wake Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 Last week I traded a 94 Eldorado base coupe in on a 98 ETC and I absolutely love the newer Caddy with it's toys like newer Bose system and memory functions... One difference I noticed was that the operating temperature between the two cars (both Northstars) is different... On my 94, I could use the digital readout and see the temp vary between 190F and 235F as the fans kicked on and off... On my 98, the temp gauge (disappointed to find no digital readout), I noticed goes to the half way mark and doesn't budge at all no matter whether I'm driving at 80MPH or sitting in traffic... Was there a difference in termperature control for the fans on the newer models??? Another major difference I noticed was going into diagnostic mode... There must be 12 different subsytems reporting where my 94 only seemed to scroll through 5 or 6... Lots of extra stuff I take it, I guess I'll find out more when I get the shop mauals soon... The temp thing has me curious though... Any input??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimD Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 My '98 behaves the same as yours; the gauge does not move after the thermostat opens. I'm convinced (and maybe way off base) the sample rate has been slowed way down to dampen out some of the normal but possibly alarming gauge movement. Enjoy your new ride.... Jim Drive your car. Use your cell phone. CHOOSE ONE ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 JimD is correct. I remember Guru commenting on this once and basically said that the guages were greatly dampened so the "average bear" won't freak out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 Those are the guages that I need, ole school stuff! The digital readout has a direct connection to my heart rate...... LOL... Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 The temperature gauge is programmed to read straight-up as long as the coolant is at normal range. Done presumably to keep frightened owners out of the dealership for "overheating", since a temperature swing is normal, as you noticed with your '94. My '97 starts to move the gauge up over 220*F. On my '97, I programmed it to read the digital temperature display down with all the DIC functions (MPG, AVG SPEED, etc). I don't know if this is available for your '98 Eldorado though. I think this feature was dropped on the '98 Seville, but not sure on the Eldorado, since it didn't switch body styles like the Seville did. Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98Concours Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 Since my 98 helms service manual includes the Deville and Eldorado, I bet the DIC is programmable to show the water temp in degrees. It is in the manual. Jeff Jeff 98 Concours 90 Seville 04 Corvette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wake Posted June 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 The temperature gauge is programmed to read straight-up as long as the coolant is at normal range. Done presumably to keep frightened owners out of the dealership for "overheating", since a temperature swing is normal, as you noticed with your '94. My '97 starts to move the gauge up over 220*F. On my '97, I programmed it to read the digital temperature display down with all the DIC functions (MPG, AVG SPEED, etc). I don't know if this is available for your '98 Eldorado though. I think this feature was dropped on the '98 Seville, but not sure on the Eldorado, since it didn't switch body styles like the Seville did. Ah, thats interesting... I'll have to look into that when my shop manuals get here... I know it always concerned me to watch the temps on my old 94 yo-yo up and down like that... It was always much worse than any other GM I've owned, but as Guru assured me back then, it never overheated... Although the 240F coolant temps while cruising at 80MPH across the AZ desert in 115F weather always left me paranoid... If it's programmable, I'd like to be able to add it to the DIC display... If for no other reason, to occasionally get my heart rate up... Thanks again everyone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoo Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 Heh man.. I wish ANYTHING was programmible on my 99.. I can't do crap to it. I can't add anything to the dic and it won't show me any information at all other than the 'normal' stuff like mpg, fuel used, outside temp, etc.. nothing that i REALLY wanna know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 Ah, thats interesting... I'll have to look into that when my shop manuals get here... I know it always concerned me to watch the temps on my old 94 yo-yo up and down like that... It was always much worse than any other GM I've owned, but as Guru assured me back then, it never overheated... I think that's just inherant to FWD vehicles without a mechanical clutch fan, because if the fans aren't running and you're just cruising around town, many times the ambient airflow alone isn't sufficient to cool the coolant....so the temperature will slowly rise until the fans kick in. But the rise isn't dangerous to the engine or the vehicle, and is perfectly normal...which is why I suspect most temperature gauges on FWD cars today are programmed to "read" normal, even when the temperature might vary 30 degrees. Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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