overheating?

[scheistermeiste]

again, thank you everyone for all the answers last time.
BUT
i have more questions!
one is the water temp guage on the left of my speedometer doesnt work... at all, but the guy before me installed one in the place of the clock on the right side of the the ac knob. this one has numbers. my question is at what temperature is my car supposed to run? when i run the ac and im on the highway the temp goes way up, just below 250, usually staying slightly above 220 though. when the ac isnt running its around 220 or just a hair below. i am in south florida when its like 3478906513476 degrees outside and the car is black, i was wondering if that has anything to do with it. i talked to the mechanic that used to work on it and he said that he thought it needed a new radiator, but ti doesnt leak. i was just wanting some advice before i go spend a god awful amount of money on somehting i dont need. thank you!

ps sorry, i ramble a lot.

[Baza]

No need to spend a lot of cash try Ebay I got a good radiator with twin thermo fans for $45 plus postage.

[Scott R]

Operating range is 90 deg to 220 deg at the max. The guage starts reading at 90. 250 is WAY to hot, and I would fix the stock guage if at all possible.

[TCMdocs944]

Yeh, problem with the PO's "upgrade" is that the data may not be coming from a relevant area..i.e. relevant to the information you will see in all the other posts that help with cooling problems.