For the last month or so the temp gauge needle in my '95 shoots right up to the red/top and stays there no matter what. I've had both the sensor and thermostat replaced, but to no avail. What else could it be?

BTW, I don't know s**t about fixing vehicles, so simple terms would be appreciated.

 

So your not overheating at all right? Then it sounds like the guage itself is shot. Does it shoot up into the red right when you start the truck?

 

Yeah, it's definitely not overheating. It usually takes about a mile or two or five minutes of idling before the needle starts to go up. I first noticed this when waiting at a red light so I pulled off into a parking lot and let it set for twenty minutes or so with the hood up. I checked and everything seemed normal.

No smoking, hissing or boiling radiator fluid and whatnot. I started it back up and let it run for fifteen minutes, but everything was still fine even with the needle in the red so I drove her home. I picked up one of those huge Ford Ranger manuals from the library, but all it lists about the thermostat is how to replace it.

 

If you have a leak you may want to look at the heater valve. I just had to replace it yesterday. My gauge spiked as well but the truck ran fine. Hope it helps.

 

I had the same thing happen after i replaced my THermostat in my 2000 ranger i had to replace the thermostat twice. I think there is a wire that sends the signal to the guage panel make sure that isnt unplugged.

 

I had the heater valve replaced last fall as it was leaking radiator fluid, but it's been good to go since then. The funny thing is that the needle in the temp gauge still worked fine during that time even with the leak. I think 05Edge is right in that it probably is just the gauge itself.

Since the truck is pretty beat-up and has 220,000 miles, is there any other way I would be able to tell it was overheating before it's too late? I've replaced just about every little small part on the Ranger that you can think of (EGR valve, heater valve, thermostat & sensor, etc.) and I don't really want to put that much more money into her.