No temp gauge, cold radiator!

[luckyg817]

Sounds like you have a short in there somewhere. Exact same thing that happened to me. Your multimeter will be your best friend for this fix. When you first turn on the car, will your temp gauge go all the way up and then down again like the others?

 

[Dustoff]

put the stock 195 back in, your mpg are suffering. so it is hurting it somewhat. your engine wa made to run at 210 deg's. thats where it runs its most efficient.

My temp gauge was reading just over the very bottom line(70 I believe) then I put in the 180 tstat and it jumped up to the 1/4 mark, just under.

 

[crysalis]

Forgot to reply!

Tested wiring and the sensor with my multimeter... All was fine. I let the car sit for a couple more days before I took it to my friend. I started her up and all was perfectly normal. Temp readings have been 100% normal ever since. Gauge is fine.

Completely strange.

 

[Dustoff]

Hmm

 

[deadtranny]

The dash gauge for my 3.8 engine usually runs way below the halfway mark (mainly at the 1/4 mark) all summer no matter how hot the weather is, instead of where it should be. On occasion, when I'm driving in town, the gauge will move a bit over the halfway mark, but not very often. The code comes up and I've reset it a few times. Sensor wires look good. In winter I get warm air, and the upper and lower hoses get hot like they're supposed to even when the dash temperature gauge says 1/4. If the thermostat is worn out and stuck, doesn't it stick wide open? If there's a problem, would it be visible when I take the thermostat out? I'm wondering if I should replace the thermostat. I'm going to the junkyard soon for window regulators, and wondering if I should get another thermostat there cheap, and will the gasket be okay? My car is pretty much toast per the tranny shop but I've gotten 10,000 miles since then so I want to run it into the ground.