water level in bottle electronic?
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goldNSX said:Did anyone do an electronic upgrade/DIY-project to a cooling-water-level-observator (what a word!) which gives you an alarm as soon as the level is below some point (leakage test or broken hose) while driving?
What a nice idea. Should not be two hard, just need two electrodes in the tank and then detect the small amount of current flowing through the water?
Regards,
Patrick
goldNSX said:Did anyone do an electronic upgrade/DIY-project to a cooling-water-level-observator (what a word!
I've never noticed one posted however I've got to tell you that I check my coolant level weekly and it is never below to fill line. If you had a catastrophic failure such as a broken hose you'd know about it right away.
I know the bottle is a pain in the ass to see through so I use a this simple thechnique. I take a bamboo chopstick and hold it near the top then insert it into the coolant reservoir until my finger that's holding it contacts the neck. Then I remove it and place it next to the outside of the reservoir with my finger level with the top of the neck. You can easily see the water level on the chopstick and compare to the one embossed on the bottle.
SugrueNSX said:
Most fluid level sensors incorporate a float built into a neck coming down from the cap. When the float falls below a certain level it triggers an idiot light. The main brake fluid reservoir on the NSX has one. I suppose two sensors placed just below the fill line from the outside of the bottle would work. When the level fell below them it would break continuity to trigger a warning.
Besides rigging your coolant bottle you then have find somewhere in the dash to place the idiot light.
Hughie thinks it's much easier to procure a chopstick.
goldNSX said:Did anyone do an electronic upgrade/DIY-project to a cooling-water-level-observator (what a word!
These are popular on BMW's, VW's, Volvo's, Jags, and some Mercedes and come installed as OE. You could likely adapt one of those to work for you. Hella makes replacement sensors for most of the OE applications.
There is a good diagram on this page of a typical aftermarket idiot light retrofit on a coolant tank-
http://www.hewittindustries.com/multi.htm
John@Microsoft said:
That's because most of those cars are pieces of shit and need as many sensors and idiot lights as can be crammed into their dashes.
Well perhaps it's also because most luxury car owners will never open their hoods to check fluid levels. My local mechanic friend had a lady drive in with her 2002 Benz that was acting up. It had NEVER been in for service. There was no oil reading on the dipstick and when he removed the drain plug, thick black sludge came out of it. Too damn funny!
John@Microsoft said:
Nice link!
The biggest challenge will be to maintain pressure while running wires in and out of the bottle. Pressure is the biggest factor in keeping coolant boiling temp acceptably high.
FYI, a very easy way to check the coolant level is with a small flashlight. Stick it in the top and look at the outside of the bootle:smile:. Assuming it is a stock bottle.
HTH,
LarryB
.HTH,
LarryB
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Thanks very much for your inputs.
I check my coolant level very often and found it much easier after I changed the aged bottle with a new one. The old one got 'milky' (intransparent) over time.
The bottle is leaking from time to time and we had several owners not recognizing it (similar to the timing belt discussion). Ok, it might be lazyness.
My main concern is a failure of a coolant belt on a $30k engine. The coolant is out of the system within seconds and the engine's maybe dead within some more on a fast highway. If a small hose's breaking in the engine compartment you may recognize it too late as I look forward while driving forward.
It may be difficult on the OEM bottle but on an aftermarket bottle this feature which should work like a brake fluid sensor should be at least optional. But reliable enough to cope with swapping water and with the built-up pressure which isn't really difficult.
Thanks again.
I check my coolant level very often and found it much easier after I changed the aged bottle with a new one. The old one got 'milky' (intransparent) over time.
The bottle is leaking from time to time and we had several owners not recognizing it (similar to the timing belt discussion). Ok, it might be lazyness.
My main concern is a failure of a coolant belt on a $30k engine. The coolant is out of the system within seconds and the engine's maybe dead within some more on a fast highway. If a small hose's breaking in the engine compartment you may recognize it too late as I look forward while driving forward.
It may be difficult on the OEM bottle but on an aftermarket bottle this feature which should work like a brake fluid sensor should be at least optional. But reliable enough to cope with swapping water and with the built-up pressure which isn't really difficult.
Thanks again.
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found this one on the internet, in german but the illustration shows it all: http://www.reedag.ch/index.html?Mini-Schwimmerschalter/mini-schwimmerschalter.htm
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or here: http://www.jacob-gmbh.de/index.php?id=58&L=1
interesting: you don't need to open the bottle, just drill a hole into it. Available with different lenths, go up to 150 degrees and 15 bar pressure.
interesting: you don't need to open the bottle, just drill a hole into it. Available with different lenths, go up to 150 degrees and 15 bar pressure.
They do have an english versin of their site.goldNSX said:
http://www.reedag.ch/home_e.htm
Quite a few on ebay as well. Do a search for "level sensor".
I check my fluid level once a week or so.
Cool link John, they are using two electrodes in the tank so no moving parts.
The problem with the Hugh chopstick is that it’s kind of hard to do when driving which is when a hose is going to blow.
Regards,
Patrick
Cool link John, they are using two electrodes in the tank so no moving parts.
The problem with the Hugh chopstick is that it’s kind of hard to do when driving which is when a hose is going to blow.
Regards,
Patrick
SugrueNSX said:
Having a hose blow while driving is such a catastrophic failure that a level sensor/idiot light isn't going to do much good either. If you change your hoses every few years, it will be be very unlikely that one fails. Nothing can prevent a hose failure but changing them on time will greatly minimize that from happening.
Hugh said:
It goes without saying that one should follow the maintenance schedule.
But if you take that approach we would not need any gauges or warning lights other than fuel and RPM.
Hopefully I would notice if a hose blew but what about a leak in the water pump seal or somewhere else in the system.
It would be nice to know before the temp gauge shows me that something is not as it should be. Which might be too late.
Regards,
Patrick
Simply having an idiot light tell you that your overflow tank is a bit low has absolutely nothing at all to do with an imminent hose failure.
I never said that we don't need warning lights or gauges for things other than fuel or revs. The warning lights on the NSX are very comprehensive and cover all of the major components. I simply think that the time and effort required to rig a light for low coolant is a waste of time. Should the car have come with one from the factory? Sure it should have, but being a Monday morning QB is easy. I'll bet the next one incorporates such a sensor and it might even have a sensor for low windshield wash fluid as well which would be nice.
I never said that we don't need warning lights or gauges for things other than fuel or revs. The warning lights on the NSX are very comprehensive and cover all of the major components. I simply think that the time and effort required to rig a light for low coolant is a waste of time. Should the car have come with one from the factory? Sure it should have, but being a Monday morning QB is easy. I'll bet the next one incorporates such a sensor and it might even have a sensor for low windshield wash fluid as well which would be nice.
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Hugh said:
Why? The bottle dries out within about 10 seconds and that's still better than the temp gauge in the red some minutes afterwards. And there are always some people who don't recognize an empty bottle because of a small leak in the case of the NSX the bottle inself.
Hugh said:
I don't have any windshield wash fluid in my system because I don't need it. So I don't want a idiot light on this lighting up all the time.
Actually you don't need any gauges at all.
The rpm gauges is not needed because there is a rev limiter, the ignition lights are not needed because you can hear the engine,
the fuel gauge is not needed because the car stops without telling you that it needs some fuel
and the speed gauge is not needed because the speeding tickets are telling you that you've been driving too fast....and so on.
Just think about every thing that is NOT needed in your car, like aftermarket parts and so on.
