car: 87 Golf. 1.8L gas automatic

the other day my girlfriend said that the temp guage is not working and the temp light is flashing...i have seen the car overheat once b4 which ended with a 800 dollar bill and a new head gasket...

normally when it overheats, the guage is at the top (duh) and the light comes on... as well as a buzzer buzzes. but just the other day the light came on and the guage stays at the bottom and the buzzer doesnt buzz. it does it constantly now. even when it is first started.. so its not overheating.... any ideas would be helpfull... thanks.

Jason

Possibly either the coolant temp sensor faulty or the instrument cluster is bad. More likely the instrument cluster.

The gauge & temp sender are probably fine, the flashing light is for low coolant level in the expansion tank. Is the fluid low? If not, the level sensor may be bad.