Has anyone picked up a good aftermarket gauge that displays the air temp outside the car? And where did you mount it? (I have seen a few but all I have found come with clocks etc. I would just like an easy to read temperature gauge that looks good inside the Fit.)

 

Yep. http://www.jcwhitney.com/dual-displa...x?skuId=327589

 

 

something like this? This is from Show Chrome and has 5+ functions, it's a cool gadget.

 

Thanks for the quick reply and the install photo.

 

Very cool but a little out of my budget right now.

 

I picked up a Bell from K-Mart. it's silver & Black which matches the Fit's interior. $8, matches, and works great. took 5 min to install.




~SB

 

Nice idea, but I can't find that particular Bell thermometer.

 

How about $8 and a little fiberglass?

 

Cool. Details?

 

the meter cost $8 on ebay and I had to mold it to that lower panel. The power supply for the meter is from the 12v socket and the temp probe goes to the windshield wiper area.

I hope that helps

 

Circa40 has the best idea!!

 

You can go with a ScanGauge; while cruising the intake temp should read at the ambient air temp

 

This is perhaps the best. I'll try to find it on eBay.

 

This is the place I bought mine from.

eBay Seller: sureelectronics: temperature, Business Industrial items on eBay.com

They are pretty cheap and gets the job done

 

My local Kmart had it in the Automotive section.

Found it online as well at amazon : Amazon.com: Lighted In-out Thermometer and Clock: Automotive

I'm sure any autoparts store will have it too. I've seen it in Autozone, etc... before. The reason I like this is I can leave it on outdoor thermometer even though it has indoor as well.

Personally, I'm not liking the custom-fabbed thermometer because the red doesn't match the blue lighting in the rest of the car. Location for me isn't ideal either as I like everything in my field of view.

~SB

 

I found the one that Perrenoud Fit shows in post #12 above at Ebay for Buy It Now US$1.59 with $5.99 flat-rate shipping. The seller has 99.4% positive feedback (16804 sales). I might just have to signup with Fleabay for this. It is apparently powered by button batteries and/or by a 12v lighter plug. The backlight is powered only by the plug. I'm hoping that this means that it is always lighted if powered that way. One of the problems I have with many of the auto units is that you have to push a button for the backlight. I particularly like that this one shows both outdoor and indoor temps at the same time.

Here's a link.

I'm not affiliated with the seller, etc. etc.

Edit: Here's a link (Becar Industrial) to the manufacturer's page for this clock/therm. It shows one sitting on a car dash, and gives dimensions (in mm) to give you a better idea of the scale.

 

That's the one thing I wish my thermometer had... plug-in back-lighting. have to push the button to get the blue backlight to come on but with my positioning, it's too far away. I think I'm going to mount an LED right in front of it with a push button allowing me to kick it on when I want to see the thermometer.

I'm not really liking the becar above because it's a clock... with an indoor/outdoor thermometer added on. I passed over alot of the inexpensive ones because they all had the clock as the largest display item.

~SB

 

More questions! How/where did you route the wires to the windshield wiper area for the probe? A hole under the dash to the wiper area? The simple way, such as just passing it through a window?

Some people run temp/compass sensors through the firewall and up around or behind the bumper area. Since this isn't really a true auto sensor, just want to make it as neat and clean as possible. I hate wires all over the place!

Also, how did you wire the power supply to the 12v socket on your Fit. Does it come with a cable that just plugs in, or did you have to hardwire it? Slight details, maybe?

Thanks for any and all info.

 

You might be able to find this one: Becar T24
It's only an in/out thermometer. Unfortunately, it seems to have a backlight button also. I suspect that some judicious soldering could wire that permanently on. If the 12V supply is connected to a switched source in the car, I bet that the light won't light unless the ignition is on, and since it's just a thermometer, there isn't any need for a constant power source to drive the clock. Electronic thermometers tend to have very rapid sensor times, so within a few seconds of turning the car on, it's probably an accurate reading.