When I turn my car on the tempature goes all the way up above the red line and stays there. It does not overheat, just reads incorrectly. So..it's been suggested to me to:

1. Flush the Coolant System
2. Replace the thermostat

So I am planning on doing both, although while looking through my manual I came across something called "Coolant Tempature Sensor"

Should I replace that too?

Thanks

 

What kind of car, 1972 Pinto??

If it's a 4-cylAccord from say 1990 to 2002, look at the end of the cylinder head. Sort of forward & down from the distributor. There's a couple of sensors - look for one with ONLY ONE wire. That's the sender for the dashboard temperature gauge.

Unplug it & see what it does. If the gauge stays cool, then you need a new sender. Be quick with the new one so you only lose a couple ounces ofantifreeze when you change it. Then check & remove any air pockets from the cooling system.

If the gauge stays hot when you unplug that sensor; then you either have a short-to-ground in that wire (anywhere between there & the cluster) or you have a bad gauge in the cluster.