what's a normal "engine warm" gauge level ?
 

Hello All,
Does anyone know where you would expect to see the dash panel temp gauge at when your 95 escort is warmed up ?
I'm working on a relative's car, and the gauge is near the first line on the right (about one oclock or one thirty ?), and there's no sign of the cooling fan coming on. (Note: the cooling fan does come on if I select "defrost" or turn on the a/c; but it's not responding to temperature so far.)

Also, I checked the resistance across the ECT sensor, (quickly after shutting off the car), and got 3.4 K ohms, which seems high for hot temps, given the resistance according to Chiltons needs to drop down to around 2 K ohms for the computer to start the low fan. Can the sensor be bad ? The kicker is it's a new one- is it possible for spec's to be off ?
Thanks for reading.

If the temp is going too high a defective thermostat could be the problem. Also, todays autos don't start the cooling fan until the engine temp reaches over 204 degrees. With the anti-freeze mixture and pressurized cooling system the system boiling point is much higher than 212 degrees. Usually the gauges float somewhere around the mid point. If you don't have access to a temp gun , remove the thermostat and see what it does. hanky