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So I'm puzzled by what the length of the bars are intended to communicate in the multi-gauge display. They appear unit-less and the owners manual doesn't go into detail. My coolant bars have grown longer, and the sweet spot on the gauge seems now smaller ? Maybe ? The owners manual suggests there isn't a good way to measure the coolant level like you can electronically the oil and to just not worry about it until the light comes on for a refill.
the oil right hand red bar is very narrow while the coolant one is almost 40% of the entire gauge length. The coolant one has grown over time. It occurs to me to ask as I had the oil red bar grow similarly large, and then the oil light came on. After adding a quart, the oil red bar immediately shrank to the narrow size seen here.
The car drives fine and no maintenance lights or anything. I'm just curious what this gauge is supposed to communicate.
I'm going to take a stab and guess that for the coolant, the blue means that the water is still cold and the red means that it's too hot and the area in between is where you want to be. I've heard of people reporting that when they're pushing their cars such as when tracking, something about the second radiator coming into play and the water temp actually drops.
For the oil temp, I'm going to guess the same. Blue means oil is still cold and red means the oil is getting too hot and the black area in between is good to go
As for the last gauge, I'm going to guess that they represent the oil level/pressure. Red on the left means getting too low and red on the right is too high.
My take is that if either needle is in the blue zone then one or both fluids are not up to operating temps so be careful about standing in the throttle. If they are in the red coolant and /or oil temp are exceeding limits. If the oil pressure needle is in either red zone you have either a too low or too high oil pressure problem.
Between the blue and red areas on temps and between the red areas on the oil pressure is the normal operating range.
Reads much like aircraft instruments; the normal operating range is in-between the warning areas of the gauge
My GTS 4.0 tends to run a cooler coolant temp in relation to the analogue position and digital read out than my 981C/S but I have not had it over 4000 yet.
Pretty sure what he’s asking is why is the length of the red area is changing? Sometimes the red area is very short as shown for oil on his picture and other times it’s very long as shown on coolant in his picture.
Probably some algorithm that calculates safe operating range depending on ambient temperature, how hard you drive it, coolant level, whether third radiator is open or not....
That would be my guess since the oil one is dependent on oil level as you stated.
I notice that the tire pressure threshold in the macan and 991 is also different depending on ambient temperature, and allows for the tires to heat up after driving it a bit.
AlexCeres, in the name of science, could you put a splash of coolant in your car and see if the red bar on the right side of the coolant temperature readout shrinks?
It occurs to me to ask as I had the oil red bar grow similarly large, and then the oil light came on. After adding a quart, the oil red bar immediately shrank to the narrow size seen here.
There are nine different “oil lights.” To which of them do you refer?
AlexCeres, in the name of science, could you put a splash of coolant in your car and see if the red bar on the right side of the coolant temperature readout shrinks?
This^ Mine has similar sized red bars so not sure if the car can adjust them based on measured levels or if they are set that way and the coolant being a more critical heating issue.
Probably some algorithm that calculates safe operating range depending on ambient temperature, how hard you drive it, coolant level, whether third radiator is open or not....
That would be my guess since the oil one is dependent on oil level as you stated.
I notice that the tire pressure threshold in the macan and 991 is also different depending on ambient temperature, and allows for the tires to heat up after driving it a bit.
I hadn't noticed that the bars changed in size, normally I glance down to ensure that they are all in the acceptable zone and carry on... I will have to make a note to key an eye on this.
As for the coolant, these days unless the system springs a leak the ambient air temperature is such that it never gets too hot.
Also haven't seen the bars change but my oil runs between 235-243 unless I get on it and kick in the additional radiator. Water always at 220 or less but oil seems high.
02-13-2021, 08:48 PM
What is the coolant gauge saying ?
