Scan Gauge II, for monitoring engine/trans temps and more

[Blue~Go]

Good experiments. Now you know your (unencumbered) baseline is "normal" and you can do mods (as you plan to do) to try to keep it there.

It's interesting how the Ford spare mounted up front has little effect, but the bike wheels (granted not everyday bike wheels) do what everyone surmises the spare will do. Nothing like empirical evidence to know what's up.

[markatherton]

Thanks. Just ordered mine

[Blue~Go]

Once you have one you'll feel like you're absolutely information-less without it. At least I do.

Note that (at least for the gas engines) there are additional "X-Codes" you can easily program* in. I have the one for transmission temp in use since day one, and I think I will be adding the one for percent of fuel in tank just for fun (Astro: Have you used that one?)

BG

*"Program" in this case meaning just reading a list of numbers and punching them in to the gauge.

[deppstein]

I totally agree...had I known about the importance of keeping transmission fluid temp down and had the Scan Gauge II to help me in that regard, I might well have saved us the ordeal of having it fail on our trip out west last fall. Thank goodnesss we were camped just outside of Santa Fe and not in some god-forsaken corner of Utah when it happened. Definitely learned a lesson. Now I watch both the radiator fluid temp and transmission temp like a hawk. Knowledge is key, giving me the information I need to adjust how I mount the bikes in front and what else I need to do, like get plow lights and figure out how best to install them--a work in progress that I will report on when I get it sorted worked out.
...just another example of how useful this forum is--SO much good info.
David

[chin_k]

Regarding the fuel level, don't be disappointed if it is not accurate. I have the UltraGauge, but they should used the same protocol as ScanGauge, and should not make any difference. The fuel level is way off when I tried it, and so is the MPG gauge. At least it is not right out of the box. I think it needs to be calibrated when it comes to fuel-related metrics.

[Astrodokk]

Hey Blue,
I have my ScanGauge2 programmed clockwise for RPM, water temp, transmission temp, and MPG. I haven't used any of the other settings.
I was hoping to discover that my dash was a digital dash and I could have the RPM shown there, but it isn't.
I think the four settings are the ones I am interested the most in, although if the dash had been digital, I would have used the battery charging setting in it's place.
I'm thinking about getting a HUD that shows some of the same data though. I like lights!

[Blue~Go]

Ok, thanks.

Just FYI, the "programming" is inside the Scangauge. I think the fuel tank X-gauge is already in there. If you want to view any other parameters (even for just a few minutes) you can just press the button in that corner and it will scroll through the options. Just stop when you see the one you want.

I have two corners that are pretty much set permanently (Engine water temp and Transmission fluid temp) and then the other two I set according to context. If I'm towing, probably RPM. Other common picks are voltage and MPG. I haven't yet set up the fuel X-code on mine.

To the person who said the fuel tank level percentage reading was off: Did you set up the fuel tank size in the initial setup parameters? I know the MPG and that sort of thing require calibrating but I thought the fuel tank level might just be reading off the tank level sender somehow. Only in percent instead of a needle. My needle gauge is fine and consistent, so it would mostly just be for kicks.

[deppstein]

Water Temp and Transmission Fluid Temp are the two critical items for me, given my situation with front-mounted bikes. In addition to that, I like to monitor the voltage coming off of the alternator, particularly so I can compare it with the charge that my house batteries are getting via the Blue Sea 7622 separator. I get that reading via the digital readout from my 1000watt Pure Sine Inverter that sits behind the driver's seat and is wired directly to the House Batteries (1/0 gauge/150 amp fuse). This tells me that the charge going to the batteries is almost always .1 less than the amp output reading on the ScanGuage....not exactly a smart charging system...but good enough to let me know how my batteries are doing so that I can "smartly" top them off if need be with either solar suitcase or NOCO Genius Smart Charger plugged into shore power or run off of the Honda 1000 quiet inverter generator.
I programmed the 4th readout on the ScanGuage to give me Air Intake Temp...though I don't really pay much attention to that. Maybe I'll try MPG just for grins.
David

[deppstein]

In effort to "keep things inter proper place," I am posting on this topic to report the latest results of my monitoring transmission and engine temps while traveling with our bikes mounted on the front with back wheels of the bikes covered to protect the Copenhagen Wheels:

I just completed a trip on the 90/84/80/81 corridor from Boston down to the Shenandoah Valley. The weather was mostly sunny and in the mid-high 80's for the most part. When cruising at 65 mph with the AC on, the engine temp ran between 191-202 with trans fluid temp at around 175-180. When I increased speed to between 70-75 (most of the time), the engine temp would be more like 202-211, up to 217 for a moment when climbing some steep grades, with the trans temp hovering around 192, and never going up to more than 200 (again on climbs). I did hit a hard rain for a couple of hours on the way home, and when the outside temps dropped to the 70's, both engine and trans fluid temps dropped as expected. Keep in mind, I am now running with clear space for air flow to the grill with back covered wheels of bikes mounted as far outboard as possible, and the previously installed fans on trans cooler removed.
So, bottom line, I am feeling like my issues of temp control with bikes mounted have been adequately addressed by my positioning of the bikes on the rack, the removal of previously installed fans, and the mounting of my "high plow lights" for adequate (better than original!) vision.
David

[Blue~Go]

One of your reported numbers makes me curious: On my Chinook, the engine temperature will essentially never get above around 202ºF. Reason is that as soon as it hits that temperature, the Ford cooling fan comes on (you can't mistake it as you suddenly have what sounds like a jet engine under your hood). That brings it down to about 195º-198º and then it shuts off (takes around one minute to do so, so it is not on for very long).

When I put in my big transmission cooler, one of the effects I noticed was that the Ford cooling fan would come on a bit more often (actually, before it was basically never, now it's only say when towing up a pass in really hot weather, or running fast in very hot weather with AC on). When I say more often it's still not very often, but before it was almost never.

So in a nutshell, my engine temperatures stayed the same (basically no hotter than 198º with brief blips to 202º when the fan comes on and quickly brings it back down). So the difference is in the fan running slightly more often (when pushing things) and not in the actual temps.

This makes me wonder if your fan is working correctly. Or maybe the parameters for the fan can be different depending on year or some other part or piece. (Or let me think, would an other than stock thermostat make a difference?).

Personally, I would prefer the engine temps stay a bit lower. But also I had the baseline of my previous E-250 campervan (V8 version of our V10 engine) and even towing in the mountains, it ran about the same, temp-wise, as my current V10 (same cooling fan behaviour).

PS: Kind of fun to see this thread still going lo these many years later