Know Your Automobile Know Your Gauges

KNOW YOUR DASHBOARD LIGHTS AND GAUGES

Many drivers that have spent years behind the wheel are mostly familiar with the various lights, gauges and displays on a vehicle’s dash. The instrument panel–also called a gauge cluster–includes a speedometer and lots of little symbols that light up to provide information or warn of trouble. Some, like the seatbelt light, are self-explanatory. Others, like the infamous and often misunderstood check engine light, can mean any number of things.

Many newer vehicles use lights in place of two of the analog gauges – coolant temperature and electrical voltage. Know these symbols. Either an overheating engine or a weak battery or electrical system could leave you stranded. Be familiar with the brake system and engine oil pressure lights, too. A brake failure could lead to an accident, and weak oil pressure could damage your vehicle’s engine.

Newer vehicles may also be equipped with a low tire pressure warning light or a display that shows tire pressure. Correct tire pressure is important for safety, efficiency and performance.

The check engine light may be the warning light with the most inappropriate name. That’s because so many different parts of the vehicle can trigger a check engine light, including ones that are not located under the hood. If you have a scan tool, you can plug it into your vehicle’s OBDII port and find out what caused the warning. If not, your local Triple T Tire & Auto Service can scan your vehicle and advise you on a repair.

Have gauges or dashboard lights ever helped you prevent trouble? Or, have you ignored a warning only to find your vehicle’s problem has gotten worse? 

The most common configurations in today’s cars are speedometer, tachometer, n the past, the most used of the gauges. The speedometer was usually driven by a cable that spins inside a flexible tube. The cable is connected on one side to the speedometer, and on the other side to the speedometer gear inside the transmission. Today, just about all vehicles have eliminated the cable and use an electronic sensor to measure wheel speed and send the signal to an electronically driven speedometer.

Speedometer

The accuracy of the speedometer can be affected by the size of the tires. If the tires are larger in diameter than original equipment, the speedometer will read that you are going slower then you actually are. On older vehicles, another cause for inaccurate speed readings was an improper speedometer gear inside the transmission. 

Fuel Gauge

Deliberately designed to be inaccurate! After you fill-up the tank, the gauge will stay on full for a long time, then slowly drop until it reads 3/4 full. After that, it moves progressively faster until the last quarter of a tank seems to go very quickly. This is a bit of psychological sleight-of-hand to give the impression that the car gets better gas mileage then it does, it seems to reduce the number of complaints from new car buyers during the first few weeks after they bought the car.

When the needle drops below E, there are usually 1 or 2 gallons left in reserve. To find out for sure, pull out your owner’s manual and find out how many gallons of gas your tank holds, then the next time you fill up an empty tank, check how many gallons it took to fill it. The difference is your reserve.

It is not a good idea to let your tank drop below 1/4. This is because your fuel pump is submerged in fuel at the bottom of the tank. The liquid fuel helps to keep the fuel pump cool. If the fuel level goes too low and uncovers the pump, the pump will run hotter than normal. If you do this often enough, it can shorten the life of the fuel pump and eventually cause it to fail.

Temperature  Gauge 

This gauge measures the temperature of the engine coolant in degrees. When you first start the car, the gauge will read cold. If you turn the heater on when the engine is cold, it will blow cold air. When the gauge starts moving away from cold, you can then turn the heater on and get warm air.

Most temperature gauges do not show degrees like the one pictured here. Instead, they will read cold, hot, and have a normal range 

It is very important to monitor the temperature gauge to be sure that your engine is not overheating. If you notice that the gauge is reading much hotter than it usually is and the outside temperature is not unusually hot, have the cooling system checked as soon as possible.

If the temperature gauge moves all the way to hot, or if the temperature warning light comes on, the engine is overheating! Safely pull off the road and turn the engine off and let it cool. An overheating engine can quickly cause serious engine damage!

Give us a call at Triple T Tire & Auto Service 

we can arrange a tow for you to get you safely back  on the road

Oil Pressure or warning lamp 

(looks like a teapot)

Measures engine oil pressure in pounds per square inch. Oil pressure is just as important to an engine as blood pressure is to a person. If you run an engine with no oil pressure even for less then a minute, you can easily destroy it. Most cars have an oil lamp that lights when oil pressure is dangerously low. If it comes on while you’re driving, stop the vehicle as soon as it is safely possible and shut off the engine. Then, check the oil level and add oil as necessary.

Here at Triple T we also recommend you change that oil between 3,000 and 7500 miles

Charging System or Battery

(battery symbol or gauge on dash)

The charging system is what provides the electrical current for your vehicle. Without a charging system, your battery will soon be depleted and your vehicle will shut down. The charging system gauge or warning lamp monitors the health of this system so that you have a warning of a problem before you get stuck.

When a charging problem is indicated, you can still drive a short distance to find help unlike an oil pressure or coolant temperature problem which can cause serious engine damage if you continue to drive. The worst that can happen is that you get stuck in a bad location.

A charging system warning lamp is a poor indicator of problems in that there are many charging problems that it will not recognize. If it does light while you are driving, it usually means the charging system is not working at all. The most common cause is a broken alternator belt.

There are two types of gauges used to monitor charging systems: a voltmeter which measures system voltage and an ammeter which measures amperage going out of, or coming into the battery. Most modern cars that have gauges use a voltmeter because it is a much better indicator of charging system health. A voltmeter is usually the first tool a technician uses when checking out a charging system.

A modern automobile has a 12-volt electrical system. A fully charged battery will read about 12.5 volts when the engine is not running. When the engine is running, the charging system takes over so that the voltmeter will read 14 to 14.5 volts and should stay there unless there is a heavy load on the electrical system such as wipers, lights, heater, and rear defogger all operating together while the engine is idling at which time the voltage may drop. If the voltage drops below 12.5, it means that the battery is providing some of the current. You may notice that your dash lights dim at this point. If this happens for an extended period, the battery will run down and may not have enough of a charge to start the car after shutting it off. This should never happen with a healthy charging system because as soon as you step on the gas, the charging system will recharge the battery. If the voltage is constantly below 14 volts, you should have the system checked. If the voltage ever goes above 15 volts, there is a problem with the voltage regulator. Have the system checked as soon as possible as this “overcharging” condition can cause damage to your electrical system.

Some of the other common gauges are Airbag light.  ABS light  traction control light or the tpms light 

If you experience any of the tell tale lights dont hesitate to drop by one of our stores we will be glad to help check those out for ya

Tell Them Ronnie B sent ya