I hope someone may be able to provide me with some assistance. We just bought a 1993 Mercury Tracer after out 1996 Mercury Tracer was totaled. The temp guage in the 1993 appears to not be working, as it will move up slightly and then drop back down. The changes are quite erratic, so I''m certain it isn''t working properly. The temp guage in the 1996 was consistent and moved into operating zone and held steady. I don''t know if there may be a short some where or a bad sensor. I don''t know where to begin looking, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Moving up and then dropping down is a normal sign of the thermostat opening. If it flucuates like really fast then I would suspect your coolant temp sensor has gone bad.

 

the coolant temp sensor is a very common prob with the car. unplug it and clean it and then give it a shot. if not a replacement is 13.00 for a new one.