[kangalew]

The Watchdog monitors engine temperature via a simple thermistor attached to a suitable bolt on the waterpump or cylinder head, and twin units can also do oil or transmission temps. I had one on my old technology Landcruiser with a warning alarm setting. Many factory gauges sit on normal even when engine temp is obviously changing. I have seen a Landcruiser Gauge showing normal when the actual temperature has increased by around 20 degrees. All VWs I have owned seem to just sit on normal and give no indication of developing issues until perhaps too late.
Do late model Tregs have other alarms for things like temperature, radiator fluid level, gearbox temperature, oil temperature?
(Our Jetta has an oil temp function but I could not find anything on the Treg).
As I will be towing a van with my Treg I am particularly interesting in being able to monitor engine and gearbox temperatures.

 

[Scubacruiser]

Go with a Scangauge or ELM OBD reader + Torque app for real time monitoring. First option is about $150 USD, second option is about $15 USD.

 

[dragline1570]

The Watchdog monitors engine temperature via a simple thermistor attached to a suitable bolt on the waterpump or cylinder head, and twin units can also do oil or transmission temps. I had one on my old technology Landcruiser with a warning alarm setting. Many factory gauges sit on normal even when engine temp is obviously changing. I have seen a Landcruiser Gauge showing normal when the actual temperature has increased by around 20 degrees. All VWs I have owned seem to just sit on normal and give no indication of developing issues until perhaps too late.
Do late model Tregs have other alarms for things like temperature, radiator fluid level, gearbox temperature, oil temperature?
(Our Jetta has an oil temp function but I could not find anything on the Treg).
As I will be towing a van with my Treg I am particularly interesting in being able to monitor engine and gearbox temperatures.

The watchdogs are a great and very accurate temp gauge with the ability to set a warning at a temp just above your hottest normal temp the engine gets to. (normally just after shutdown)


Being a direct bolt on to the metal structure on the cylinder head they quickly show any abnormal temp rise and warn you no if no buts it is a guaranteed reading.
A water temp gauge is slow and if you blew a large hose on an uphill climb and lost coolant quickly sometimes they will not show the rise as they rely on the coolant to transfer the heat.


I like them and have had them on other vehicles.




regards
Drag

 

[kangalew]

Scuba,
I vaguely understand about Scangauge but not really familiar. Does it allow me to set it up so I can toggle between two functions/temps I am interested in monitoring ?

 

[kangalew]

Thanks Drag,
My feelings also. I had one on my Cruiser and it warned me I was pushing things a bit when towing up a long but not obvious climb.
I am not sure I would be comfortable playing with the VAG-COM functions, but if it is useful wouldn't mind getting a Scangauge for its other uses - I think they read error codes?

 

[Scubacruiser]

Scuba,
I vaguely understand about Scangauge but not really familiar. Does it allow me to set it up so I can toggle between two functions/temps I am interested in monitoring ?

It'll show 4 readings at once. And you can toggle it to others.

 

[kangalew]

Thanks Scuba,
That seems to do what I need and might reduce the amount of extra instrument clutter around the dashboard.
Now I just need to do some research on how to use them and what is the best brand.

Do I need to wire it into the engine bay or is there a port in the cabin area?

Lew

 

[dragline1570]

Thanks Scuba,
That seems to do what I need and might reduce the amount of extra instrument clutter around the dashboard.
Now I just need to do some research on how to use them and what is the best brand.

Do I need to wire it into the engine bay or is there a port in the cabin area?

Lew

Just be aware that if the scan gauge gets its info via Canbus or OBD it is not infallible as far as coolant temps go if you have a complete loss off the cooling fluid.


The watch dog reads directly from the metal of the engine via a contact sensor and IMHO ultimately a more reliable system.


regards
Drag

 

[kangalew]

Drag,
You are a cautious man after my own heart.
I do like the idea the watchdog will jerk me into awareness with its alarm. I have had experience of that happening with just a slow creep up in temperature, even though I think I keep an eye on it, and many years ago experienced exactly what you said - complete loss of coolant and temp gauge didn't react because the sender didn't have any fluid around it.
Peugeot 505's actually had a sensor & alarm light that could detect if radiator fluid level dropped - unfortunately as they got older it tended to stop working.

Thanks
Lew

 

[Scubacruiser]

Thanks Scuba,
That seems to do what I need and might reduce the amount of extra instrument clutter around the dashboard.
Now I just need to do some research on how to use them and what is the best brand.

Do I need to wire it into the engine bay or is there a port in the cabin area?

Lew

Scangauge connects to the OBD port with a cable. I have one but it's still in the box. I couldn't find anywhere to mount it that I liked. So I've been using an ELM OBD bluetooth dongle and the Torque Pro app on my phone. This works better for me as my phone always sits in the vent mount while I'm driving anyway. Plus it is much easier to transfer between cars.

https://www.scangauge.com/products/scangauge-ii/

It will also read codes and allows them to be cleared. It's not a VCDS though. I keep that at home unless I need it.