The standard gauges a car should have is 4, there is the speedo -meter, tacho -meter, fuel gauge, and temp -erature gauge there are also other added
car gauge to keep better track of your car such as the oil pressure gauge, charging system gauge and the turbine or what we know as turbo if a car has one. There are a lot of us out there who doesn't really understand how to monitor or make use of this gauges, learning to understand this gauges are very important, for it helps us maintain and identify problems of the vehicle. Here we will help you guys understand the gauges displayed in your car.
Speedometer - This is the most common
car gauge of them all, even the name said it all, this
gauge helps you read the current speed of the
car either in km/h or mph (will be written in the gauge). Inside the round dial displays 2 sets of numeric digits this are the Distance traveled and the Overall distance Meter.
* Distance traveled - This records the current travel distance of your car. you can reset this every time for monitoring purposes.
* Overall Distance Meter - Also known to us as the Odometer or Mileage, this helps us read the vehicles travel, from the beginning of its life until the current time.
Tachometer - This
car gauge is also known as RPM, usually located beside the speedometer, this helps you read the current revolution of the engine, for manual transmission you should rev it between 1.5 to 2.5 for you to be able to make the car move in its first gear, the red part displayed in this gauge is what they call the redline it means the maximum revolution the car can take, don't push it to that limit if you don't want your engine to be toast.
Fuel Gauge - This is the
car gauge that helps you monitor the current fuel level of your tank "F" means Full, "E" means empty.
Temperature Gauge - This gauge helps you read the temperature of your engine, normally this should be at the half or a bit below, if it reaches more than half this shows that there's a problem with your engine temperature, it might be overheating. If this happens to you here is what you should do:
- If you could it's best to stop over and check the radiator of your car it might be empty or half full, in that case remember that the radiator is hot so you should
- First cool it down by shutting off the engine
- DO NOT open the cap, pour some cool water on top of the radiator until it cools down first.
- Use a glove or something you can cover the radiator cap with then twist it a bit then step back and let the heat run off then pour some more water until it stops boiling, just then you can remove the cap.
After those cautious steps you can now fill the radiator up with water temporarily then change it to coolant once you can, after that incident it is best to have it check because the radiator might have a leak or some dirt blocking it which usually happens.
- But If for instance you are stuck in traffic and you can't make a stop over, then you must keep shutting down your engine, you need to cool it down because if it reaches up to the over heat zone then you'll need to overhaul your engine.
Oil Pressure Gauge
- This
car gauge helps you monitor when to change your engine oil, normally when the car is idle the reading of this gauge should be below the half it should be like just 1/4 of the gauge, then when you speed up it will reach half or a bit more, if it reads more than this then it only means that your engine oil is heating up and it's best if you change it.
Charging System Gauge - The Charging system is the one responsible in keeping your battery alive without it your battery would be depleted, there are 2 types of Gauge there is the Voltmeter and the Ammeter.
Voltmeter - this is the more accurate gauge in reading your charging system, a fully charged battery will read about 12.5 volts when engine is not running but when the the engine runs it will read 14 to 14.5 and should stay there if it goes below 12.5 then this means the charging power is not enough and the battery power is being consumed if it continues this way your battery will be discharged and you will lose power, on the other hand if the gauge reads to 15 then there's a problem with the voltage regulator and you should have it checked before it ruins your electrical system.
Ammeter - If a battery is fully charge the gauge should read close to zero it should always be at the positive side specially when the engine just started, but if it moves to negative with or without any load then you should have it check for it may be discharging.
Turbine
- The turbine
car gauge is what I call my turbo, my normal turbo charge is 1/4 of the gauge you'll notice when I speed up and release the turbo my charge will be totally drained, then after sometime the turbo will recharge and resurface to the 1/4 of the gauge, and that's how it works.
Supercars car gauge