ltrx8

I came upon this @ http://www.racingbeat.com/FRmazda4.htm ... The following information suprised me.....



Are you aware that the “gauge” that appears on the dash of your RX-8 is not actually a functional gauge? Have you ever seen it move? Not only have we discovered that this is a non-operational gauge, but there isn’t even an oil pressure sensor on the engine! Nope, the gauge will never move from the position that you see.

wisconsinben

I find that statement to be VERY questionable. My guage seems to be a decent indicator of oil level. It's approximately 3 notches past the halfway point when the oil level is at its highest point, and at about 1.5 notches when the oil gets towards the low end of the acceptable range.

I could be totally wrong on this, since I've never actually seen the oil pressure sensor...but either Mazda or Racing Beat is doing something VERY sketchy!

ltrx8

I'm happy that they have a remedy(sold me).

ltrx8

Sorry ,but I meant the gauge on your dash..It's apparently just cosmetic(fake)

ltrx8

It gives you the illusion of a monitored oil pressure system..

ltrx8

Can anyone confirm this... I have changed oil and noticed a pause 1.5-2 seconds when starting.. or little longer than usual..By pause I mean time before needle ups to just past half

wisconsinben

I know...I meant the gauge on the dash as well.

RichardK

What I don't understand - given that French cars have had this sort of thing since the 70s at least - is why the "Oil Pressure 'gauge'" doesn't actually function as an oil level indicator when the car is first started and cold.

Easy enough to implement at the design stage. Have a light which lights green and says "Level" below the guage, and when the ignition is on and the engine is cold (i.e. in the condition where the oil will all be in the sump or whatever the Renesis has) but before the engine is started, the level of oil (or an approximation) is shown - mostly to give drivers an indication of 'less than halfway on the dipstick is remaining, but it's not low, if you want to go top it up'.

I mean, my 1992 Volvo 480 had this exact feature. The digital fuel gauge/trip meter computer would, when the ignition was on and the car was about to be started for the first time, display the oil level - before switching over to fuel level.

I don't mind it being an idiot light in disguise. I don't mind it being a bit silly. I do feel that they didn't do something genuinely useful and clever with it, that would have provided some genuine utility - mine hasn't used much oil in the first 800 miles, but I do find the procedure of checking (or rather, topping up - checking can be done without removing that bloody engine cover) a bit of a chore.

RichardK

"fits into the space below the heater controls".

Yes. I spend all my time looking at the ashtray. I never look at the bloody huge blanking panel where Satnav would be fitted to my car, where, oh, a trio of useful dials would be in perfect alignment for a quick glance whilst driving...

The Mighty Red

I've hear this before from a reliable source. The oil gauge is acutally just a dummy gauge and only has two positions. Off and on. When it's on, it's slighty to the right of center.

Gord96BRG

The RX-8 has been available for over 2.5 years. Yes, it's actually common knowledge that the oil "pressure" gauge is just an idiot gauge. In fact, the owners manual explains it exactly as that - the gauge shows that you have either no pressure or some pressure. There's probably dozens of threads discussing this.

Why does Mazda do this? They started doing this back in 1995, when they converted the real oil pressure gauge that was in 90 - 94 Miatas to a dummy gauge. There were two reasons - cost was one (the sender and gauge for the idiot version are much cheaper than the real pressure ones), and support was another. Far too many owners didn't know how to read a real OPG, and they kept calling mazda or the dealers, or insisting on service visits, to correct perceived problems - which weren't problems at all, just normal oil pressure variations with engine temp and rpm that they weren't familiar with. By switching to the dummy gauge, Mazda eliminated sinificant support costs. Seriously, people couldn't be bothered to read an owners manual to find out what the gauge was indicating or what it was supposed to show.

Before you scoff at that last sentence... go back to the first paragraph of my reply. Notice how you didn't bother reading the owners manual to find out what the gauge was telling you?

wisconsinben

^^^^^
I'll be damned...must have missed that part of the manual. I guess I'm just imagining these slight variations. Thanks for the info though, Gord.

NoTears316

I think that people nowadays are more interested in finding conspiracy theories than finding out the actual facts. It would have been more exciting for him to find out that Mazda really has the dummy gauge in there to hide the extra 50 hp that the 8 has. If you contact Mazda with knowledge of this dummy gauge, they will give you the code that unlocks the hidden hp.

s13lover

And now the new MX-5 has returned to a real, functional oil pressure gauge.

msrecant

And if on the Miata forum you ask "why does the 2006 oil pressure guage reads so low some times?" you get flamed. They are sh-t scared that Mazda will put back the idiot light if they get too many customer service questions again.

What I don't understand is why doesn't Mazda make it a user option. That is it comes from the factory set to be an idiot light, then using a special sequence you can switch to a mode where it shows the real oil pressure, for those of us who care.

RX8_GT

A idiot question about the idiot gauge.

How does the current idiot gauge 'know' there's a oil pressure? There must be sensor somewhere in the system.

msrecant

Check out this thread https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...pressure+idiot .

I believe the PCM makes the decision whether there is oil pressure and sets the guage to one of two possible positions. ZOOM44 says the yes/no point is 5 PSI.

There is an "oil pressure" switch located just below where the oil filter mounting fixture attaches to the block. This is different from the "oil level" switch found in the oil pan.

RichardK

That's a good idea.

Or even, a new sensor, an ECU flash, and lo - the gauge becomes a gauge again.

What I really don't get is why the temperature gauge appears to be in the same boat.

r0tor

iTrader: (1)

in the end it tells you the same thing a real guage tells you... you either have oil pressure or don't

-shrug-

r0tor

iTrader: (1)

there is this thing called a thermostat in the coolant flowpath that regulates temperature...

-sigh-

msrecant

Then why bother taking up all that space with a gauge? Just have a light.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

the water temperature gauge is fully functional... not a on/off dummy gauge... the the water temperature is constantly regulated by a thermostat within the cooling system, hence the consistent temperature reading after car is warmed up

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

good question... maybe they can put an ANALOG speedo in the right dash circle instead... though i have become accustomed to the digital speedo, now i actually have a hard time following an analog speedo when driving other cars

msrecant

Unfortunately we all know the real answer. The Oil Pressure "gauge" serves two specific purposes: an aesthetic balance for the temp gauge in the left pod and to provide a sports car image to help to sell the car. We are long past the age where the function of the instrument cluster is to communicate useful information to the driver. What is more important today is how cool the damn thing looks ....

Sorry, you got me started on one of my hot buttons.

ltrx8

After all this Mazda might really be onto something.Maybe they should just put in a green light in place of the speedometer and red light in place of the rpm gauge..