Scary Moment

Did a coolant flush and fill on the '96 with 3.3 liter. All went well and I started her up to check for leaks and extra coolant, all is still well, so, I take her out for a couple of miles to ensure coolant circulates and after about 1/2 mile with gauge at half way mark (but no warm air, Hmmm), the temp needle starts to FLY to hot (not drift but fly), needle topped out alarm went off and I pulled over to shut her down when alarm stopped and needle came back to half way. All is now well and I suspect the thermostat stuck shut and then popped open or I had a air bubble in the system that passed, not really sure but I never saw this one before.

Mine did something simular to this but the thermostat was stuck open from what the dealer showed me. The gauge didn't fly up but it did go up quick sometimes. This is on a 4th generation van so I don't know if this info will help any. However, I would just check to make sure it is overheating, you could have a faulty gauge. If it is overheating still, things to check, radiator flow for both air and coolant, hoses not collapsing, water pump, belt tightness, thermostat, and radiator cap. You can rev it alittle to heat the engine up instead of driving it. I think on yours you have the transmission lines that run through your radiator, might have an internal leak, but that is worse case. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the response, pretty sure it was an air bubble as all is now ell. I had a thermostat fail on this car at about 50,000 miles (the cage on the stat broke and jammed the spring wide open) thankfully it failed open. I am watching the gauge, but the needle stabilizes just about a needle width below the half way mark and puts out good heat

That's good news. Both mine read at what you are saying yours do so it must be normal. Hope it stays that way!