I have noticed that some people put the SGII on the dash. I don't know about models prior to 2008, but in the 2008 model the entire dash mat (apparently on both sides) flips up when the airbags deploy.

So mounting the SGII on the "dark gray" area of my dash would not be good in a collision.

Any pre-2008 owners care to comment? Does it look like your entire dash cover opens, or is there just a small opening on the top of the passenger side for that airbag?

UPDATE July 8, 2009: From the latest posts, it appears that the airbag deploys from an area BELOW the dash, rather than lifting the dash cover. From what I can tell the safe area is to the left of the center-line of the top display.

 

In the 2005-2007 there is a small compartment, about the size of a toaster that the passenger airbag deploys from. The driver side, of course, comes from the steering wheel.

As long as you route the cord, so the cord would not "tie down" the air bag, I don't see an issue. I ran my wire up the inside of the driver side windshild pilar, and my SG is mounted to the driver side pilar with velcro.
Love it there. It is "heads-up" display... so much so, that I put MPH on the SG and hardly ever look down to the dash.



P.S. I'm going to start recommending to people that they disconnect the SG when the car will sit for a week or longer. My SG slowly depletes the 12v battery when just sitting there. The backlight comes on and stays on for some reason, usually there is an "event" such as opening the car door or hood that "wakes up" the SG then it never goes back to sleep. However, there have been a couple of "ghost in the machine" moments, when I have come back to find the SG lit for no reason. After two separate, 2 week idle times, (separated by months) I came home to find my 12v battery at 11.3 volts. Do lead batteries self discharge? Yes, but not that quickly.

Assume the SG takes 1 watt with the backlight on.
Over a week, that's eqivalent to starting the engine MANY times, ( with a traditional 12v starter ) without giving the car the opportunity to recharge.

I'm estimating the 1 watt part. It could be twice as much, or half.
But still is not good for the 12v battery over a 2 week period of this.

Finally, I just learned that the volts meter on the SG does not use the CAN bus or a PID. It is simply reading the wires that power the ScanGauge. You can read 12v battery voltage at any time, even with the key removed from the car. Makes sense when you think about it.

Hope that helps,
-John

 

Mine is on my dash (I have an 09) next to the driver's side door post. The airbag on the drivers' side is in the steering wheel so I figured that was a fairly safe location.

 

No. Your case is an example of the reason I opened this topic.

Look at your FEH dash. There is a single piece that goes almost all the way across the car, which I believe hinges upward from the base of the windshield. When the passenger airbag deploys, the whole dash cover will pivot upwards - doing who knows what to the SGII, and potentially causing problems with the passenger airbag because the SGII cord may inhibit the dash cover from opening correctly.

If you are right next the door post, maybe it would be OK. I have the gray interior, and the dash cover is a darker gray. You can look at your FEH and decide.

 

The entire dash does not open up upon activation of either airbag. The driver side airbag is contained within the steering wheel center itself. The passenger side airbag is contained and comes out from the vertical section of the dash directly above the glove compartment. I am not sure how previous year's manual depict this but it is on page 130 of the 2009 manual.

Having been in a crash where an airbag was deployed (but not in my FEH) I can say that there was a similar type setup and the deployment of the bag did not cause the entire dash to explode, burst, hinge, whatever you want to call it. The bag came out of one section of the dash that was designed to pop open as the bag was deployed. That section of the dash looked more like a large kleenex box in the way the flaps pop up as the tissue is pulled out.

I hope this helps but I am 99.9% confident in the location of my SGII.

 

John,

I think I can back up your recommendation. I have had the 12V battery die on me twice. Both times I was unable to start the ICE because there was not enough juice left to energize the HV relay from the pack. Both times, I had left my FEH parked at the airport for several weeks while I was away on trips. I now carry a small booster pack that I can plug into the 12V accessory port and get enough to energize the relay. I will be disconnecting the SG if I know I'll be gone for more than a week.

Scott

 

I use this:

a trickle charger on my 12V battery

to minimize chances the 12V battery will "drain" overnight.

 

I ran across a old post of yours someplace where your battery was going dead but the posts seem to stop without a solution. You've never solved the problem yet?

 

My engine block heater wiring was malfunctioning and was replaced. I have not had the issues I had before. My 12V battery is over 4 years old now and will have to replaced someday in the future.

 

How long have you been using the charger? If you use that every day, you may never know that it's starting to lose capacity. If it shorts out, you have no warning no matter what! My last two had shorts. You can't even jump start a battery with shorted plates from a single good battery. Tow trucks have several in parallel which can overcome a short.