[skora]

On my 97 X SOHC, I have a temp gauge that is rather erratic. It reads high even with the engine off and cold and rises when the engine is running to the point the "Check gauges" light illuminates. Then bounces to normal then back near red line. This cycle continues.

To evaluate this, I bought a scan tool and the ECT reads as expected, around ambient to start, gradual climb till the thermostat opens, then hovers there while the radiator does its thing. Heater works as expected. So I'm fairly confident that my X doesn't have a cooling issue.

What my questions are:
Can I disconnect the temp sender so I'm not watching the gauge bounce around and then the Check Gauges light is available for other issues that arise?

Does the check gauge light also send a signal back to the PCM?

Can I do any damage to the truck or will the PCM throttle the power back and flash the Check Engine light if a real cooling issue materializes?

I'm a lurker, but appreciate the help very much.