Anyone installed an aftermarket outside temp gauge?
 

My beloved really wants this feature which was not present with our 4WD FEH (no premium package). Anyone found a product and installed it yet?

Noel

Re: Anyone installed an aftermarket outside temp gauge?
 

I installed a Gentek temp/compass mirror in my 05 FEH, it works fantastic.

GENTEK MIRROR

I had to move the sensor a few times to find the most accurate location, but it works perfectly now.

~John

Re: Anyone installed an aftermarket outside temp gauge?
 

My dealer won't put one of these in. Even the official Ford one mentions not for the hybrid in their catalog. How does this impact the warranty if installed? Also, what is the optimal position of the sensor?

Thanks!

Re: Anyone installed an aftermarket outside temp gauge?
 

There is NO WAY this could affect the warranty unless the installer screwed up & caused an electrical short. There is only one wire that is even connected to the vehicle(a switched 12v wire for power)

I have my sensor mounted at the bottom of the lower cowling in the front so it is totally away from engine heat, the radiator etc.

~John

Re: Anyone installed an aftermarket outside temp gauge?
 

Where exactly is the "lower cowling"? I'm not anywhere near even a neobe when it comes to car talk. Thanks.

I have my sensor wedged between the driver door jam near the curved part between the front and bottom of the driver's door. I dont think that's too accurate a placement - it seems to display hotter than reality.

Re: Anyone installed an aftermarket outside temp gauge?
 

Its on the flange next to the dumahicky..... ;)

I think he's referring to placing the sensor in the engine compartment but way up front. If you can you'd like it to see the airflow coming through the front of the vehicle... but you want to try and keep it away from the radiators. You don't have to worry about the airflow making it read too cool. Windchill shouldn't apply to an inert sensor.

Re: Anyone installed an aftermarket outside temp gauge?
 

Ahh! Found a perfect solution at Kragen Auto Supply in our lil' mountain town: $12, has a sensor on a long thin black cable, that you slap onto the exterior door frame (not the door itself, but the steel, painted body opening that houses the door) by the lower hinge. The gauge looks perfect, is mounted with simple mounting tape/velcro, and the cable is simply threaded under the door frame rubber molding and the rest hangs out of view behind the dash. Can hardly see the cable to it's simple, non-invasive, and works great, for $12. No pro installation required. I like that fact it is kept stock, ie, not modded.

Re: Anyone installed an aftermarket outside temp gauge?
 

For the most part, what I am finding is that the hybrid is excluded because the item can't be installed exactly the same way as on the non-hybrids. That doesn't mean it can't be installed, just that someone with a little bit of imagination would need to figure it out first. For example, if the connector or wire from which the switched +12v is drawn on the non-hybrid for the mirror, isn't available on the hybrid, Ford will just say "not supported".

I know that for the trailer hitch, the non-hybrids route the trailer wiring through the body using the same hole as the hybrid's route the HV battery coolant lines. Could one route the trailer wiring differently? Of course. But it would just be different from the non-hybrids, and Ford just doesn't want to bother.

Re: Anyone installed an aftermarket outside temp gauge?
 

Yea, I'm sure you're right Walt.

My mirror was not an official Ford part anyway. I bought the Gentek mirror because it is exactly the same thing as the Ford branded one(Gentek makes them for Ford) but is about 1/2 the price of the one Ford stamps their name on.

~John

Re: Anyone installed an aftermarket outside temp gauge?
 

Your interior makes me drool. That nav system is so much cleaner than the stock one. How well does it function with the stock radio?