temp guage never goes up much

[bob ventrillo]

I changed the thermostat and it took care of the temp gage problem.

[ksliger]

I had this same issue as well. The needle never went past about 1/4 of the way up. I replaced the thermostat per advice on here and now it goes up to about 1/3 of the way up. Is this a normal spot for it?

[logiclust]

I have to chime in here and say that gauge behaves the same. I never thought much of it. I'm sure the t-stat is due for a swap anyhow... let you know if anything changes

[Jimm]

I had this same problem of the temp guage never rising above 1/8. I changed the thermostat and it did not change temp guage position. I changed the coolant temp sensor and the temp guage returned to the normal 1/3 position at OT. Also noticed that an occassional idle speed miss disappeared. Evidently the sensor was telling the brain that the engine was cooler than OT and responded with increase in fuel or a timing adjustment or who knows what which was causing the idle speed miss. In my limited experience coolant temp sensors fail more often than thermostats. The parameters of a failure are much tighter for the sensor.