Honda Car Forum

loewent via CarKB.com wrote:
> FYI on your civic if you buy a used cluster (I got mine from Ebay) with a
> tach, it is a direct swap and the tach works without any further modification.

i've done that a couple of times on my hondas.


>
>
> Kinda neat, frustrating at the same time.
>
> And if you want to keep your original mileage on the odometer, just swap out
> the center gauge cluster. I bought a US cluster for my canadian car, so I
> didn't want to have to worry about converting from miles to kms.
>
> It took me 10 minutes to do the swap.

you can swap the speedo instrument within the cluster too. that way you
keep your original mileage. within model classes, they're interchangeable.


>
> t
>
> 2000 Civic hatch wrote:
>> On Apr 4, 2:10 pm, bubbabu...@yahoo.com wrote:
>>
>>>> If you maintain the vehicle well you should not have any cooling system
>>>> problems. If a guage is that important to you you can always install an
>> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>>> how is it mounted on the dashboard/instrument panel? How much does it
>>> cost?
>> My 5 speed 2000 Civic has/had/offered no tach not even as an option
>> (thank goodness it DOES have a temp gauge) - it would have been such a
>> pain to install an after market (tach) I learned to do without.
>

On Apr 4, 1:56 pm, bubbabu...@yahoo.com wrote:
snip
>
> Also, the next bigger models that do have the water temp gauge would
> be Toyota Corolla, Matrix, or Honda Civic. But the extra purchase/
> ownership cost may not even offset the possible repair costs resulting
> from a Yaris/Fit/xD engine overheating (which, if happens, would be
> several years down the road.)
>
> TIA,
> Bubba

I'm gonna challenge your assumption that the Corolla, although
somewhat more expensive to purchase, delivering 26/35 mpg and with
historically outstanding reliability, will cost more to operate and
insure than the smaller cars on your list over the course of 250,000
miles.

You might want to test drive these cars on the same roads and at the
same speeds as your daily commute.

Then get a Ford Focus, or some other similiar car with a gauge
instead. Then call up all the makers of the cars that you didn't buy
and mention that a lack of temperature gauge was why you didn't buy
their car.

I wouldn't buy a car without a temperature gauge, or tachometer
either. That and I always add a voltmeter.

C. E. White <cewhite3@mindspring.com> wrote:
>Nissan Frontier do. I think my SO's RAV4 does as well, but I have not had a
>chance to review the wiring diagrams to be sure. I suspect if you want
>"real" gauges you will need to install them yourself, or buy a German car.

Shamefully, even BMW has embraced the fake gauges. I cannot imagine what
they were thinking.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Scott Dorsey wrote:
> C. E. White <cewhite3@mindspring.com> wrote:
>> Nissan Frontier do. I think my SO's RAV4 does as well, but I have not had a
>> chance to review the wiring diagrams to be sure. I suspect if you want
>> "real" gauges you will need to install them yourself, or buy a German car.
>
> Shamefully, even BMW has embraced the fake gauges. I cannot imagine what
> they were thinking.
> --scott
>

they were thinking through the engineering functions rationally and
logically!

zzyzzx wrote:
> Then get a Ford Focus, or some other similiar car with a gauge
> instead. Then call up all the makers of the cars that you didn't buy
> and mention that a lack of temperature gauge was why you didn't buy
> their car.
>
> I wouldn't buy a car without a temperature gauge, or tachometer
> either. That and I always add a voltmeter.


that makes no logical sense because the temperature gauge is extremely
non-linear. it doesn't really tell you anything other than whether the
motor is in the normal range or if it's too hot. and only one of those
two pieces of information is actually important. a light can do that
job, probably better because you might actually pay attention!

elmo's analogy is excellent because there's a lot of info about many
things that any machine operator doesn't actually need to know - they
only need to know if something is wrong. and this is one of those
situations.

> >Also, the next bigger models that do have the water temp gauge would
> >be Toyota Corolla, Matrix, or Honda Civic. But the extra purchase/
> >ownership cost may not even offset the possible repair costs resulting
> >from a Yaris/Fit/xD engine overheating (which, if happens, would be
> >several years down the road.)
>
> I wouldn't upgrade just for that feature. *Replace all the hoses every
> five years and don't worry about it.

People still do that? Hoses outlast engines these days. I have had
it happen twice already.

zzyzzx wrote:
>>> Also, the next bigger models that do have the water temp gauge would
>>> be Toyota Corolla, Matrix, or Honda Civic. But the extra purchase/
>>> ownership cost may not even offset the possible repair costs resulting
>> >from a Yaris/Fit/xD engine overheating (which, if happens, would be
>>> several years down the road.)
>> I wouldn't upgrade just for that feature. �Replace all the hoses every
>> five years and don't worry about it.
>
> People still do that? Hoses outlast engines these days. I have had
> it happen twice already.

two engines??? doubtless their demise was assisted by your close
attention to the highly accurate and meaningful temperature gauge.

bubbabubbs@yahoo.com wrote:
> I've been thinking about what my next commute car is going to be. 80
> miles/day, it's just me and my briefcase, so thinking of a small
> vehicle with great gas mileage. Yaris hatchback, Scion xD, or Honda
> Fit would work for me. Problem is, none of them has a water temp
> gauge, just an "idiot light."
>


Many present vehicles have software which "smooths" the response of the
water temperature gauge so much that is practically is an idiot light.

Not having one wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.

Scott Dorsey wrote:
> C. E. White <cewhite3@mindspring.com> wrote:
>> Nissan Frontier do. I think my SO's RAV4 does as well, but I have not had a
>> chance to review the wiring diagrams to be sure. I suspect if you want
>> "real" gauges you will need to install them yourself, or buy a German car.
>
> Shamefully, even BMW has embraced the fake gauges. I cannot imagine what
> they were thinking.

They were thinking "DAMN I wish all these nitwits that are complaining
because the oil pressure gauge moves when the engine changes speed would
go away and let us build cars!!"

People that don't have a clue about how an engine works and were
complaining to Ford about 'fluctuating oil pressure' (which was in fact
perfectly normal) are EXACTLY why Ford went to an idiot gauge (pressure
switch) way back when.

The "my car is a toaster" crowd that made the Camry the best stilling
POS in the world is ruining the driving experience for the rest of us
more and more every day.