I almost crapped my pants

[Centralia69Camaro]

So im driving down the road and happened to look down and noticed the temp gauge buried in the meltdown area. I pulled over only hitting 2 people and a dog and shut down the engine. After opening the hood, first thing i noticed is there is no smell. Whenever i have been around an overheating car you can smell it. Also the engine just didnt seem that hot. I went ahead and took a chance and drove it the rest of the way home and put a temp gauge on the engine and it was only 160 after being shut off for like 3 minutes. Obviously not overheating.
Heres the question. My temp gauge doesnt start at the cold part it starts in the middle. I dont think thats where its supposed to start?. Does this seem like a faulty gauge or a bad sender?

This is the factory gauge in the pod on the center console.

Thanks in advance

[bad86ss]

I would start by replacing the coolant temp sender. Maybe it's getting old

[bergers59]

x2 ^

[bad86ss]

Also, when ordering/picking up a new one, there's often 2 part numbers that are off by a "P" at the end. Once will be a buck or so more. The difference is the more expensive one has a nice leak proof sealant on the threads. Much more durable than teflon tape. Worth the $1!

[raustinss]

Check the thermostat as well. And when you fill the system back up make sure the heater is turned on you can actually create a air bubble...aka lock in the system if the car isn't up to temp with the heater on.

[minendrews68]

If it continues, look at possibly a ground is missing somewhere. My fuel gauge didn't read right and the sending unit wasn't grounded good enough.

[sweet motion]

Hope the dog was okay...

[sam 74]

I had a temp gauge do this once and it was a wire that went to ground when a braded line cut the housing.

[ADiCarlo]

What kind of gauge is it? Factory? And what kind of sensor are you using.