Re: 2014 Outback instruments question

On Mon, 12 Dec 2022 15:49:15 -0600, Robert Wilson
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On 12/11/2022 9:31 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
>> Robert Wilson <[email protected]> wrote:
>> 
>>> I recently had to replace my 2002 Outback after a collision. My "new"
>>> 2014 Outback is a lot newer than I really wanted, but it had some
>>> features my wife wanted and there are not many used Subarus available
>>> around here: AWD and Subaru are very popular in our northern US climate,
>>> and Subys last a long time!
>>>
>>> Is there some way to set up the instrument panel so that I can see both
>>> the fuel level and the engine temperature? Now I see fuel level and the
>>> stupid "ECO meter", and I cannot find the combination that I want,
>>> either in the manuals or by just trying things in the car.
>>>
>>> So what I basically want is just to replace the eco meter by engine
>>> temperature, while retaining fuel level. In my sixty-some years of
>>> driving I have several times detected developing problems before they
>>> became critical. I do care about the environment but when driving I also
>>> care about my car's engine)
>> 
>> I searched for and found the following resource:
>> 
>> https://www.subaru.com/owners/vehicle-resources.html
>> 
>> I selected 2014 and Outback, but could not select a matching trim level
>> since you didn't mention yours.  I picked 2.5 Premium.  Several manuals
>> were listed.  I don't know the dash for your car, but am assuming the
>> Eco, fuel level, and engine temperature would not be displayed by the
>> head unit, but within the cluster panel of the dash ahead of the
>> steering wheel.  Chapter 3, Instruments and Controls, seemed the likely
>> candidate on how to program the cluster (aka instrument) panel.
>> 
>> On page 138 (per the viewer's page count as there are no page numbers
>> displayed on some pages) is a list of sections in Chapter 3.  Mentioned
>> in the TOC is "Temperature gague (models with type A combination
>> meter)".  Type A is illustrated on page 22.  That's an old style analog
>> cluster gauge set where the temp dial is at the lower left and the fuel
>> dial is lower right.  Type B is how you describe: MPG is lower left, and
>> fuel is lower right.  These are fixed function cluster panels.  There is
>> no substituting different guages in place of the current ones.  To
>> change you would have to replace the cluster panel to get a different
>> set of guages.  However, I suspect you would need to do a lot of
>> rewiring to make a different cluster type work when substituted for the
>> original unless they already include the cabling plugs figuring to use
>> the same cabling harness regardless of which cluster type was installed.
>> 
>> I did notice on the type B cluster panel which apparently you have there
>> is an MPG button at middle right, and the illustration says "5) Multi
>> function display switching knob (page 3-33)".  The manual doesn't use
>> any links, so I had to scroll far to get to page 3-33.  Alas, the
>> description there for the Type B combination meter has it switching
>> between the following modes:
>> 
>> .--> Driving range on remaining fuel
>> |      \__ Average fuel consumption
>> |             \__ Current fuel consumption
>> |                   \__ Blank
>> '_________________________/
>> 
>> So, all the MPG button does to the MPG guage is to change showing what
>> type of mileage calculation is being shown.  There is no switching to a
>> totally different function, like engine temperature.
>> 
>> You're at the mercy of the Check Engine light which tells when there is
>> a problem after it surpasses some threshold, and that can be too late.
>> Yep, I like using the engine temperature guage to let me know if the
>> engine is running hotter than normal, like the engine is okay but I'm
>> freezing inside which means a thermostat is stuck closed (all coolant
>> stays inside the engine, none goes to the interior radiator), or the
>> engine is too hot (maybe not enough coolant, or a leak), or maybe when
>> the needle gets up far enough and for long enough before I can expect to
>> get heat inside the car (passengers will whine "where's the heat", so I
>> turn on the electric seat heaters for them).
>> 
>> Since Subaru won't show you the engine temperature, maybe you should get
>> an OBD-II monitor to plug into the car's OBD port.  Then pair the
>> monitor to your phone via Bluetooth, and use an app to show you lots of
>> stats about your car (I use both OBDLink and Torque).  The OBD monitor
>> that I got was the OBDLink MX Bluetooth.  Back when I bought it, price
>> was somewhere around $80.  Now it's up to $140 (for the MX+ model since
>> they don't make the MX model anymore).  While the OBDlink app is useful
>> for diagnostics, you might find the Torque Pro app better suited to
>> showing you gauges.
>> 
>> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=OCTech.Mobile.Applications.OBDLink
>> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torque
>> 
>> Maybe if you can link your smartphone to your head unit, so the head
>> unit shows your smartphone's display, you could see the gauges from
>> OBDlink or Torque apps on the head unit.  I played that far it casting
>> my smartphone's display onto the head unit.
>Thanks! I had known from my manuals and the actual dash board that I 
>have type B, I probably should have mentioned that. I'll think about 
>what I can accomplish with the phone link, I already have those linked 
>for some purposes.
>
>Thanks for your work. I will just have to regret getting this late model 
>a car. It is just barely short of compelling me to replace the car. I 
>don't think technology needs to be made harder than necessary to use, 
>but the idea that people should be able to use their 
>phones/computers/cars, etc., without thinking is, I fear, responsible 
>for a lot of what I dislike about today's world. (Among other things I 
>have been a manager, as well as individual contributor, in Silicon 
>Valley industry, so I do have experience with system design.)
>Bob W


Give any thought to a ScanGauge? I use it on the same vintage Outback,
it wedges into the slot on the bottom of the center stack. Displays
water temp, CVT temp, battery voltage and intake air temp.