are Vibe Gauges real?

[dug]

Back in the day, both to save money and to avoid freaking out the consumer when they see the water temp creep past 180°F on a 5 mile ascent, the manufacturers installed "idiot lights." Nowadays, they install what appear to be gauges, but I've heard they're still switched. Do the gauges in the vibe actually "work" in the sense they read every degree, psi, or volt? Or do they just rest at a switched "normal" until something goes wrong and are then pegged? I am planning on buying a Vibe in the next several months and am wondering if I should consider looking for a set of autometers now.

[Kari]

My temperature gauge appears to work...it doesn't just jump up to the middle when I turn the car on; it goes up gradually as it warms up. The fuel gauge obviously is progressive, and the speedometer and tach are the only two left, so I vote yes.

[GMJAP]

There's nothing in the Vibe that measures PSI or voltage.Couldn't answer about the temp, though. maybe somone who lives in a cold climate can answer what they see in winter versus summer.

[joatmon]

The temp gauge is a real variable gauge. The car's computer uses the temperature reading to adjust various engine parameters (such as idle speed, fuel/air mix, etc). it is not a switched idiot light, you can actually use the temp gauge as a gauge. Some of the "performance" "chips" for sale on ebay are just resistors to trick the computer into misreading the engine temp, supposedly to make the computer manage the engine to give more power. I wouldn't put one of those on my car, but they wouldn't work if the temp gauge was switched instead of analog. There are others on ebay that corrupt the air flow sensor reading too. I wouldn't use one of them either.it would be nice to have voltage and oil pressure gauges, some people have added them and other aftermarket gauges, but the stock setup doesn't have them

[Jahntassa]

I've seen a small varience..but, I also didn't see much of a varience on my Probe, either..But I knew that one worked when my water pump failed and I ran out of coolant.. :/I'm sure they're actually reading real values, but as said, the only one is really the water temp, no voltage or PSI meters..

[dug]

cool, thanks so much guys. I would still like to monitor oil and volts, so a dual A-pillar pod might be in the works then. I am sure autometer makes something that'll mesh well with the existing setup. I can't wait to pick up my Vibe

[Jahntassa]

We've had someone take out the center vent next to the radio and put in a 2.5" mechanical oil pressure gauge. Someone else said the universal pods at Pep Boys works well with the a-pillar after some finagling. It may or may not be easier to do an electric sender on the oil press, but I know that Autometer makes some great gauges, so i'm sure either way would be fine.