Originally Posted by
Ra005e
Where does the needle get to?
I don't know the specifics of the temp gauge sensor but I know that the thermoswitch (turns cooling fan on) can get progressively bad, so instead of just not working all of a sudden, it will take longer (more heat) for the fan to turn on over time. Maybe that sensor is still working but doesn't have the sensitivity it did when new.
Regardless, the thermoswitch and the sensor that reads the temp for the ECU are most important. As long as the thermostat opens and there's coolant in the radiator. (no heat w/out both)
I'm sure you already know most or all of that, randomtask77, meant more for others.
The needle doesn't move at all. If I'm stuck at traffic and have been driving for a while, I'll see the temp gauge move up ever so slightly to the "C" mark, but no further.
The first thing I did was switch out the thermoswitch (the one that is near the thermostat). Then I eventually changed out everything else. Radiator, the fan, radiator cap, thermostat, both upper and lower hoses and clamps. The fuse to the fan that is under the hood. The fuse that is under the dash and obviously the coolant. The only thing that I didn't get to replace was the sensor that is below the distributor (which I didn't know about til recently).
I thought I had a thermostat stuck open until I replaced that as well and I was still getting the same result.