1993 ssei running hot

changed termostat still running hot im about to change the temp sensor but i also losing power you no what wierd the gauge on the dash goes all the way in to the red like 280degres and the car does not over heat lift the hood seems hot although i never check it before dident need to. Does any one have this problem or any advice ?

You very well might have a gauge problem vs an overheating problem. I've had 4 different clusters in my 93 SSEi and currently have a mixture of 93 and 97 cluster parts in the dash. I removed the circuit board that drives the 3 gauges (boost, oil and temp) from the 97 in order to solve the problem. The gauge would seem to work properly until normal operating temp was reached then the temp needle would fluctuate wildly until it was pegged at 280*. Your cooling fan should come on at around 215*. this is an easy test to check for gauge accuracy. If the fan doesn't kick on around 215 and higher, then it's probably a gauge problem.

the best way to test for accuracy is by disconnecting the gauge temp sensor and observing the behavior of the gauge with the wires open, shorted and with different resistors across the pins. Or better yet, a scantool that can display what temp the ECM is seeing while driving.