Either one. Just saying I've never seen a car tell the driver to stop when a rock tore through the oil pan and all the oil leaked out. Result is almost always a siezed engine if you're driving on the highway and it happens.

Yet tire pressure sensors are mandatory.

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'83 300SD 335,000km (207k) mi SOLD
'87 560SL 163,000km (101k mi) SOLD
'86 300SDL 356,000km (220k mi) SOLD
'92 500SEL 250,000km (155k mi) SOLD
'90 300SL 140,000km (87k mi) SOLD
'01 S430 260,000km (161k mi) SOLD
'03 SL500 167,000km (104k mi) SOLD
'07 S550 4MATIC 235,000km (146k mi) SOLD
'07 GL320 CDI 4MATIC 348,000km (215k mi)
'13 GL350 BlueTec 4MATIC 170,000km (105k mi)
'14 SL550 72,000km (43k mi)

What? There have been oil pressure, battery, coolant level, etc lights on even the cheapest cars for decades now.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

That's true. We (gearheads) all understand how those work.

I'm thinking about for the average driver.

My wife isn't pulling over when she sees the pic of a gravy boat show up on the dash. She has no idea it means to add oil. She'll drive it home siezing up the engine, hand me the keys, and say "I think you need to add gravy to the car or something"

__________________
'83 300SD 335,000km (207k) mi SOLD
'87 560SL 163,000km (101k mi) SOLD
'86 300SDL 356,000km (220k mi) SOLD
'92 500SEL 250,000km (155k mi) SOLD
'90 300SL 140,000km (87k mi) SOLD
'01 S430 260,000km (161k mi) SOLD
'03 SL500 167,000km (104k mi) SOLD
'07 S550 4MATIC 235,000km (146k mi) SOLD
'07 GL320 CDI 4MATIC 348,000km (215k mi)
'13 GL350 BlueTec 4MATIC 170,000km (105k mi)
'14 SL550 72,000km (43k mi)

I think Citroen had the right idea in the 60s. A big red (STOP) light in the middle of the dash that lit up on any number of unsafe conditions. Low hydraulic fluid, oil pressure, overheat, etc.

Sounds like more a problem with the driver than the car to me

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

One thing that's long baffled me is why isn't there some sort of warning whistle associated with the temp gauge. I've experienced looking down and seeing the temp gauge in the 'shut off immediately' zone but this was usually after seeing steam emanate from the hood. You're just not going to glance at the gauges often enough to detect that point when the temp is heading towards dangerous to reliably catch it in time. What's needed is a sort of whistle not unlike a water pot's steam whistle fitting.

A couple of years ago I was doing one of my Craigslist rideshare trips and on I-5 near Redding we saw a late model SUV ahead of us putting out major smoke. We caught up to him and gestured wildly about the smoke coming from his likely about to be destroyed motor. Looked like a 19 y.o. kid driving daddy's car and he gave us the thumbs up and pulled over. Not sure the temp gauge would have indicated that but if it did, he had missed it.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I recall my parents' old Oldsmobile having a bell that rang whenever a warning light went on.

I generally like gauges better than idiot lights but you will miss something at times that you really wanted to catch. With today's tech seems like it would be an easy matter to combine the two, or perhaps add a bell or whistle.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

That's got be hard on them...

Ummmm.... What? Cars have all sorts of warning lights. Some say too many, since customers get used to seeing something or another on all the time, the lights just become something to ignore. Just the same way they ignore the big warnings on the screens. A coolant pressure sensor? I've been a mechanic nigh on 20 years now and I've never seen one. I haven't worked on everything, but I've never even heard of one of these. Alternator, oil pressure, these are all common place already. And ignored already. What's to make anyone think that a P/S light would be paid attention to? Many vehicles do have trans temp lights, or even gauges, so again... What?

They ignore all sorts of warnings. Usually saying "I just wanted to make it to..."

And there you have it.

MV

I think the more urgent warnings should be linked to one of those grating, irritating buzzers, like cars used to have in the '70s for seatbelt and key reminders. That would do the job, but I guess today's car-buyers have become much too special and pampered for such annoyances.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

What about "WHOOP-WHOOP. Low. Oil. Pressure. Stop. Now."?

Car manufacturers know there are drivers who know nothing about cars, except how to drive them (and I know some will say, not even properly).

To mitigate potential issues these technologies have been created such as the TPMS, the idiot lights, etc... to remind them the car needs something. As for the threshold of these sensors, that's up to debate.

Gauges are for those who like cars because they know what to look for, and idiot lights are for those who don't or may not know what to look for, and just want a warning light when it's needed. So others, gauges can actually be distracting because they typically rely on the user (driver) to know the threshold and act accordingly. The idiot light already has a built-in threshold so if the readings go past that, then the light turns on, warning the driver.

You can often tell if a certain type of car was designed for drivers like us who are enthusiasts, or for drivers like those who know little to nothing about cars, by looking at the type of driver instrumentation provided.

I like that "gravy boat" comment posted earlier!

Going back to "analog", I really like how our old diesel MB's have 3 moving gauges when the car starts moving from a stop - the oil pressure gauge spikes to 3 bar, RPM rises and speedo moves up. You can see it "come alive" through these gauges.

I can tell from experience, that the TPMS has saved me in at least one instance, to tell me the left rear tire is low, on a rental car. See this is where it gets interesting - if it was my car I would have done a pre-road trip inspection. This was no exception, but I would not have caught it if I didn't flip through the driver interface to check if the tire pressures are all about the same level.

This incident was caught early on before we embarked on our trip to Yosemite National Park, and we had the tire patched up (there was a nail). Enterprise was of no use when we called for roadside assistance (this is where the knowledgeable driver like us come in handy), so we went to a nearby shop that just opened and had it patched up then and there. Adjusted all tire pressures, and off we went.

It also pays to know what the new technologies are, and use that as a bonding tool between father and son, just the same.

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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

That sounds like those 'stall warning' systems they use in aircraft!
If my annoying buzzer isn't enough, maybe they could simply design the car to not start, or go into 'limp-home' whenever any warning systems are ignored. But at least my buzzer is something simple. Not another computer-system to make cars safer for dummies, and so complicated that (mechanically or politically) we'll be forced to recycle our vehicles once they reach a certain age.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW