mrhemi wrote:
Based on personal observations on two equally equipped CRDs, I would says it is the gauge that is inaccurate, not the sensor. I have an HDS with a 203 deg. stat in each CRD. They both read 203 deg. on my Innova scan tool.
X2... This has been my experience as well.
My personal take on this issue is that the gauge has been deliberately made inaccurate and non-linear. They do this - as pointed out by "thesameguy" - to quell worried owners who would otherwise be running into dealerships to complain that their engine is running too hot or too cold. The auto manufacturers may have realized that at least in the case of engine operating temperatures, "ignorance is bliss".
In the specific case of the Liberty CRD, if people actually knew the engine was running at 176 degrees Fahrenheit all of the time because they can see the readings from an accurate engine temperature gauge, (that has numbers on it or a digital readout in conjunction to the gauge with the needle and hash marks), they may LEGITIMATELY complain that the engine is running too cold. They will invariably follow up their complaints by doing some research and find out that these vehicles in all other markets outside of North America are running 195 degree thermostats. Then the doo-doo will hit the fan because most CRD owners realize their engines would be more efficient, more powerful and more reliable if running about 20 to 25 degrees hotter.
With the advent of the internet and online forums such as this, vehicle owners from around the world can share information about vehicle performance and problems from all markets and compare notes. There are experts in virtually every category of vehicular systems on virtually every forum who can figure out what is best for a given vehicle by doing these comparisons; as has happened here on LOSTJEEPS.com. Manufacturers know this, so they strive to keep as much specific operational information away from owners as possible to at least delay this gathering of information so owners can compare notes.
Auto manufacturers really do not want people to keep their vehicles any longer than about 6-8 years; they survive by selling a person many vehicles in their lifetime. Therefore, it is not in their best interest to make all operational information readily available to owners because owners will find ways to tweak operational parameters derived from accurate gathering of operational information and make the vehicle last longer and/or perform better. Yeti's tunes are a good example of this.
Manufacturers also have other another worry; that "unqualified" people will perform modifications that can cause a failure or a catastrophic failure on the vehicle. A good example of this is the inline thermostat modification to increase engine operating temperature and to avoid replacing the O.E. thermostat assembly. Most people on this forum know what I think of this so-called fix and the reasons why it is a bad idea, so lets just leave it at that. Most of the time such modifications are easy to identify so any warranty is null and void. However, some modifications are very hard to identify and therefore a warranty battle can ensue; manufacturers and dealers want to decrease the possibility of this happening so they restrict the amount of operational information the owner gets.
Finally, sometimes failures caused by unqualified people modifying their vehicles are safety related, and therefore a question of liability may come into play. If an accident occurs, millions of dollars can be at stake in lawsuits filed by plaintiffs against the owner of the vehicle and also possibly the manufacturer. The manufacturers may see themselves as being on the moral high ground by preventing owners from getting the information they require to perform such modifications.
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The Jag, I will say, is particularly problematic since "normal" is everything from like 180F to 230F. So if, say, the radiator fan stops working everything is a-ok until suddenly the engine is fried. 
