[RockyMtnRay]

Originally Posted by hingarfi

For those who do not have a transmission oil temp gauge on their TV but would like to be able to check the Transmission temp under adverse towing conditions, here is a possible option to installing a dedicated transmission oil temperature gauge ($??).
For $300 and a LapTop Computer (or PalmPilot), you can buy a gadget to connect to your TV computer diagnostic connector. It lets you monitor 100's of TV parameters besides the transmission temp. You can have your co-pilot watch the readings or you can simply log the data to the hard disk for later viewing. Your TV must be 1996 or later offering OBD II diagnostic data. This may be less expensive than installing a dedicated temp gauge. It has a nice GEEK factor as well :-)
Mine is used on 2002 GM product but Ford and Chrysler versions are available too.

The problem with all laptop and most PDA (PocketPC or Palm) displays of engine/transmission characteristics is the safety/human factors/ergonomic considerations. If the display of transmission temperature (or any other drivetrain indicator) is not within the driver's normal eye scan (road, instrument panel) such that the road ahead is ever out of your peripheral vision, it's deleterious to safety. Period. End of Discussion. Even a half second interruption of peripheral vision of the road ahead can be fatally dangerous.

Furthermore, even if a PDA is used for such information and is placed right in the normal eyescan, there's likely still a problem. If the display font size is much smaller than the text used by the vehicle maker for instrument panel guages, then the time spent focusing on the PDA again is major distraction because it interupts the eyescan that all good drivers use. This is compounded by the fact that nearly all such displays are digital (which require some thinking) versus analog (which can provide a general idea much faster based on basic needle position (low-medium-high)).

So although a laptop or PDA display of ODBII transmission temperature data (for those vehicles that provide it) has an exceptionally high geek factor...and is a low cost way of displaying that data...it's downright dangerous from a safety viewpoint and a really poor technique from a human factors/ergonomics viewpoint.

For those who regularly do mountain towing (the only situation where transmission temperature is a worry), it's much, much smarter to install a proper analog gauge that's located right in the normal driving eyescan and which does NOT require losing direct or peripheral vision of the road ahead. In nearly all cases that means installing an A-Pillar analog gauge as I've done. See picture for my Autometer Z-series gauge...A-Pillar mounted, easily read (a near perfect match with the stock instruments), and directly within my normal eyescan pattern.