Temp gauge needle up to N

[DavidT]

It's 25 degrees F. right now. Every v6 sho I have ever owned reads at or below M. My "new" 92 has been at the M, but sitting at red light it went above that. Got it home and let it idle. It went to the N before the fan came on. Do I have the wrong thermostat possibly. The radiator is a year old with less than 1k miles. Do I need to add more coolant?

 

[rubydist]

there is likely nothing to worry about. the temp gauges read widely varying readings from car to car and time to time. the SHO cooling system typically results in large swings of the temp gauge when the fans kick on to when they kick off. as long as the fan is cycling on and off, your system is fine.

 

[itwonder]

The '92 has a rather inadequate single speed fan, and if yours is like mine was, they get lazy and less effective with old age. Getting to the "N" in that condition is not unusual. I replaced the original fan with a much better two-speed fan that is used on the 3.8L; they are available brand new aftermarket and are relatively inexpensive. The wire that powered the original fan goes to the low-speed lead on the new fan. Don't wire it to the high speed lead; that draws more current than the CCRM is designed to supply. You can wire a "fan boost" switch in the car to control a DPDT relay to activate the high-speed winding and disconnect the low speed winding; handy if more cooling is needed, though I rarely use it. I posted a more details on that a while back; search should find it.