I installed an outlook monitor on my truck because I wanted more monitoring but not more guages. The transmission temp on the Outlook reads off the truck computer I assume taking the temps from the factory sending unit in the pan. My temps seem low, in fact if I stop and shoot the pan with my infrared thermometer the temps show consistently 20 degrees warmer than it reads on the outlook monitor. Anyone else run into this?

 

Mine shows my trans temps at 90-140 max which seems very low to me. This is under all conditions. My outlook is nice, but I think manual guages are the way to go and plan to install a trans temp soon.

 

if the probe is indeed in the pan, then 125-180 is normal. In cold weather (below 40 degrees) my trans stays around 125. On the highway in 80 degree weather at 80mph it reads around 150. In the city it goes up to around 180.

90 is definitely low. shouldnt read that for sure unless its the first start of the day.

 

Mine reads 80 degrees on the highway. 110 in town. I'm going to call bully dog and ask them about it.

 

Bully Dog says the outlook monitor needs to go in for a software update. Mine is version 3.2.0 and should be 3.3.0. He said they have had a few issues with trans temp and pyro temp.

 

Don't put ALL digital gauges in the same boat. Just because one reads off does not mean they are all that way.

In reality a good digital gauge is much faster reacting and much more accurate and precise than any analog gauge.

 

With trans temp i dont think analog or digital will make that much of a difference. My trans temp rises so slowly that the digital gauge wouldnt be that much advantage

maybe the outlook or quad commander are better, but my juice sucks at keeping up with my Pyro and boost gauges on the autometer

 

Like I said, don't group us all into the same category.

 

Yup considered your commander setup til I read the install instructions and you have to use wire taps. If it plugged into the OBD II port like the outlook I would have tried it.

 

your better off with an analog with the sensor in the side of the pan, the digtals arent that reliable.

 

Do you understand why we do it differently now?

 

Some digital gauges do use an external sensor for accuracy. On these gauges there is no possibility of an analog gauge being more accurate. Reliability is a problem for some digital gauges but in the real world I think you will find that a solid digital gauge is more reliable than an analog piece. Do some searching and there are plenty of analog gauge problems going on.

 

Actually no I don't. I think tapping wires is a less desireable way to tie into a system. Taps are problem prone over time. I don't understand why reading information off the vehicles computer through the OBD II port would be any less accurate than tapping wires. I would think digital gauages would be able to be calibrated accurately either way. Obviously bullydog is not calibrating something correctly the way it reads trans temp on my truck but I do think it is solveable.

 

Information read over a bus is very slow. In some cases it is extremely slow and may be updated only periodically. You also need to know what you are monitoring. The factory may be looking at temps other than fluid temps.

In some instances the Bus is fine but it is not an exact science. If you want the raw data to display you must go directly to the source.