water pump has been leaking over a year without any issues, just added coolant once a week and everything was fine.
i decided to replace the water pump this weekend. so, i ordered a water pump, temp sensor, and thermostat from ipd. after installing i learned that my radiator had sprung a leak so i replaced that with a new one.
after installing and filling with coolant the temp cluster reports a much higher idle and running temp the it previously did. before i replaced with the new components the cluster read right in the middle of the N. now its well above the N and close to the H! this stays consistent once its been running for a while. i took it for a run on the freeway and it maintained.
the only thing i could find was that the thermostat may have been installed with the air valve upside down. i verified the thermostat is installed with bubbler valve on the top.
thermostat is functioning (upper hose gets hot). cooling system has no detectable leaks. so why is it reporting such a high temp?

thanks brickboard!