temperature gauge

[nova_pipi]

hi all, iv just fitted an xe into my corsa and the temperature gauge is reading almost red so way above 100 but the car isnt running like it is overheating, the coolant isnt boiling over and the top rad hose feels warm so the thermostat is opening, the gauge originally wasnt working at all so i changed the temp sender then it started reading nearly into red when at operating temperature and when i am in traffic the temperature moves past red. has anyone got any ideas on what this could be? thanks
phil

[kent14sr]

The gauge should drop as the thermostat opens - and then build up again - is it?

Is the heater hot? Sure there is no airlocks?

[nova_pipi]

the gauge doesnt drop unless i put the fan on after the temperature passes the red on the gauge, the heater is hot and i let the car run to temperature with the cap off but nothing popped out as an air bubble

[bobon]

just had exactly the same problem (all be it on a 1.2) and all my mechanic did in the end was to fit an in-line resistor which now makes the dial on the clock read as it should do!
sounds like electrical witchcraft to me but it worked!
before that we tried everything from flushing to new stat & temp sendor EVEN had head gasket done as last resort but it turned out to be faulty reading on the dials????
a part costing pence in the end after spending 100's left me a bit fecked off.
not sure if this helps but hope it saves you money?