I never really paid much attention to it but I’ve noticed recently my temperature gauge never goes past 130ish, I’ll start the car and after driving awhile it will go up to about 130 then the fans kick on and it drops to maybe 110-115, I just chalked it up as the gauge was faulty or maybe the sensor it self, but I went for a longer drive than I usually do with the car maybe 30- 45 mins of light highway driving, as I pulled into the parking lot of my work i noticed that the gauge was working and sitting at 220 perfectly I turned the car off and took care of some stuff, when I got back in maybe 5 mins later and went down the road I noticed the temp gauge climbing and climbing until i pulled over and it pegged out past 260 I shut the car off and realized the fans weren’t going on, the whole way home the gauge was functional and operating properly, (the car would only get hot when stopped in traffic and not moving) so I put 12V to the old fan motor and it would spin intermittently then stop, so I chalked it down to the fan motor and replaced it with a OEM Ac Delco motor since I had already replaced the fan relay with a NOS one, right after I got home with the car the temperature gauge stopped working correctly again and started doing the same thing where it sits at about 120, to me it sounds like a faulty Coolant Temp sensor but would like more feedback on it if possible

 

Use an infrared thermometer to check temp at the water neck. The gauge isn't necessarily an accurate device; it's utility is in displaying differences in trends. It should point to the first notch when it's cool and you're driving around, and it should barely ever make it over halfway in stop and go situations.

 

If you are in the southern portion of the State...
Maybe I can have a quick look at it.

 

Just remember the gage sensor and the fan switch are two separate items... On opposite sides of the engine....one doesn't relate to the other...