Cold engine light (blue) purpose?

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The last time I saw one of those was in my Dad's 1966 Ford Galaxie 500. He would have me go out and crank it (fun times for a 10 year old) and set the heater in the winter or the A/C in the summer. I would then go check and see if the light was out and he would head off to work. He did shift work, so I would only be able to do it in the evenings and would race home from school. Good memories.
 
My Dad's 1954 DeSoto Firedome had a blue COLD light.

I wasn't to see another COLD light until my sister's 2012 Mazda3.

One day immediately after the COLD light went out I turned the heater on. The COLD light came back on.

Did the cold coolant in the heater core drop the system temp or was the light programmed to come on with the heater below a certain point?
 
Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
The last time I saw one of those was in my Dad's 1966 Ford Galaxie 500. He would have me go out and crank it (fun times for a 10 year old) and set the heater in the winter or the A/C in the summer. I would then go check and see if the light was out and he would head off to work. He did shift work, so I would only be able to do it in the evenings and would race home from school. Good memories.


My Dad's Pontiac Star Chief was the last time I saw one of these. What's old is new again.
 
Really, the blue light is no different than a "temp" gauge in modern cars, unless it is a German car. The new "temp" gauge is nothing more than a three position light, cold/normal/hot.
 
No temp gauge in my Subaru so that's all I have. It's more than the temp gauge in previous Fords I have had. At least it means something.

I'm not sure of the coolant temp, but that goes out when the engine oil reaches 86F

That also is at the same time the computer kicks down the cold idle.
 
Originally Posted By: Superflan
More and more cars are equipped from the factory with a COLD engine light. What’s the intended purpose of it?


They likely charged you $500 for that light!
 
My Hyundai Accent has the blue and red temp light. I have never seen the red one while driving. The blue shuts off at ~150F.

My Genesis Coupe has a temperature gauge that is useless. You can't tell from the gauge needle if the temp is 160F or 195F. There is no movement of the needle in that range. It would be better to have the blue and red lights.
 
Didn't one use the COLD light to remind you to pump the accelerator pedal twice before cranking?
Then, in the late '70s, the 3000 RPM cold idle audibly told you the engine was cold.
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
It's more than the temp gauge in previous Fords I have had. At least it means something.



???

Ford temp gauges are always functional...

It's the oil pressure gauges that are just a "glorified idiot light".
 
Originally Posted By: Superflan
More and more cars are equipped from the factory with a COLD engine light. What’s the intended purpose of it?


this is funny. my buddies dads 1968 ford station wagon had a blue cold light on the dash until it warmed up. 390 cid engine
 
At night it makes me think I have my high beams on.
mad.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: Miller88
It's more than the temp gauge in previous Fords I have had. At least it means something.



???

Ford temp gauges are always functional...

It's the oil pressure gauges that are just a "glorified idiot light".


There didn't seem to be any real correspondence between where the gauge was and actual engine temperature
 
My '93 Taurus had a temp gauge that worked, it had a scale of a line for Cold, another line that was about 140F, then N-O-R-M-A-L and a hot line. People would ask what is the temp suppose to be per letter?

Ford dropped that in the mid 90's for the Taurus for a dumb one that would not show you over heating until it's too late and the sensor went out of range. This seems to be the norm for manufactures today.

Cars today should have digital readouts of the sensors already on the car instead of stupid gauges that don't report accurately what the sensor sees.
 
Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
The last time I saw one of those was in my Dad's 1966 Ford Galaxie 500. He would have me go out and crank it (fun times for a 10 year old) and set the heater in the winter or the A/C in the summer. I would then go check and see if the light was out and he would head off to work. He did shift work, so I would only be able to do it in the evenings and would race home from school. Good memories.


My father had a 1966 Ford Custom 500, same basic car as the Galaxie 500, just slightly less bells and whistles, which were not much in those days. I also remember the blue cold temp light. Actually that was a very nice car for that time period. His had the 289 the v-8 engine, sufficiently powerful to haul a family of 6 and ALL their luggage inside the vehicle for 3,000 mile vacations. It was the first car we owned that had air conditioning, which was a real life saver as we usually drove to Florida from NJ to see my aunt for vacation
grin.gif
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Whimsey
 
My Mazda 3 has this as well. No temp gauge. Blue for cold, red for overheating. I have auto climate control so I have not seen the behavior you mentioned with the heat. I just fire up the heated seats until I cannot stand the warmth.


Originally Posted By: Kira
My Dad's 1954 DeSoto Firedome had a blue COLD light.

I wasn't to see another COLD light until my sister's 2012 Mazda3.

One day immediately after the COLD light went out I turned the heater on. The COLD light came back on.

Did the cold coolant in the heater core drop the system temp or was the light programmed to come on with the heater below a certain point?
 
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