Well, the wire was good. Same results with the temporary wire. I'm going to run a leakdown test on the engine tomorrow. Maybe the gauge is accurate and I have a head gasket that has just started to fail, enough to raise the coolant temp so that there is a noticeable difference at the gauge needle but not so bad that it is overheating. Even though the mechanical gauge shows the engine running in an acceptable range, I never used it on this engine in the past so I don't know where the dash gauge needle would be when the mechanical gauge measures 180 to 195. The engine is original and it has never been out of the truck, so a leakdown test will be good anyway. With 67K miles, I know I'm on borrowed time when it comes to a rebuild.
Matt
