1992 Explorer engine temperature and other questions

[deathsquadd]

My 92 explorer smells hot. When I look at the temp gauge it's usually in the middle. It does not smoke. But I notice that around the exhaust manifold it's grimy/greasy. I'm not loosing oil though. Also, the gauges seem to be all over the place, the speed and tach do not operate smoothly, I would like them all to read properly like on a newer vehicle (if possible). The engine also seems to ever-so-slightly miss and runs rough during idle. If anyone has any suggestions to fixing the smooshy seats (possibly replacing with 60/40 seats from a Ranger) Any answers to these problems would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rileyrs]

for the grime in the engine bay, use an engine degeaser.
for the rough idle check for vac leaks, and clean your maf and iac.
if your plugs are old replace them too.

ranger seats might be hard to fit in, since they wont bolt up i dont think, but if you can weld you could make mounts to do it.

if your worried about temp, replace your stat if you think its overheating, and also do a cooling system flush.