hey guys, let me say first that i am a complete idiot when it comes to cars so hopefully someone can help me out! this has been a headache to me for about a year now. ok, i blew my head gasket and took it to the shop to get it fixed. long story short they botched the job forcing me to go to a new mechanic. even after this mechanic fixed the gasket, the temp gauge would fluctuate from a little below to a little above the half way mark. This is alarming because before the gasket went bad the gauge would never move from the middle once the car was warm. The mechanic says he checked everything and the engine is fine. The car runs great except for the gas consumption is ridiculous. I do need to replace my catalytic converter, but before the gasket blew the converter was already bad and not causing my gas to burn as fast as it is burning now, which leads me to believe that the head gasket job was botched once again. in the midst of the 2nd shop doing the gasket job i had the intake gasket replaced, water pump, radiator, a full tune-up, replaced all types of sensors etc...but the gauge still fluctuates. any suggestions? is it ok if the temp gauge moves from 2 lines below normal to 2 above normal while driving?

 

What temp thermostat do you have in it?

 

thanks for the reply...honestly i have no idea which thermostat i have in it! i definitely will pay more attention to these kinds of things from now on though. the shop purchased and replaced the thermostat without telling me what brand they used. sorry for my lack of knowledge

 

Sure - sounds like it's still regulating the temp around where it used to be. As long as it's not overheating, it's good. All that stuff you changed could easily affect how coolant flows or how heat is transferred to the coolant, compared to before.

The temp gauges are known for inaccuracy, shoot it with a temp gun at various points to verify, if you are concerned.