Hello people. I want to know once your reaches normal *running temp* at what point the temp gauge needle rests? Once my car reaches running temperature the needle usually sits right above the icon which can be found at the middle of C and H. While in all the previous cars that i have owned the needle stays at the middle of that icon and not on top of it. This keeps making me anxious and i feel like checking the water pump motor and the thermostat. But then where i live there is no place where i can find the parts, even the seals (that usually need to be replaced once you remove these parts). I would appreciate if you guys could share a picture of your temp gauge once it's at running temperature. Thanks Attaching a picture for reference:
Looks about right to me and my needle sit there too. Note that where you are saying the needle sits is actually midway between cold and hot.
I guess you are right, that is what a mechanic told me as well. But in all my previous cars i have been used to looking at the needle sit at the middle of that icon and not on it's top. It gives me anxiety :| I will have to get used to this. Thank you for the reply mcp
I live in Canberra where it gets very hot in summer, 46deg hot. The dash temp gauge seems to have 4 settings: * cold * fairly cold * medium * your engine just blew up. The original dash temp gauge is next to useless. No, it is useless. I've installed a real time engine temperature sensor with a little digital display tucked in behind the binnacle at the very right. I can confirm that the Daihatsu gauge will just sit at "medium" from around 40deg right up to and beyond 100deg. My alarm goes off at 95deg. With so little actual coolant & radiator for heat exchange, I immediately installed one when I bought her. I strongly recommend that every L880K owner install a real time engine temp sensor & display as any coolant leak could mean a new engine very quickly. It will set you back around AUD$220 all up so it's cheap insurance. I NEVER use the original gauge now that I have the actual temp right in front of me. Hope this helps, Brian
Thanks for detailed reply Brain. Where did you install the after market temp gauge sensor. upper radiator hose or the lower hose (which links to thermostat) ? Can you post a picture if its easy for you?
,ہیلو میرے دوست Answer, neither. mate Those I believe are used if you buy a 2 or 3 sensor model. I didn't really want anything too much, just to know what the hell was going on in there, especially early warning of a coolant leak. 2 or 3 sensor models are more relevant to harder core tuners with electronic boost controllers etc. I have only installed a manual boost controller & run the OEM ECU but it SOUNDS hard core with the loud blow-off noise on lift. So I have the single sensor model where the sensor is located on the cylinder head on the inlet manifold side. It was installed by my auto-electricians. As you'll have noticed, the Copen requires the use of child labour to do most things. Also, the one thing I am sh*t at is 12v auto-electricals. 240v, no problemo,. Just go to engineguard.com.au to get a general guide to these things. The owners manual for mine is at: https://engineguard.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Owners-Manual-v4.pdf آپ کے لئے نیک خواہشات Brain (but you can call me "Mr Damage"!)
Here's a pic of my temp display. It is as far right as possible on the dash behind the edge of the instrument binnacle. My advice tidi is to definitely get one of these or similar. This is an Australian made EngineGuard but if postage is too high find a local one. Normal operating temp is between 70-90deg & as I said I've set the alarm for 95eg.. If it starts running hot, all you have to do is just turn on the a/c and the temp will go down by 15deg! Cheers mate, Brian
Looks great. I had no idea about JBDET's normal temp range. The advice about turning on the a/c is great ill keep that in mind. I did notice the fan kicks in full speed once a/c is switched on. I could only find this type of gauge locally let me attach the pic. that golden sensor needs to fit in this adapter: and this needs to go between radiator hose. Now i am confused which hose should i put it in. I think the hose connected to top of radiator would be a good choice? Because lower hose will only get the flow once the thermostat opens up at 82c. Thank you for replying ^_^
Tidi, Normal operating temperature in my immaculately checked & serviced princess is 80-95 deg. Above 100 & I get nervous in the heat but the weird a/c fix really does work. It gets hot very fast - from 04 to 80 deg in maybe 10 minutes, there's very little coolant & small radiator. Did you try that Australian site? I'm considering 2 small air vents to get extra air under the bonnet. Yours certainly looks nice but complicated to install. Still, if Pakistan is like Philippines then car mechanics are everywhere & cheap. In Canberra - a very expensive little city - AUD $300+ to have that installed. Ah, Namimiss ko ang Pilipinas talaga! (I am really missing the Philippines!) I see it includes a voltmeter - you can get a combo twin USB & LED voltmeter for the 12v cigarette lighter on ebay for about $15. I can send you the link if you like then you can look at that & just copy & paste the name in to find a closer/cheaper seller if you like. If you don't plan to put much on your dash, that would look nice & I'd go that. Hope this helps mate. Brian
Tidi, I misunderstood your question. I have no bloody idea at all! This looks like a lovely dual gauge, but a pretty advanced install. You don't sound very confident - I certainly wouldn't be either. If no-one here can/bothers to help you, I'd say find a good auto electrician who is used to ideally working on maybe Suzukis (if the Copen is as rare there as here & Daihatsu are not there.) I say Suzuki because they are small & Kei car/engine specialists & Suzukis are superb quality, like Daihatsu. If they are used to doing stuff to 660cc engines that would be a clincher for me. Our 'normal' car is a mini SUV Suzuki Ignis, following our 2016 Swift (32k km "a Canberra Car") which we sold for 85% of what I paid for it new, Never a single issue & only 15% depreciation in 4 years. [Off topic!] If you live in Pakistan, I'd have thought a good car auto-elec mechanic would be pretty cheap. Just take your pics & any instructions you can find online with your car. If he looks confused, go next door. Cheers mate, Brian
Brian thank you for taking the time to respond. I mostly work on the car myself. Installing this is no big deal because i installed it on my previous car. Now the thing with Copen L880K is that the upper Radiator hose is not connected to the thermostat housing and the lower radiator hose connects to the thermostat housing. It's opposite from all other cars. I have no idea why they did this in JB-DET :/ This is why i was confused!
I think since lower radiator hose is connected to thermostat which opens when engine reaches running temp which is 82~86c and lets the coolant go into radiator to get cooled and pumped in engine via top radiator hose.. Correct me if i am wrong. So it would be best to install the water temp gauge adapter/sensor on lower radiator hose because that would show the highest temp reading right?
thought i was the only 1, i even tried getting a temp sensor that would trigger the fan earlier to keep it cool
