what is the normal operating temp in a 1997 silerado I thoght it is 190 but never gets that high

 

I believe it should be 192. my old 92 did that too, it would never get above 135 on the guage but i checked the radiator temp and it was spot on.

Might wanna try that

 

It will depend on what thermostat you have in there.

 

the standard thermostat for the 97 350 is a 195....my 97 suburban runs about 195 at idle fully warm with the fans turned off.......in the summer it runs just over 200 and runs about 210 with the a/c running.........but I also have a very big radiator in it also.

 

Its been known not to trust the gauge for the temp for it is very slow and false sometimes. The best thing I would do is use a thermometer with a probe or laser to get the accurate temp. Also I put in a Scan Gauge II to display all of my info for my truck straight from the computer... http://www.scangauge.com/