Using A/C display for oil temp???
 

:dance:Hi Guys & Girls,

I read somewhere I could tinker about with the recycling button on my A/C unit and it would display different codes i.e. oil temp, water temp etc etc

My question is , How do I do this Please??

Thanks :)

Here you go...
 

I use this trick to monitor coolant temp in real time.

Car diagnostic tricks which work on 1997- 2000 Boxsters.

There is some sort of serial data stream or CAN interface that allows the AC (manufactured by Audi) unit to display engine parameters. Here is a list of what can be seen:

To switch from F to C:
Hold down the recirculating button then push both the temperature + - buttons.

To access diagnostics:
Hold down the Recirculating & Air up buttons for 5 seconds.
The + - buttons go up and down through the list of "c" codes.
The center vent button switches the left display between the "c" code and its actual value.
Press the Auto button to exit.

0c - ERL
1c - Oil Temp
2c - Inside temp. Sensor mounted in the aspirator assembly at the side of the dash.
3c - Outside temp. Sensor located inside the air inlet of the A/C unit.
4c - Outside temp. Sensor located in front grill of the radiator. The data is fed to the climatronic from the instrument cluster. When not moving, the instrument cluster OBC temp display retains it's last setting until moving. This is to prevent heat emanating from the radiator affecting the temp. sensor. The A/C unit uses the lower of the two outside air temp values in determining fresh-air temp.
5c - Outside temp. (matches with OBC outside temp display)
#################
6c - Coolant temp.
#################
7c - Footwell discharge temp.
8c - Sun sensor (dash top)
9c - Sun sensor.
10c - Passenger compartment fan speed.
11c - Passenger compartment fan voltage.
12c - Temperature mix Flap command 1=COLD, 100=HOT
13c - Temperature mix Flap position
14c - Central Flap command
15c - Central Flap position
16c - Footwell/Defrost Flap command
17c - Footwell/Defrost Flap position
18c - Recirculation Valve command 1=OFF, 100=RECIRC
19c - Recirculation Valve position (feedback)
20c - Vehicle speed in kph, updating only once per second. (real speed, not speed+safety margin as in the speedometer)
21c - Engine RPM in hundreds. This too only updates once per second.
22c - ?
23c - ?
24c - Sun sensor, exterior lights switch & panel lights control (term. 58 & 58d voltage) - used for A/C panel display illum.
25c - ?
26c - ?
27c - ?
28c - Fan speed?
29c - ?
30c - Engine run time in seconds (255 max.)(=0xff)
31c - Timing counter
32c - Displays test
33c - Software version? Mine states 3.4
34c - ?
35c - Outside temp. from inlet sensor (filtered?)
36c - temp?

1c is not oil temp. the hvac unit does not monitor oil temp.

Disclaimer
 

I make no claim to how accurate this is... it's copied from elsewhere on the 'net and saved on my computer.
The coolant temp monitoring does work though :D

Thanks BoxsterSteve I appreciate your help :)

This is really cool did not know it was a thing, copied and saved.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

yeah, and most places i've seen that list have drawn the info from the same source, where the oil temp had a '?' beside it. if you stop and think, all the things monitored on that list, with the exception of the oil temp, is related to the hvac system (coolant temp is used to turn the front fans on and off). for proof, the hvac piece is an audi component, and if you do some poking around on audi websites you can find out what all the various codes mean. no oil temp.

there's a few threads on oil temp monitoring on this forum (and pelican, and rennlist) and a lot of disagreement. some say the oil temp info you get from the durametric is actually a value extrapolated from coolant temp (the oil is cooled by the cooling system). there is also an oil sensor on the oil level sensor (four wires; two for oil temp and two for oil level) but some say that this is only used correct oil level readings. i did try to get a reading from the sensor to see if i could jack a signal from it for an oil temp gauge but it doesn't seem to use a common scale (ie 240-33, etc.).

what most folks do is add an oil temp sensor - there are blank plugs on the heads that you can remove to install a sensor - search this forum for images that show exact location. install a 996 oil pressure sender at the same time and you can have oil pressure readings as well.

Oil is way off. I would not rely on it. Coolant temp on my car is pretty spot on, within 3 Degrees C.

Oh sweet. :D I could do this on my old '07 Volkswagen GTI w/ Climatronic. Thought it was pretty neat to be able to see the different real-time values. Going to try this tonight.

How do you get it out of diagnostics mode and back into regular display mode? Just cycle the ignition?

Auto button to exit.

I tried to get into diagnostics on my 2001 Boxster S but it didn't work. I guess the A/C is a different unit. Any ideas?

Thanks!