a wee bit and lower my rpms and that will make the temp drop a little bit and the truck is happy. Worse comes to worse, I can be more proactive with my manual fan switch than letting the computer eventually turn it on. Since I know every grade in BC, when I'm heavy and it's a hot day out, I'll hit my fan before I start going up. Of course I'll zap 8% of my power by doing so. No biggie, go up a bit slower but the truck temp stays hunky dory all the way up. Heat is a killer of motors of all kinds.

Jags do seem to run hot naturally. The other day I was in a creeping situation lined up at the border. Roll a car length forward every few minutes. It was like rolling through an oven. Of course I had the top down so I got the full effects of what that motor generates just sitting there. Too bad that Jaguar, in it's infinite wisdom, only put in idiot gauges instead of real ones.

 

Given that swings in coolant temp are normal I think it's perfectly understandable that Jaguar finally threw in the towel and join the ranks of others in adopting so-called idiot gauges. A lot of people don't understand what they're looking at. The idiot gauges prevent a lot of needless worry.

Cheers
DD

 

There's hardly a week go by where we don't see an owner ignoring the standard gauge and red warning light during an overheat. Not much point installing gauges with real data that needs to be interpreted.

 

Idiot gauges for idiot owners. The average owner and driver now are dolts. I get that they can buy what they want, but it never fails to maze me just how bad the driving skills are now. I grew up with big old land yachts worth less than $50 bucks, spend a half to an hour out front fixing it each day before you could drive it (no, they weren't just Fords lol). Unsafe at any speed. yet the carnage on the roads was minimal compared to now. I have to blame the state driving testers, because more than half the population would fail a proper road test.

As for gauges, yes, the majority wouldn't have a clue now. But don't forget the cars now warn you when you're about to ram into someone ahead of you. Paying attention and using vision doesn't seem to be a skill in humans anymore. Self driving cars are next. And why bother even putting a speedo or tach in them, nobody sees them on their dashboards anyways. Yeah you're hearing a bit of a trucker rant in here, because I see horror show drivers day in and day out. My truck has 22 different gauges, and each one is important to me and deliver crucial information to me. Modern trucks have computer screens, so you can scroll through them, and even pick the ones to always display. Thing is, most steering wheel holders in rigs now are too stupid to even know which ones are the most important to pick.

As for lack of general mechanical knowledge, it's a shame that traditional gas stations became mini marts instead. At least back then young guys could earn and learn in stations that had full mechanic bays etc.

But bottom line is I believe all vehicles should come with full real gauges. It's up to the owner to use them. But don't blind owners with the lack of them.

 

I hate to be a negative Nancy but I agree with everything Robxk8 said above.
Even my girlfriend has driven one of our other cars when it got hot because she was only a half mile away from home. That is after me telling everyone I know over and over if a car gets hot turn on the heater and get off the road and shut it down ASAP!
I've had numerous people go to great lengths to make sure I know the exact location of where their problems occurred. Like that matters. I was on the highway or side road will do. Don't really need the exact GPS co-ordinance to find the problem.
People lose touch that they are in a 2 ton projectile going in motion and chat on their cells and apply make up, like they are in their own world.
Lastly, people who pull in front of heavy trucks are idiots and those who play stupid games will win stupid prizes.
I will be teaching my 15 year old daughter to drive and i bet she's not going to enjoy it. Until I feel she gets it....no keys.

 

Ditto on the above comments.

I have an XK8 with the full RealGauge setup. Lovely to be able to know what's going on under the bonnet.

I just acquired a 2011 XF. No gauges outside of the speedometer and tach. I have no idea if I am sitting in traffic, in 100F heat with the A/C running, how I'm doing.

Heck, the darn thing doesn't even have a dip stick for the engine oil! You have to go thru this electronic mess to check the oil level. Love the XF, but cars are getting too reliant on their electronics and computers. I miss my older, simpler Jags.

 

Mike,

I am surprised that you bought an XF. Nevertheless, enjoy it....

 

Well, what I was thinking is we all source out XKR hoods for our XK8s. But I'm not sure if the breathing holes for the supercharger would be sufficient exhale holes for our heat. Wouldn't want to carve out the inner fender liners for removing heat because they're there for a reason and that's to keep crud and water away from the inner car parts. So if anybody has some ideas for a good solution in this, please speak up.

I liked the RealGauge setup, but when someone mentioned the UltraGauge I checked that out too. It's not nice and neat in the dash, but you get 20 times the sensor gauges for $100 less. They have a phone version that sounds interesting too. But I'd have to learn whether or not they could read the codes proprietary to Jaguar beyond the basic OB2 codes.

 

Thank you everyone for informative and robust comments. My mind is put at rest regarding the actual temperature as reported by the OBDII reader, and it is clear from these posts that my temperatures are bang on - I now have a base line for the future.

I have also 'calibrated' the real gauge, and know that a normal temperature lies up to the 3/4 mark, and perhaps even a little beyond. So I will need to start paying attention if the temperature seems higher than I would expect for the driving conditions, or if it is climbing at a point when the system is under greater than normal thermal load, such as stationary in a hot day with the a/con full blast.

I believe that this kind of information is never wasted, and the reason for my post was to assess how the car is running as well as to understand the gauge itself - a most important upgrade. I'll be interested to know of there is a way of shifting the gauge reading to centralise it at the mid-point, though, just for a kind of neatness.

 

I disagree. Or possibly disagree.

"Now"? You're suggesting that there was a time when average owners/drivers routinely understood how to interpret temp gauge readings. So, when was that time? I surely don't remember it. Ten years ago? Twenty? Fifty?



Sorry but it sounds like your trying to use dashboard lights and gauges to (excuse the pun) "gauge" to all the ills of modern day society.

You can go back the the 1930s and there were cars with idiot lights and/or gauges marked with merely "C-N-H" designations....because even back in the glorious old days lots of drivers didn't understand these things and didn't care. And the manufacturers knew it.

Cheers
DD

 

Digress for just a moment.
I totally agree about the dolts on the road (other than me of course) but the carnage comment caught my eye.
Out here in state of Victoria Australia in 1969 the road deaths total was 1034.
In 2016 although described as a horror year the toll was only 291. To date this year 161.

 

I live in a burb of Vancouver Canada. Our government started swamping us with 3rd world people back in the mid 70s. The accident rate skyrocketed, and so has our insurance rates. Then now along comes the current generation that are dumber than stumps about most things. You know the ones I mean. I have over 3 million safe miles over my years. I witness utter stupidity daily, usually 5 minutes apart from the next display of idiocy. Cars nowadays would wipe your butt if you asked them to, and there's no urge left to learn how to operate a vehicle safely, much less ***** out good driving.

 

All this Heat because of a Real Gauge? All it's doing is telling us the real temperature of the water in the Engine (Today) not how people Drive! or how some people do this or that!

Come on Guys! Lighten-up abit!

Billy Clyde

 

I agree with you here, Billy, with my original question relating to heat of the thermal rather than the emotional kind! On a bit of a wry note, though, it is intriguing that the dismissive comments in this thread (and on occasions within others) always apply to other people....