Engine temp gauge running hot

I had the same issue on my 89' Camaro I found out it was a blown head gasket.

What you really need is a scan tool to read the check engine codes. Do you know anyone that has one? Will cut down on needless part replacing and guess work. How did you "check" your thermostat?

I put my thermostat in boiling water to make sure it was opened and closed. It did... I took the hose out of the over flow container and put it in water while the car was running to see if it boiled to determine if the gasket was blown. It did not.

I forgot to mention, When I took it to Auto Zone the code read that Coolant temp sensor needed to be replaced which is why I replaced it. After replacing it the light remained on and it continued to run hot. If the sensor or wire was bad would the fan still spin? The next day I turned the car on and the check engine light was not on. Yet the gauge moved towards H. That's when I checked the thermostat.

Just keep in mind that water boils at something like 212 degrees. Your thermostat is supposed to open at 180 degrees. If you just dropped it into boiling water, it may be opening at the higher temp and not the lower 180 temp. This would cause your car to get up into the higher heat range before the thermostat opens up. If you go through the trouble of taking out the thermostat, you should always just put in a new one. That way you can always be sure that it's not a thermostat issue. Have you felt the upper radiator hose when the engine is hot to make sure that the system is pressurizing? You may have a bad radiator cap. I would also remove the radiator cap and let the car run until it reaches operating temp, and see if the fluid is circulating. If everything seems to be operating fine, my next test would be to buy a head gasket test kit and see if your problem is with your head.

I believe we are getting somewhere. I took the cap off yesterday to check circulation at operating temp. It doesn't seem to be doing anything. This morning I squeezed the hoses at Operating temp with the cap off and they were pretty easy to close. Should this be? Are we getting somewhere?

I just put a thermometer in the radiator while the car was sitting idle and the temp is not moving... I drove around the block a few times and waited for the thermometer to go back to H. I think put the car in park and took the cap off and squeezed the upper radiator hose with no problem.

You will want to leave the cap on. Get the car to about mid level on the temp range, and then see if the hose is hard and pressurized. If it is soft, it means the cap is bad and losing pressure. If the cap is off, it will never pressurize.

I put coolant in and that seemed to have solved the problem.. It drove fine yesterday. It drove fine this morning Until I turned the heat on. Cold air blew out and it eventually overheated. Help?!

I can drive around for 20 minutes straight. When I turn off the car and touch the radiator cap it's yet cold. I can take it off feeling no heat where as before it would be to hot to touch.

Hey Amani, what was the end-result of your dilemma? How did you solve it?