There are a number of gauges on the dashboard of the Ford F150 pickup truck that act as the eyes and ears of the driver to ensure smooth and safe driving.
These symbols and their styling and orientation can differ for different model years and trim levels, but their basic functionality remains the same.
There are 6 essential gauges on the instrument panel of the Ford F150 to indicate fuel level, speed, engine’s RPM, coolant temperature, engine oil pressure, and transmission fluid temperature. In addition, Ford F150 with the EcoBoost engine has an optional gauge to indicate the turbocharger’s boost pressure. Moreover, there are advanced options like an electronic compass, digital odometer, and various symbols on the driver’s information center in the latest models of the truck.
Multiple gauges are a vital part of the Ford F150 dashboard and inform drivers about different parameters of the truck.
Ford F150 gauges and features on the instrument cluster can vary according to the model year. However, 6 of them are standard on all pickup truck models, and some additional options for the latest models.
Fuel gauge
You will see the fuel gauge on the instrument cluster’s top center, symbolizing a gas pump and its filler bar. It has a needle and marking bar in a curved shape that ranges from E to F.
The letter “F” indicates that your pickup truck’s fuel tank is up to its capacity and “E” indicates it is almost empty with 1-2 gallons of gasoline left in the tank.
A fuel-sending unit measures the fuel in the tank and sends a signal to the fuel gauge to display the updated status to the driver.
Moreover, the latest models of the Ford F150 pickup trucks also have a low fuel warning light to tell that you should refill from the nearest gas station as 1-2 gallons remain in the tank.
Speedometer
The speedometer is on the right side of the instrument cluster on 2015-2021 models of Ford F150 pickup trucks with 8-inch LCD screens for display.
You will see a marking bar in a circular shape showing speed range in miles per hour (mph) on the outer edge of the dial and also in kilometers per hour (kph) on the inner edge.
A needle indicates the speed at which you are driving your vehicle. It has marking ranges of 0-140mph and 0-220 kph.
However, actual limits vary according to the model year of your pickup truck. An electric sensor measures the vehicle’s speed and sends it to the speedometer for display.
It is essential to inform us that we are driving within legal speed limits as there is no other way to sense that we are overspeeding beyond authorized limits. The latest models also have a digital speedometer that displays the speed in numbers in digital format.
Compass
You will find this feature in recent models of the Ford F150 pickup trucks from 2015-2022 to show its direction.
It is an electronic compass with applications for navigation and orientation regarding geographic coordinates.
There is no dial or gauge for this feature but an option on the instrument panel. Go to the Trip/Fuel tab on the instrument cluster and select the Navigation/Compass option.
It will display a digital compass on the screen with all 4 directions marked as E, W, S, and N with an arrow according to the direction/orientation of your vehicle.
Engine coolant temperature gauge
The engine coolant temperature gauge is on the top center of the instrument cluster at 2nd place with a symbol of thermometer and two wavy lines at the bottom.
You will see the letter “C” on one end to indicate cool and “H” on the other end to show hot. When the temperature of the coolant increases, the needle or its progress bar moves from C to H.
In this way, the driver can quickly assess when coolant is not effectively removing the heat from the engine. Mostly it is due to the problem with the radiator, and you have to cool it down to bring the coolant temperature within the acceptable range.
RPM gauge
It is in the form of a large gauge on the left side of the instrument cluster to measure the engine revolutions per minute (RPM).
It has numbers from 0 to 7 or 8 on the dial and a needle to point toward these numbers. These numbers multiplied by 1000 give the RPM of an engine.
It shows the number of revolutions of the engine crankshaft in one minute. A good value of engine RPM is up to 2000.
Higher values towards the end with red markings can damage the engine for manual transmission. While for automatic transmissions, the shift occurs in higher gears to reduce RPM before it enters the red zone.
Engine oil gauge
It has an oil can symbol on the top left of the instrument cluster and displays the amount of engine oil in your Ford F150.
It measures the pressure of engine oil in pounds per square inch (psi), and you will see a marking from low (L) to high (H). Its full range is between 0-80 or 0-100 psi.
Therefore, its value should be between 20-60 psi for the regular working of the engine. A low oil level means leakage in the oil system or failure of the engine oil pump.
Moreover, it also correlates with other indicators like increasing engine temperature due to insufficient lubricant levels.
Transmission fluid temperature gauge
It is on the top right corner of the instrument cluster, having a symbol of a thermometer enclosed within a gear.
It reflects the temperature of the transmission fluid of the Ford F150 and is different from engine coolant.
Furthermore, it has markings from “C” to “H.” The average operating temperature for transmission fluid should be between 170-220 degrees Fahrenheit.
Any value above this range indicates its overheating due to any problem with the transmission system or the severity of operating conditions like towing, snow plowing, or blocked airflow restricting the efficient cooling.
Stop the vehicle in such situations to restore the transmission fluid temperature to the normal range to prevent any damage.
Odometer
It is part of the speedometer for earlier models of Ford F150 pickup trucks. However, in recent models, it is in the form of a digital meter on the driver information center.
It shows your vehicle’s total miles, and you cannot modify it. Moreover, there is also a trip odometer to count the miles and mileage for every trip.
It is resettable by the driver and gives temporary data for any journey to calculate fuel economy and distance traveled.
Driver information center (DIC)
It is an 8-12.3 inches screen to display the truck information and warning alerts to the driver in case of any problem with the vehicle.
A few of these symbols and relevant signals are for anti-lock braking system (ABS), battery condition, door open or close status, seat belt symbol, hood open/close status, tailgate status, water in the fuel tank, and check engine warning light.
Moreover, the latest truck models have several advanced features and their respective indicators on DIC.
These features include adaptive cruise control, drive assist, blind spot monitor, hill descent, high beam, and turn signal maps, to name a few of many.
Boost pressure gauge
Ford F150 with EcoBoost engine has a user-selectable boost pressure gauge on the driver information center. It indicates the turbo boost pressure in the intake manifold.
It is user configurable. Moreover, these gauges are available as separate installation options anywhere on the dashboard.
It has markings in psi to display the air pressure. You can easily distinguish it as it has the word boost written on the dial to mark its identity.
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