well, that's good news. the gauge was indeed pinned and i had the cap off and here was no sign of steam. what i am doing now is calibrating the sender. i am heating it up and taking resistance readings. once i understand the R vs T curve, i'll run the motor and see what i get when the engine is warmed up - and i'll know the true temp. It looks like I can add a resistor to bring the gauge to where it belongs. I ordered one of those infrared temp meters to make sure everything is accurate. Now as to WHY i have to do this - i am not sure.

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