When I first drive my car everyday, the temp gauge always gets pegged out when it warms up. it rises as if it's actually hitting that temperature, but from what I can tell, it isn't actually getting that hot. It always goes right down to normal temp quickly after about a minute of being there. I have my fan wired to a switch and no matter if I turn it on when I start the car or hit it when it would normally have turned on it still does this. Afterwards it behaves normally.

Just trying to get some ideas to what would cause this, because if it's my thermostat sticking and it is in fact getting that hot even if only for a minute I obviously wanna replace it. In between jobs at the moment so I really can't afford to throw parts at it.Any ideas?

 

Free and easy to check the thermostat. Just put it in a pan of water on the stove and turn the heat on. Use a kitchen thermometer and watch the temperature to see when it opens.