Forwarded: Re: oil press "gauge"

[RABBITT_Andrew at mv8.orbeng.com.au]

It is (suprisingly) a normal thing to do, to make the calibration of 
the temperature gauge non-linear.  During normal operation, the 
coolant temperature moves around quite substantially.  The 
non-linearity is designed to make the cooling system appear stable to 
the user.

Fuel gauges are also another target for revised calibrations.  I have 
heard from a reliable source that a fuel gauge calibration was changed 
(from one that was linear and accurate) to address criticism of 
(apparent) poor fuel economy on one car.  The new calibration kept the 
needle nearer the F mark for longer.

Andrew Rabbitt

From: (Sandy) sganz at westworld.com:smtp
Date: ## 12/18/96 17:51 ##
At 08:58 PM 12/17/96 -0600, you wrote:
>Fake OEM gages? The end is truely near.
>
[snip]

Don't laugh, I had (key word...) a BMW 850ci, and yes the temp gauge was
almost the same as the fords, it would however show a warm up, but then,
dead center. After reading some thing, it was found that it would only
change if an overheat was pending...

Sandy