OK, here's what I found:

I put a safety pin into the wire about halfway between the coolant temp sensor connector (disconnected) and the cable connector and checked the resistance from both ends.

Narrowed it down to the cable going into the fire wall from the engine compartment. Took off the tape covering the cable that ran over the valve cover near the fire wall. Found a 980 ohm resistor spliced into the wire!!! WTF I said!! Why in the world would that be there? Did it come like that from the factory? or did the previous owner do that?

Any guesses as to why that resistor is there and should I remove it and connect the wires back together allowing the temp sensor to present it's resistance correctly to the ecu?

BTW, thank you folks for replying and helping me!

-Michael, headscratching....