Temp Guage?

[SR77]

The Temp guage on my 96 5.0L as the truck is warming up will slowly move up then it will quickly jump up to about 1/2 way on the guage and then it will come back down and remain at about 1/4 of the guage, closer to Cold. Has anyone experienced this before? I have no idea why it will spike up and then come back down. I changed my thermostat and flushed the radiator thinking that is what was causeing it but it still does it. I am trying to get the guage to read right in the middle (1/2 up) but I can't seem to figure it out. Maybe Temp Sender?, or air in the system?, but ever since I got this truck the temp gauge always ran on the Cold side other then when it spikes up. Is the a way to "Burp" the system of air without doing a coolant change? Any help is appreciated, Thanks

 

[chasfish]

Yes, my temp. gauge does something very similar. Exp. is 8 yrs. old, 120000 miles, and still can't figure it out. I heard they just run that way.

 

[SQExplorer]

Thats because when the temp gauge goes back down, your thermostat kicked in. It will cool off, heat back up and the thermostat will kick in again and keep the motor cool.. Ford's do that all the time..Just be thankful your gauge works