Coolant temp gauge in °C?
08-02-2009, 07:32 AM
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M-B GLE, Porsche 911 Turbo, Porsche Boxster (spouse)
Coolant temp gauge in °C?
Could someone with a US spec vehicle confirm that their coolant temperature gauge is marked with a Celsius temperature scale? Mine is and I'm curious to know if all coolant temp gauges are delivered in the metric format. Can't think of a good reason why the scale would be in degrees Celsius (instead of degrees Fahrenheit) for the USA market since our standard temp measurement (outside of engineering and/or scientific applications) is in °F.
Granted, it reduces the inventory requirement a bit but if we have a speedometer calibrated in MPH why don't we have a coolant temp gauge marked in Fahrenheit just like the air conditioning control?
Granted, it reduces the inventory requirement a bit but if we have a speedometer calibrated in MPH why don't we have a coolant temp gauge marked in Fahrenheit just like the air conditioning control?
08-02-2009, 11:19 AM
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yea it's in C, I think it's cuz no one ever looks at the temp itself but rather the position of the arrow, so there is no point of putting any numbers really.
08-02-2009, 09:04 PM
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2010 steel grey GLK with lighting pkg
By using one unit, I think its a cost cutting measure that Mercedes could take and would not affect the quality of the car.
08-03-2009, 03:31 AM
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M-B GLE, Porsche 911 Turbo, Porsche Boxster (spouse)
And the air-conditioner knobs with °F marked on them aren't just a reading? If USA owners are comfortable with the coolant red zone starting at 120° C then they should have no trouble adapting to an air-conditioner setting ring marked in °C after they figure out room temperature is 20° C.
If indeed cost cutting through reduced inventory is the decision driver then why not one worldwide dual-scale speedometer (KPH & MPH) since you also have a selectable digital readout? As well as dual-scale air-conditioner controls instead of what they have now, F for the USA and C for markets using the metric system? And, of course, a dual-scale coolant temp gauge.
I suspect NYCGLK has it about right, some domestic USA vehicles have no coolant temp gauge numbers at all...merely a cold mark, a couple intermediate marks and a red overheat mark. Additionally, an overheat text warning shows up on the GLK so there's another level of alert. I suppose M-B figures it's good enough for the average American owner just knowing the relative temp without actually knowing the overheat zone starts at 248° F. But then they do tell you on p. 282 of the Owner's Manual don't they? So I guess someone in the tech manual writing department believes it's an important number to know.
Oh well, no big deal, I'm an aero engineer as well as a fighter pilot so I'm comfortable using C. But the logic of the decision (outside of inventory reduction which I already discussed in the original post) still eludes me. The reason for the post was merely to determine if all US spec GLKs have coolant temp gauges marked in C...or whether mine was different as a result of the European delivery.
If indeed cost cutting through reduced inventory is the decision driver then why not one worldwide dual-scale speedometer (KPH & MPH) since you also have a selectable digital readout? As well as dual-scale air-conditioner controls instead of what they have now, F for the USA and C for markets using the metric system? And, of course, a dual-scale coolant temp gauge.
I suspect NYCGLK has it about right, some domestic USA vehicles have no coolant temp gauge numbers at all...merely a cold mark, a couple intermediate marks and a red overheat mark. Additionally, an overheat text warning shows up on the GLK so there's another level of alert. I suppose M-B figures it's good enough for the average American owner just knowing the relative temp without actually knowing the overheat zone starts at 248° F. But then they do tell you on p. 282 of the Owner's Manual don't they? So I guess someone in the tech manual writing department believes it's an important number to know.
Oh well, no big deal, I'm an aero engineer as well as a fighter pilot so I'm comfortable using C. But the logic of the decision (outside of inventory reduction which I already discussed in the original post) still eludes me. The reason for the post was merely to determine if all US spec GLKs have coolant temp gauges marked in C...or whether mine was different as a result of the European delivery.
