can my compass tell me the temp?
 

thats basically the question lol. i was looking at my compass today when i started my car and noticed the *F and *C on there, and thought there may be some way to make it show me the temp instead of the direction because i can just look up, and if i were to get lost my gps hasn't left my windshield in over 6 months, not that ive used it lol. the reason i ask is the resistors are coming unsoldered on the climate control and you have to tap on it to get it to be visible. i really dont want to go through the work of taking the dash apart because its about 30 degrees and wont be much warmer for awhile lol. i looked in the manual and didn't see anything about it but i figured it was worth a shot. i dont see why gm would pay the money to have useless lights lol.

thanks alot! i took a cell phone video to explain what im talking about

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTzv30k3Ois

Display suggestion
 

Have you tried pressing the ENG/MET button on the dash to see if that will do it? Just be careful. If you have a digital cluster and monitoring system, everything will go metric (speedo, miles, temp) I assume you're talking about a 99 Park Avenue? You might also want to try this: with the car running, try varying the temp using the wheel touch buttons. Watch the mirror to see the results. I think that's the purpose of the 2 displays. You can change temperature with your fingers but keep your eyes up and see the change where the compass display is. It will probably only stay active for about 2 seconds or so and then default to the compass again. Anyway, that's my best guess. On my 95 Regency (with the monochromatic mirror and compass) the compass display never changes. The temp display will temporarily be displayed on the radio display.

You obviously don't know GM all that well.... they put a lot of useless lights and gadgets that no one ever uses in their cars, and very often don't explain what you are dying to know but can't find in an owners manual. Even dealers will give you a cryptic bypass and try to divert your question to something else. If all else fails, I've heard many of them give me the standard one liner: "Dunno, ask the engineer who designed it". Major BOHICA.

Last I checked a compass can only tell you what direction you're going. You'll need a thermometer to tell you the temperature.

Real answer though: GM has used those mirror inserts for years. Some cars they are programmed to show compass, some temp, and some both with a button press. In my 02 Bonne the compass is on the dash and the temp is in the climate control. Nothing in the mirror. In my 07 Avalanche though I had a mirror like that and it showed temp while the direction was still on my dash. It's just how GM programed the BCM to work with your car. I'm sure you could "hack" it somehow to do what you want, but that depends on if the temp input is even going to that display at all.

Awesome misuse of the BOHICA acronym. HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Misuse? Not from my point of view. Lots of times that's what it feels like when I go to a dealer for service. The last 3 times I may as well have just flushed the $ down the toilet. I fixed the problems they said couldn't be fixed because the parts are 'obsolete'. Personally I'm starting to wonder what they train their techs on.

Anyway, I'm glad you had a good laugh on my post. I certainly did with your reply. :D

Now that's right funny!:bouncingsmiles:

So in a nutshell, there is no rhyme or reason to how the functions are set. It appears to be consistently inconsistent amongst the GM product lines

ok, thanks for the replies. just wondering if there was a way. at the risk of hijacking this thread, does anyone know what kind of computer id need to change particulars about the car? ive heard you can use an obd2 programmer like they advertise for trucks on the powerblock on spike but i dont think i want to go further than the obd2 port lol. basically i want to do 2 thing a) remove the driver one thing which the manual says can be done at the shop, and b) remove the 111mph speed limiter. (dont rag i wanna have fun at the strip where you pay $7 and run whatever you want for the night lol) theres the 1/4 mile and for some reason a half mile track. but i was at 111 just past the 1/4 lol.

also, if there are, links would be appreciated. thanks alot!!


didnt think it was worth a thread because its not a huge deal to me lol.

I would have gone with PITA myself, though that's just me.
Exactly.
You should be able to do that a tuner that's capable of BCM/ECM tuning.