Gauges or ScanGauge II or OBDII Wi-Fi or Bluetooth Readers?

[Baja_Man]

Would like to add a trans temp gauge to my 2005 Ford E450 with 5R110W trans.

Been looking at various options....

1. Gauge with temp sending unit installed at test port. Need to install sending unit and find a place to mount gauge.


2. ScanGauge II OBDII reader. Intstall via wire to OBD input port and need to find a location to mount display box

3. OBD II Wi-Fi or Bluetooth reader that installs in OBDII port and displays to iPhone via an app. No wires to run and no gauge to install.

Questions.....

Do the SGII and Wi-Fi / Bluetooth readers provide accurate trans temps as well as, better, or worse than a gauge with sending unit?

The SGII and Wi-Fi / BLuetooth readers also provide other engine/trans data that may be useful.

[houstonstroker]

I didn't see anybody mention the Torque Pro App for your phone. It connects to the OBDII port through a Bluetooth dongle. I use an old smartphone with no service mounted on my dash.



There are a ton of gauges available and styles. There are six or seven different screens I can get to by swiping. It has a code reader and I can wipe out codes. Best app ever.

[torino421]

I recently purchased the UltraGauge MX 1.3 mainly for monitoring trans temp, it took a while but I finally got the trans temp to work on my 2011 E450. The pre programmed Ford settings didn't work, I ended up supplying support with settings that I found on another forum that worked on a 2013. They then converted it to the correct format then I put in those settings.

[tommykelly]

2014 E450 scanguage II ..bought it for trans. temp...works great ..normal driving I do not use tow/haul ..trans temp normal ..have not tried mountain driving will use tow/haul on down hills and will monitor trans temps to see how high it goes.

[Harvey51]

I bought a cheap Bluetooth OBDII reader on eBay but it wouldn't connect to iPhone. iPhones are very fussy about Bluetooth. Got a slightly more expensive wifi one and it works well.

[OldRadios]

Scan Gauge II is easy to connect and use on the E-450. I've had mine for a couple of years.

Here's where I mounted my Scan Gauge II on my 2006 E-450. It's a good location to keep an eye on it.



Velcro wouldn't stay stuck to whatever the dash is. What did work was an extra pair of those little sticky pads you get with an EZpass. I also used a black cable zip tie to fasten the cable at the air vent which takes a lot of the strain off the unit.

[ronfisherman]

I have 2 ScanGauge II mounted in series on my dash. After having a gauge cluster failure on my MH. It was good to see all the dash info on the ScanGauge II display for rest of 6000 mile trip. Plus the ability to see OBD2 codes and reset them. I also have a Ultra Gauge left over from a car that I had. It displays far less than the ScanGauge II and is not reliable on resetting codes on all vehicles.
We winter in Mesa, AZ. Linear Logic is about 5 miles from our RV park. They will update them for free if you go to their office. Great customer service. My original Scangauge II is 10 years old.
.

[EMD360]

I really like the Scan Gauge. Being able to mount and monitor from the dash is nice, although I just keep it on the dog house now since I can't get sticky velcro to stay stuck on our dash. I read the directions but had the Scan Gauage guy show me some tricks when I went to a GS Rally. I set the MPG and Avg MPG as choices, then alternate others.
Interesting the comments on Tow Haul--I thought the setting was for uphill driving or towing, not normal driving. I'll have to read more about transimission temps and Tow Haul.

[OLYLEN]

I ran the Scan gauge D in the diesel and now with the v10 the ScanGauge2, works great plug and play with EZ instructions, but real men know and don't read instructions but it does help, oops read them. You will unless things have changed in the last few months need to program in the trans temp for the Ford, about 5 columes of didgets, EZ. I'm running intake air temp, trans temp, motor or radiator temp and fuel flow. Fuel flow to see times when 2 gears will work but one has less fuel flow. Have mine mounted on the dash just where I can see over or beside the steering wheel, so I am still looking down the road when scanning the data. Nice thing if any other gauges go down I have a backup and if there is a problem I will be able to read and research codes so I have an idea what could be wrong.

LEN

[road-runner]

I can't address if ultragauge will display your trans temp, just want to point out the night-and-day difference in the display readability. If you're young with good eyes, it makes no difference. With aging eyes, the difference can literally be between easily reading the ultragauge display and not being able to read the scangauge at all.

[pauldub]

I use a scan gauge but I would also consider the ultra-gauge for less $$. I've also used a blue-tooth obd device with a tablet but I prefer using a device that I can just leave attached to the motorhome. I like to use my phone for navigation so using it for something else at the same time doesn't work very well for me.

[KE6IRJ]

Edge Insight CTS, love l mine and it reads everything.

[fireflock]

There are 4 readout positions on the ScanGaugeII, and I have mine set like this:

(1) Trans Fluid Temp - needs to be programed in via instructions on the scangauge website. Once you figure it out once, you're set. Most useful. I monitor trans temp and stop to cool on the rare occasion when it gets higher than I would like.

(2) Coolant Temp - mostly uninteresting as long as the thermostat is working correctly. I guess it could be a great warning that something in the cooling system is going bad but I haven't experienced that yet

(3) RPM - again, mostly just for my amusement.

(4) MPG - amusement again, I already know it's low....

The ScanGauge does have some miles per tank and remaining miles estimation capability but I don't use it. The generator uses fuel and throws everything off. I don't really want to ever be close to E anyway.

[Desert_Captain]

I have had excellent results using the Scan Gauge. It simply plugs into the OBD port and mounting it on/in the dash is 5 minutes and couple of pieces of velcro. The Scan Gauge gives you so much data, trans fluid temp being number one on my list, and can display 4 different readouts simultaneously. You can scroll through a couple of dozen more depending on what you want to see.

The trans fluid temp readout is great to remind you to shift into Tow Haul mode (where you should be most of the time). This will often drop your trans fluid temp 12 to 15 degrees in just a few miles. Without the Scan Gauge you will not be aware of the increasing temperature which can easily lead to damage or a catastrophic failure.

In addition, the Scan Gauge functions as a built in code reader, very handy when your engine trips a trouble code. I initially installed it in my F-150 when I was towing our TT. When we upgraded to the Class C (6.8L v-10), I just reprogramed it for the larger engine and reinstalled it in the motorhome.

Last time I looked the Scan Gauge goes for around $140 - $150 on Amazon. I can't imagine running a truck or RV without one.

:C

[pnichols]

Chuck (the OP),

Interesting topic and what a coincidence ... as I just spent an hour researching this before reading your post above!!

You might want to continue some research into this OBDII gauge too:

http://www.ultra-gauge.com/ultragauge/

It appears that getting at Ford 5R110W transmission temperature in real time - easily and inexpensively through just plugging in a cable and sticking a guage on the dash - may be a bit tricky (we're not into mobile phones). I definitely like the Ultra-Guage price and information/links on their WEB page ... but some time on the phone with them might definitely be in order before ordering one for your 5/6-speed transmission.

I think I've decided, instead, to merely drive our E450 V10 motorhome a LOT MORE - if not permanently - with it's TOW/HAUL mode turned ON. The fluid color in our failed 5R110W transmission was still a nice healthy pink color - indicating that maybe not a lot of over-heating had taken place prior to failure. Our remanufactured 5R110W transmission up-shifts and down-shifts when in TOW/HAUL mode a lot smoother than the original 5R110W transmission did when in TOW/HAUL mode, so it's more responsive and smoother to drive now in this mode at all times. In this mode down-shifted gears when going up grades are held longer, so heating from the torque converter slippage is probably going to be reduced from the regular mode that I used most of the time previously ... just in case heating had anything to do with why my transmission failed prematurely. I also now will go up grades by keeping engine RPM below around 3800 ... no more of the 4500 RPM stuff. Even though the V10 may not care ... the transmission may not like it!

I'll follow this thread to see what others recommend. Automatic transmissions are no longer inexpensive.

NOTE!!!: I just checked under the hood of our 2005 E450 6.8L V10 Class C and it's smog sticker stated it was OBDI compliant .... no mention of OBDII. This might be very important when shopping for a guage to capture 5R110W transmission temperature.