Dash temp. gauge not working stays at 1/4 all the time if key is on or off eng. running or not

trapped air. When temp needle climbs to 1/4 way, loosen coolant temp sensor to bleed off trapped air in cylinder heads. Air is gone once coolant starts to stream out, but only open slightly at a time. May have to do in increments as trapped air will cause rapid overheat

Locate the temp sensor in the coolant system and take a good look at it. Make sure it is firmly fixed in place and the wires to it are clean and not corroded. If its ok, check the connectors to the dash for damage.

Defective thermostat probaly staying open, Or a blockage in the cooling system , Flush out the whole ststem, End don,t have the front of the vehicle raise up,

try topping it up when cold ,sounds like a air lock

fans came late on those car,like 212 and second fan comes on at 224,you reprogram it to come a lot sooner,,other thing is there might be gunk inside the block,and coolant has hard time to pass through,and staying longer than enough in block temp goes high,even tough the radiator is doing it's job,it is just coming out block lot hotter than it suppose to be,and gauge read the block not the radiator

You have a Cold starting sequence that is similar to a choke. This system relies on getting a temperature signal back to the Computer. It should have at least 1 water sensor. Sometimes there are 2 sensors with one working the dash gauge and the other working the Cold start sequence. If you find 2 sensors just unplug 1 at a time and do this when the engine temperature has been rising. When you find the dash gauge sensor you will lose the reading on the dash gauge when it is unplugged. The remaining sensor would control the Cold start sequence, so replace that sensor.

I would do a sniff at the tail pipe to make sure you are not pumping coolant out the exhaust pipe.
sound more like a bad gasket than a bad water pump to me.

Switch ig. on, ground the sender unit wire for about 3 seconds see if the temp. gauge moves, if so change sender unit, if not then it is a faulty gauge reader.

Clean the Idle Air Control Valve. It's on the throttle body below the Throttle Position Sensor. Worked for me! Good luck.

The thermostat could be stuck wide open, but that wouldn't cause the vehicle to run at such a low temperature, my bet would be on the temperature sensor. When replacing it, be sure to get the one for the dash, your enging has two temperature sensors on it, one for the guage on the dash, and one for the computer so it can monitor and adjust air/fuel ratio in accordance. You will need the temperature sensor for the dash.