Is anyone else's low temperature indicator seem overly sensitive? I got in my car today at lunch time, temperature outside is 64 degrees, and the light is on. It did go off about 20 seconds into the ride, but still, how warm does it have to be outside for it to not think it's cold????

 

lol...It's not a indicator for the outside temperature. It's the temperature of your engine.....

If it says its cold, then your engine isn't warmed up.

 

Well yeah, I do realize that it's not an outside temperature indicator. But one would assume that with a warm outside, it would warm the engine up no? I'm really just sick of seeing that damn light every time I start the car.

 

I think this is the only car Ive ever seen that did not have a temperature gauge.

 

The light will be on almost everytime you start the car because the engine has been sitting and has cooled down. When the light goes out, your engine is at operating temperature.

I just don't drive very hard until after the light goes off.

 

No, no, no...

With all due respect you are applying Human standards of Hot and Cold to Engine Operating temperature standards...

The light is designed to illuminate in relationship to engine operating standards of being undertemp...

That means in most cases if your engine has been sitting unused long enough, it's going to start up being "cold" or undertemp in relationship to operational standards of "warmed up" efficiency..thus the light will be illuminated.

Outside ambient tempatures will impact slightly...extreme summer vs. extreme winter...

But just get used to seeing the light a lot....

At first I did NOT like the light...wanted a guage. But I have found (and I think this is good) that with a Hot-Cold gauge, I'd just ignore it, as long as the needle wasn't mysteriously climbing into the red...

I think the light is good for me, because I have found myself being more conservative when I start out...waiting for the light to go out...and I don't think I would do that if I simply had a gauge...

 

Trade it for a car with a gauge then or don't look at it. Geez

 

Or get some electrical tape and cover it!

That light is the coolant temp indicator. It should be on to remind you to take it easy on the car, usually those lights stay on till about 150*F

If the water is cold, the oil is about 20 minutes from being at operating temperature.

 

I wish the GE8 came with a conventional temperature gauge with a needle.

 

IDK if you noticed this but the Fits dont have temp gauges, first car I have ever seen with out them. So the blue light is on to say hey the car is under a certant temp, in the GD3 that temp is 125F. DOnt feel too bad though your not the first person to be confused buy this light and will not be the last.

 

This thread is a good example of why I like these forums. lol

skirshy - stick around, it gets better. The light indicates a cold start condition. It will go off when the coolant temp reaches the 130F area. Lot's of good advice as far as everything else goes - read and heed.

 

My 1965 Chevy Impala didnt, just a red overheat and green cold light. GM sold millions of cars that way.

 

In reality most "real gauges" are not as precise as they appear to be. They typically only have 3 positions to prevent people taking their cars into the dealer when they see the gauge be a little different but still very much in the safe range.

 

Some shining examples were the factory boost, coolant and oil pressure gauges on the dash of my Laser.

Fortunately a standalone ECU allowed me to use those outputs for other purposes with parameters under my control.

Now the stock boost gauge (which was based off of estimated airflow not even actual boost ) gives me counts of knock retard from 0-14* and I have a CEL set to flash at me in red to catch my eye when I see more than 5*

The ECT gauge gives me actual coolant temps now, from 150-250F, with a CEL set to hold solid red once it gets past 235F.

The oil pressure gauge is still worthless because it only tells me the pressure seen at the sending unit on the OFH its' self, but it will at least tell me if I am making too much pressure (>100psi) or too little (<15psi).

Still have to mount another sending unit where I source the feed for the turbo at the cylinder head...

But I get the feeling maybe 1 in 1000 Fit owners would care to have features like this. Hence they didn't bother.

 

Whoa now, I'm just saying I don't like the light, not like I'm saying I hate the car or anything, I love it. Like everyone in this thread has said though, I've been used to a gauge, so I've never had to deal with a cold engine light before, and I wasn't sure if it was normal for it to be on every time I started the car, if it is normal, then yeah, I'll get used to it. Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

Funny, the lack of an actual gauge threw me for a loop at first too. I actually didn't even notice that there wasn't a gauge when I first got the car...it wasn't until the following morning when the little blue cold temp indicator lit on my dash.

I also let my car idle anywhere from 30-60 seconds before I drive off when I first start it after it has been sitting for a few hours or so, regardless of outside temperature. I know I'm going to get conflicting opinions on that...I believe this allows time for the engine oil to properly circulate throughout and lubricate essential engine components. I've read that this process is unnecessary on newer vehicles do to more advanced ECUs and better overall engine construction, but it is something that I'm used to and I do out of habit at this point. Makes me feel better anyway Then I just drive at lower speeds until the cold temp indicator goes off. (In previous cars I would wait for the needle to creep just above the "C" into the normal range) Fortunately, the speed limit in my development is only 25mph, so that really isn't a problem for me. By the time I reach the main roads in a minute or two, the light is off.

Unrelated note: I have also seen that when it is very cold outside, the Fit is very sluggish when turning over on an initial start after it has sat outside all night (our townhouse has a single car garage, and wifey parks her Civic in there). Slower than I'm used to anyway. I've done a search and seen that's because Honda's OEM batteries are crap:

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...-starting.html

I'm thinking of trying out this:

Battery Warmer NEW PART CAR AUTO - eBay (item 270704095875 end time Mar-11-11 02:11:25 PST)

Or maybe I'll just look into an engine block heater...I'll figure it out.

 

Yeah, I've seen the arguments between "Let it idle for 60 seconds" and "Just take off right away." Each side has their points, but no one is the clear victor, for me, it depends. Usually by the time I hit a main road my indicator is off, so I just take off right away. But on the days when I have to scrape ice, or its extremely cold, then I let it idle for a bit.

I've definitely noticed the fit performing better in warmer weather. I bought mine in January, so I've been only driving it in cold, but on the two rare days where it reached 60, I could easily feel it accelerating better, very noticeable. Could also be a mind game where I just love to go faster when it's warmer, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't.

 

15 bucks in oriellys and i have an electric coolant temp guage



part number is 6262

 

wedgecon plus to you. Good point many don't realize. I became obsessed with the digital coolant temp gauge in my 96 DeVille. I had never seen an accurate temperature readout on a performance V-8 before. Then, what you've noted was pointed out to me.

Thing with the Cadillac was the temps swung quite a large range - hitting 220F at times. Not something a soccer Mom would want to see or try to understand lol

The Fit seems to get to that 175-180F level and stay there nicely. I'm seeing it on my new UltraGauge.

 

I actually like the light. I assume that if one day, god forbid, my fit overheats then it'll be red, better than the guage which after awhile I ignored. My accord HG blew and if it wasn't for the smell of burning antifreeze I wouldn't have checked the guage.