I installed JET fan swich 195 on / 185 off. now the temperature gauge reads 1/4 all the time. Is that too cold? is that 160F? or 200F? somebody said it's 200F, but could somebody who has aftermarket gauge verify that?

I don't know what to tell'ya. I've got a Hypertech Fan Switch #4026 (on at 176* off at 166*) and my gauge is at 1/4 also.

1/4 = 180°F

Driving in cold weather with a 180° thermostat, that is where the needle will settle (freeway driving)

Your car is running right where it should be.

That would be me.

All my cars have/had a 195° (stock) thermostat. The 1/4 mark is where they all stay/have stayed.

If you want to believe the first mark is really 100° and the half is 220°, the 1/4 mark would only be 160° which, it isn't.

I've never found a need to verify it with an after market gauge due to consistency. Even though my 93 just has 100 and 260, it stays on the 1/4 mark as well. Aside from the elec water pump and cai , it's bone stock.


If you just put in a fan switch and not a thermostat, it's not going to change how cold the motor gets. Whatever thermostat you have is the lowest temp the engine can get to (for the most part) while running.

The guages are non-linear. On my dash, it says 40°, 100°, 130°C.

If I leave the A/C off and drive around in the city, I won't hear the fans turn on (at 200°F) until the gauge is half way between 1/4 and 1/2.

I've never owned a thirdgen with celcius for the gauge readings, sorry. Mine have all been 100, 220 and 260°F. That is a large +/- margin if you want to convert yours or my numbers to agree.

The above is simply my opinion based on observance of the 3 thirdgens plus one forth I have/had. This is the same for any mid 90's Chevrolet truck I have driven and a friends '92 3/4 ton 15 passenger van.

I will have a hard time that a cheap $o.50 part has that much thought and design into it. I'm not saying I'm right or wrong, I don't have the equipment to test or, production sheet for how the factory gauge was made.

On top of that, it would be impossible for all of my vehicles gauges to be off by 20° considering the years spanned and one being Pontiac. Even with that, in the years past when we have had 100°+ summers, the gauge should have a reading with the key on if 100 is truly 100°. It shouldn't take a few miles of driving to start getting a temp showing.

Again, mine all sit/sat on the 1/4 mark with the factory temp 195° stat. That is not an end-to-all statement as I have no data showing I've tested the gauge nor, the equipment (or desire) to show the gauge is nothing more than a linear reading, cheaply made, p.o.s. that is good for nothing more than being a rough display of temperature at best. It's simply my answer given on the observance of owning, at the minimum, one of these heaps for over 10 years.

fan kicks in just before 1/4 mark, so it would make sense that 1/4 mark is 200F. This is weird.. I'm just going to leave it there.

The guage is not accurate to actual temps.

The stock gauge bascially says.

Cold Normal Pull the F over.

I have stock gauges and aftermarket autometer gauges. The 1/4 mark is 180.

Footnote: My 87' GTA which was built in Ohio May of 1987, has the Electronic/LCD like gauges. The Temp gauge reads, 50*, 90*, 130*....So according to it, 1/4 temp is 70*ish degrees.....(just a fun fact).

Certainly an interesting footnote for the digital dash. Is that C of F ? (I'm assuming celcius). I've never had the privilege to see a working on in person.

Here is my '91 p.o.s on the way home from work tonight. Raining, 65-ish and about 12 miles into a 30 mile one way trip sitting at a stoplight, 195°F thermostat (it's second one I've put in)....

I would have to assume that aswell(celcius). I will send you a PM and post pics of my digital dash some time. I did not realize having a temp gauge in celcius was rare or uncommon!

Haha... shows me not paying attention to your location.

It would be quite rare/uncommon in the states (US).

Any pictures of a (working) digital dash is fairly rare as well. At least, I haven't seen many in the years I've been on here. Also, considering the limited year they came in the 'birds (mainly GTA from the very few surviving I have seen).

Granted, my memory isn't what is was 10 years ago as well... lol

It's celcius because we're in Canada......
Just like our speedometers are in Kms not Mph
and oil pres in Kpa instead of psi

you're not rare..... you're just Metric........ like me

O.K. I understand that, (1)but Reid Fleming lives in Houston, TX. so why would he have celcius in his car,(most likely an Amarican car). (2)With having the digital dash, with a push of a botton, I can go from Kms to Mph and back. I'm just suprised that GM would adjust the numbers(temp-50,90,130, Oil-0,200,400) on the dash for us(Canadians).

The fuel gauges are different as well. US ones get E and F and "Unleaded Fuel Only" while the metric cars get empty and full circles. It doesn't mention anything about unleaded fuel only.

Here's my gauge.



When the car had a 160° stat and 176/166 fan setting, it would run 1 line below the 1/4 mark. Aprox 175°F.

With the 180° stat in there now and 200° fan turn on, it will cruise at 1/4. Fan turns on midway between 1/4 and 1/2.

During the peak of summer, it will be at 40 when you start the car "cold" (95-100° weather)

(Me and car are originally from British Columbia)

Holy volts Batman. Your voltage is at the 3/4 mark. I've never seen mine read that high. Now the volt gauge on our cars, I will admit is somewhere near accurate.

WHO"S voltage????

Haha... he's probably referring to mine. 15 is the 3/4 mark and my multimeter shows 14.4 at the battery when running and warm. That's with the park lights, blower set to 3 and wipers on (I was sitting at a stoplight when I took the picture). All with an underdrive crank pulley.
Cold, it will actually go above the 3/4 mark (high idle). That's the way it's always been, even with the old (original) alternator.

I can't imagine the gauges (mechanical parts) being any different between C and F but, who knows ? That's the first time I have seen metric gauges in a 'bird though. Quite interesting
There is obviously a discrepancy somewhere though. Hmm