[JDavies]

I miss having an engine temp guage. volt/ammeter and tachometer. Any comments on the Scan Guage would be appreciated.
*Where did you place it..?
*Will it fit into the shelf below the radio controls with the little trap door..?
* Is it easily read...(well lighted) ?
Thanks ~JD~

 

[rghadimi]

Scan Gage Comments.

Will it fit into the shelf below the radio controls with the little trap door..?
* Is it easily read...(well lighted) ?

Yes, it will fit on the the open shelf door and comes with Ahesive-backed Velcro to secure it. (I used a Black Rubber Band ... tacky yes)
Yes, it is easy to read. It has an adjustable BackLight Display

Don't forget to setup the Gage for:
1. Gas Tank Capacity (I use 12 gallons but 11 gallons would give a bit more safety margin)
2-HYBRID Engine Type (Not Gas) ... otherwise the Gage shuts off 10s
after EACH time the ICE shuts down!

Best Features are:
1. Shows Coolant Temperature, RPM, EngineLoad and Battery Voltage (any 4 can be displayed simultaneously in GAGE mode)
By the way, Engine RPM sometimes shows that the engine is turning over even though the Prius Hybrid Display shows that the engine is off.
2. 'Current', 'Today', 'PreviousDay', and 'Tank' MPG and other Trip Info is nice.
The MPG calculation is more accurate than the PRIUS display value.

 

[hyperion]

The guage will fit in the small lower compt but you will find that the tach indicates your ICE running about 40% of the time with no indication on your MFD so you will want it where you can observe it constantly. It comes with a couple of short pieces of velcro tape and I keep mine on top of the dash just to the left of the sunshade on my MFD. The backround light set at it's highest setting makes the readings although very small readily readable. Just as interesting as the tach is the coolant temp guage. You get an excellant indication of the coolant reservoir pump operation.
From the position on the dash the wire to the OB2 plug in terminal is practically invisible. It falls naturally along the lines between the lower dash and the radio facing.
Honestly, if I hadn't found the guage I would have gotten rid of my car as I had more of a feeling of driving a golf cart than a car without the guages and their info.

 

[JDavies]

Thanks guys. I'm just another old fashioned guage watcher. The price (for the Scan Guage) certainly seems reasonable.
~JD~

 

[DocToss]

Do you guys keep the scangauge connected all the time?

 

[hyperion]

I wouldn't drive without it. You can constantly observe how little the MFD really indicates.

 

[JDavies]

The Scan Guage arrived today. It installs and works as advertised. It sits very nicely on the cubby hole door below the audio buttons. The OBD2 socket was easy to find and connect. The whole process took about 15 minutes while reading the manual. What a pleasure to actually see what's going on under the hood. It makes the car complete.
What's a "normal" engine coolant temp..? 200 F maybe..?
~jd~

 

[DanMan32]

According to repair manual, engine diagnostic section: Thermostat valve begins to open at temperature of 80 to 84C (176 to 183F).

AC section: Engine coolant temperature /
min.: 1.3C (34.34F)
max.: 90.55C (194.99F)

Cooling fan test:
1. INSPECT COOLING FAN AT LOW TEMPERATURE(LOWER THAN 83
C (181F))
(a) Check that the coolant temperature is lower then 83C (181F).
(b) Check that the cooling fan does not rotate when turn the power switch ON (ACC) with the A/C switch
OFF.
2. INSPECT COOLING FAN AT HIGH TEMPERATURE (HIGHER THAN 93
C(199F))
(a) Set the vehicle to inspection mode (see page 01–5).
(b) Warm up the engine .
(c) Check that the cooling fan starts rotating when the coolant temperature is higher than approximately
100C (212F) with the A/C switch OFF and that it stops rotating when the temperature is lower than
spproximately 98C (208F).

Sounds like normal would be anywhere between 176F to 212F, with a median of about 190F.

 

[hyperion]

The box they come in will probably note that they are 180 degree thermostats. This you will observe to be true when monitoring the guage. An interesting thing to watch on start-up in the morning is the temperatrure rise as the stored coolant is pumped back into the engine. May not be as marked a difference in San Diego, but it is a surprised revelation just how good the thermal holding tank is doing it's job in a New England winter.

 

[JDavies]

"Sounds like normal would be anywhere between 176F to 212F, with a median of about 190F. "
***********************************
Thank you all.. ~jd~

 

[darelldd]

Has anybody figured out a good way to yank the guts out of the scan gage to make it smaller? At least 70% of the volume of that black box is AIR. Speaking to the maker - this was on purpose, to make it seem more "rubust." Grrr. The thing is HUGE beyond what it should be.

 

[hyperion]

You know Darelldd, that's sort of a funny observation. The Scan guage I bought from the outfit in Phoenix is only a box about 5.2"wide, 2.7" high and 2.1" deep, and if it was any smaller the four selections I have on constantly would be hard to read.
check out http://www.scanguage.com for info and pictures.

 

[darelldd]

Thanks for the response. I must have said something wrong....

I don't want the *display* any smaller, just the box that holds it all. Take out the four screws in the back and look inside. What I'm talking about will be very obvious. The display is about 1/16" thick, and the other circuit board is about 1/8" thick, and neither of them are nearly as big as the enclosure. Between them is several cu inches of air. With the enclosure this huge, the LEAST they could have done was offered a larger display!

 

[hyperion]

Agree on the display size but it does now take up the whole face. My only thought about the rest of the size is that it might be needed for cooling or in an effort to keep it so inexpensive, a box from some other product Logic makes was used. Personally I am amazed at the small size it is now. If it were any less deep it would be very difficult to mount it vertically with the velcro provided. I keep mine on top of the dash where you don't have to look away from the road to observe it.
Wouldn't it have been wonderfull if Toyota had put the instruments on the dash!

 

[darelldd]

Nothing on the circuit gets even remotely warm. And the enclosure was custom-made for this - to look robust, and for no other reason.

A smaller enclosure would need nothing more than a proper bracket to mount it from the upper or lower edge. Smaller is better! Smaller gives MORE mounting options, not fewer! If you couldn't tell, stuff like this drives me nuts! Great product, terrible packaging.

 

[hyperion]

There you go, a wide open business. That's why Coastal Daves original products were so good. He stressed compactness but unfortunately got "bored."

 

[darelldd]

Does the CAN-view system show all this same info? If so, it would be a bit more expensive, but way better integrated!

 

[JDavies]

Dad (JD) installed this Scan Gage before he passed. I have NO IDEA what it does. He velcroed it above the steering wheel. I really want to remove it but I just can't. I'm not sure how he even got it installed. He could barely breathe back then --- It's a big fat thing!

 

[Hep]

Dad (JD) installed this Scan Gage before he passed. I have NO IDEA what it does. He velcroed it above the steering wheel. I really want to remove it but I just can't. I'm not sure how he even got it installed. He could barely breathe back then --- It's a big fat thing!

I bet someone here could talk you through a disconnect and offer to buy it as well.

 

[David Beale]

You just look under the steering wheel for the plug, pull it out, pull the gauge display off the dash, untangle the cord, and you're done. The "velcro tape" will also just pull off the dash, if you want to remove it.

That "big fat thing" would be the Scangauge I, which is much larger than the current Scangauge II. darelldd, I presume you have the Scangauge I, because the Scangauge II is quite small?

Both have a cable that just plugs into the OBDII port, which "must be within 24" of the steering shaft, under the dash, and uncovered by other parts of the car". Federal regs. The connector just pulls out. The scangauge cable has an RG45 on the other end (computer network type connector). You can also unplug it if it will help in untangling and removing the cable from the car.