96 2.2 cavalier temp gauge

Hey all, hopefully this will ring a bell. My temp gauge would normally sit somewhere in the middle and go to the right (hotter) if i was in bumper to bumper traffic, y'know basically where/when you would expect it to happen, even in the middle of the summer. All of a sudden right before the end of the summer it changed a bit. Now it constantly moves its way to the right as much as possible, whether i'm cruising or bumper to bumper. I noticed because the fan is on almost constantly. Took it to my shop and their response was "as long as the fan comes on when it goes to the far right its working right". Now I drive about 74 miles round trip to work a day (one hour each way), and I can tell you that in july the fan would only come on about 3 times one way. Now I'd be lucky if the fan would stay off for more than 10 mins at a time, and thats now in the winter. Now the coolant level has been stable, no leaking or anything like that; also a/c and heat working just fine.

Thanks guys, all help is appreaciated.

Change the Thermostat .Get a good one not a cheapy. also change the coolant if it has not been done in recent years.

Hey all, hopefully this will ring a bell. My temp gauge would normally sit somewhere in the middle and go to the right (hotter) if i was in bumper to bumper traffic, y'know basically where/when you would expect it to happen, even in the middle of the summer. All of a sudden right before the end of the summer it changed a bit. Now it constantly moves its way to the right as much as possible, whether i'm cruising or bumper to bumper. I noticed because the fan is on almost constantly. Took it to my shop and their response was "as long as the fan comes on when it goes to the far right its working right". Now I drive about 74 miles round trip to work a day (one hour each way), and I can tell you that in july the fan would only come on about 3 times one way. Now I'd be lucky if the fan would stay off for more than 10 mins at a time, and thats now in the winter. Now the coolant level has been stable, no leaking or anything like that; also a/c and heat working just fine.

Thanks guys, all help is appreaciated.

If the gauge has gone all the way to the right, the temp light should be on also! Is it?

When you lift the hood while readings are maxed out you think the engine is actually hot?

Thanks for the reply guys. What kind of thermostat do you think would be best?
The gauge doesn't go all the way to the right, but it gets close, closer than ever before.
You do feel the warmth of the engine when you lift the hood, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Thanks for the reply guys. What kind of thermostat do you think would be best?
The gauge doesn't go all the way to the right, but it gets close, closer than ever before.
You do feel the warmth of the engine when you lift the hood, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Does the temp light come on?
Do the fans come on to cool the engine?

No temp light but the fans do come on to cool.

test the sensor for temp gauge with ohm meter

test the sensor for temp gauge with ohm meter

Irregardless of what you do I would swap the coolant if it has not been done for a few years.

if the temperature sensor is bad or the wires are shorted then the gauge could read all the way to the right in the red. but it that is fine then i would change the thermostat. and maybe never go to that mechanic that said if the fan is running it is fine. did he tell you if the brakes work your car will stop?

thanks for the suggestions, it'll take me some time to get that done but hopefully it'll work, one more thing though, where is the thermostat located?

one more thing though, where is the thermostat located?

On my 2.2 it is attached to the lower rad hose on the lower left hand side - follow the rad hose to a flange with two bolts, and that's where the thermostat should be...god, I've changed too many of these in the last two weeks! :banghead:

thanks for the help, I appreciate it.