I just replaced heads on a 1996 Ford Ranger and the guage is still reading between half way mark on the guage, and hot. I also replaced the engine temp sensor and the thermostat, radiator cap, clutch fan as well. The water pump is not leaking and had been replaced before so I did not replace it. The problem is that it tends to heat up to the 3/4 mark on the guage as I go up hills. The guage remains stable on the flats at the half way mark. The only two things that are not replaced is the water pump and the radiator.
Where do I turn from here?

 

I thought those gauges were on-off devices. Off being in the middle somewhere and on being Hot. You might try connecting a real temp gauge before you worry too much.

 

Is what your talking about still a needle guage? That's a good Idea because I really do not know what the actual temp is. I also thought about having the radiator checked for flow due to that being anouther variable in the cooling system that has not been checked yet.

 

As far as I know, all Fords since the late 80s don't actually display the temp. If it's under something like 240F, it just reads in the middle somewhere. A bad gauge or connection could be driving you crazy when your temp may actually be fine.

 

I assume you filled the coolant up again as best you could after the job; what you may need to do is let the cooling system bubble out to get air out of the system. To do this remove the radiator cap and let the engine idle for a while.