Here is my scenario: Very cold weather, so start car to let warm up for 10 minutes or so before driving. Get in the car and notice temp gauge is maxed out, but no other signs of overheating(no smell, no steam, no bubbling coolant under the hood) and good warm heat inside the car. I shut car off and restart immediately and gauge returns to normal level(40-50% of max). Drive home- 15 minute drive and gauge remains in normal range, no other problems at all. Do I have a bad gauge or temp sensor or ??
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Hello, sounds like a possible coolant temperature sending unit concern. You'll want to verify that the engine is in fact not overheating -- which would definitely show far more symptoms and characteristics. A diagnostic tool can read what the sensor is reading engine temperature to be -- and I"d bet that it's well out of range, causing it to be all the way up. Still, testing should be done to verify this before you replace any components.
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