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Hello all and thank you for your time.

Oddly enough today went super smooth and I feel the 05 DX my stepdaughter bought start to run like it should. I did however find something rather odd.

The temp gauge is working and has always worked without an issue. Today I was driving around testing the trans and noticed it was exactly 180* from where it should be. Thinking thiswas a stepper motor issue I did the gauge self test and viola! Gauge swept through its full distance, exactly 180 degrees (opposite) off of the markings. By the time I got home, however, the gauge was oddly resting only ~90 degrees off of where it should have been. Needle is entirely responsive like it should be, moves like 1.5cm on a hot start and hangs out where it should, its just like the stepper motor changed let go of its internal mount and changed its orientation by 90 degrees. Heres an example - the car is off and this is where the needle hangs out - a gauge test would have it sweep through its normal range jist like it was orientated correctly.

Anyone else seen this before?

 
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Update: The needle now rests (with the car completely off) about 2/3's of the way up the the temp range, and when started and warm hangs out a bit above the H. It does appear that the stepper motor may be glued in and loose now, I'll take the system apart this weekend and check.

 
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Update:

I disassembled the gauge cluster and reset the needles. Appears this is the only way to do it right - the stepper motor was not rotated but somehow the needle moved it's point of origin (command off) up and due to the heat and vibration of the day/driving it was slowly loosening up and working it's way back down. Stepper motor has approximately 320* of rotation, and a physical max/min. I guessed physical min was command off start point for the motor and after reassembly, I tested them by starting it up. 100% correct.

If you ever need new stepper motors, they are for sale online for about $9.99 a piece.

 
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glad you got it figured out!