Have we ever NOT been at Homeland Security Threat Level Orange?

[goof2]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

But the gauge isn't any better than an warning light, because the way most OEM's make them work is, there's only 2 positions the needle can be: Normal, or dead. To get a gauge that actually works the way it should, you need to buy an aftermarket one.

Are you sure about that? Any temp gauge I have seen will be on the bottom peg at a cold start up and will slowly rise to normal temp over the course of 5 minutes or so. Do they just program that in to fuck with people or is it actually measuring something, like the coolant temp?

I have less experience with modern cars actually running hot, but a late 80s Accord with a broken thermostat and an early 2000s Explorer with a leaking radiator both had fully functional temperature gauges. The gauge was especially helpful in the Accord as I had another 200 miles to go and it was the middle of summer. I could turn the heat on and off as needed to remove extra heat from the engine. I wouldn't have been able to do so with just an idiot light.