well, today i was leaving work, and in about less than 5 minutes, my temp gauge read maybe 250. so, i pull over, turn off the car, didn't hear the water boiling, etc. no steam, my retarded co-worker even opened the radiator cap and not too much came out, just a tiny splash. So i turn the car back on, gauge reads about ohhhh, say 215 so i drive for a bit, cools down warms up etc, but radical changes, i'm talking 20-40 degrees within 10-20 seconds, maybe less. finally, it would even get to the red zone, 260, and the red temp light DID NOT come on, turned the car off, no noise, pop the hood, no steam, nothin out of the ordinary, no puddles/leaks, resovoir is around the right level of coolant in it. so what the hell could it be? is it possible the gauge is whacked? the oil pressure gauge is on the same face as the water temp gauge, and the oil pr. operates correctly. Is it safe to drive my car? maybe i should buy a 160* or 180* thermo just to be safe? what can i do? thanks for any help, sry about the novel

 

First, check out the wiring for shorting to ground. If you see a spot, tape it up and see if it still does it. If not, buy a new temp. sender unit and replace it. There should be some anti-seize grease that comes w/ it. If not, get some.

 

how do i go about doing this? and is it ok for me to drive my car tomarrow? think my car may actually be getting near that temp?

 

It appears to me to be an electrical problem with a temp sensor. The kind of temp changes you are describing are too big and fast to actually be happening. Especially since there is no physical evidence of any problem.