05 Cavalier Temp gauge

[wildrussian]

This is my first post so first of all Hello!

I have a question about my wifes temp gauge on her Cavalier. When she was driving it today the temp gauge fell over past the HOT mark (she has a quarter cirlce temp gauge right next to the speedometer, the temp gauge is on the right side) and is now sitting on 10 MPH mark on the speedometer. When going over 10 MPH the speedometer hits the temp mark and doesn't go any farther. I know the car is not overheating, it has plenty of coolant. When turning the enginge off the temp gauge moves back some. Any idea what causes this and how hard is it to fix? Do i need to replace the whole instrument cluster?

Thanks

[inafogg]

hello & welcome sounds like a bad gauge dont really no what caused it.
you dont need to replace dash cluster but u need to pull it to replace the
temp gauge good luck

[martini25]

My girlfriend's car is having the same problem but do I need to replace the gauge or just manually pull the gauge pointer back to where it was? Please help asap.Thanks.

[shakewell]

Try moving it manually. I mean, if it's already broken you really can't hurt it can you?

[antone61]

My wifes car just did the same thing. I was told it is more likely in the wiring (loose connection, shorted wire) or a bad sensor than the gauge itself. Time to do some detective work!

[antone61]

It turned out not to be in the wiring or the cable. The gauge is broke.
You can not replace the gauge itself so you do have to replace the entire cluster.
It is one molded piece.