Low operating temperature

Odd thing I notice today on my '98 with a 5 spd with about 84,000 miles on it. The temp gauge was reading 115 degrees. Then it would jump up to its normal 210 degrees for a bit, then drop again.

Couple things come to mind... t-stat going bad, or perhaps temperature sending unit going bad. What would be your guess? I have notice a very small coolant leak around the t-stat housing, but it sort of looks like crusty looking cooked coolant build up..

I'm away on business so I don't have the luxury of testing my sending unit, which I hope is the problem. I guess I looking for some piece of mind until I get home...

Ivan

I'm going with the sending unit. Just a gut hunch.

Had a thermostat go bad in mine...didn't give any noitceable warning...but it was a fail-safe one and when it went the temp stayed around 115-150. Just my 2 cents. Sounds like sending unit still.

Does the temp change pretty quick over a couple minutes? If so you might be low on coolant!
At least that's how mine acted when my water pump was going out and it was losing coolant. I guess it was getting an air pocket at the temp sending unit. HTH.