Temperature acting funny

[chingon77]

Recenetly i've noticed that my temperature gauge is acting funny. When i'm accerating or at a cruising speed the needle will drop down then up in pretty fast in a jittery motion. When i'm at idle it stays put. Has anyone experienced anything like this?

[yodawill2000]

Stuck open thermostat or maybe way low on coolant?

[chingon77]

Stuck open thermostat or maybe way low on coolant?

The car doesn't overheat. THe gauge needle is always just below the half mark and has starting dancing around just below that. It never goes up and over the half way mark.How do I go about checking if it's a stuck thermostat?I bet it's the coolant. It was drained the other day and maybe all of it wasn't put back in.

[Defiant]

Start at the start- check the connection on the gauge sender wire.

[yodawill2000]

Im just going by what I dealt with in one of my old trucks.The temp sensor was fairly high and when I was low on coolant the gauge would sometimes drop when the sensor wasnt in the water.then when I reved up the pump would move enough water to getting a real reading.

[driverdriver]

I would simply change the thermostat and see if it goes away.

[chingon77]

The coolant was a little low so i filled it up. I've been driving around for a few days and its still acting the same. I guess a new sensor as suggested might be needed. Is this what I'll need? http://www.trademotion.com/par...gid=1Were exactly is the temp sensor located. I looked at the FSM sensor locater and were it states it should be I see 2 things that look like it may be the temp sensor. One of them looks a little beat up and the little rubber boot rotted off and it doesnt look like its in good shape. I'm guesing that might be the one. It's located behing the radiator on the engine or plenum. I'm not sure what to call it. I'm still learning how to work on cars.thanks folks.