The check gage light came on today after a short trip and when I looked my
temp gage was pegged at the high end. I pulled over and turned on the heater
on high and the temp dropped down enough to turn the trouble light off and
drive home on.

I just recently moved back from a warm climate and have been driving and
parking outside (Chicago) in very cold temps for the first time in years.

I pulled in it in the heated garage to let everything thaw for a few hours
and then started it and let it idle and it went back to the high end after
about 15-20 minutes.

Coolant reservoir is at the proper level. When I turn on the heater it heats
up and blows hot air and the engine temp drops so that tells me that the
waterpump is at least providing flow. At the same time the top radiator hose
is warm but not as hot as I would expect.

This all leads me to believe that the thermostat is stuck.

My repair manual is packed up in some warehouse right now so I can't check
it. Do all of these indications make sense for a stuck thermostat? How hard
is it to replace on this car (I've done them on several other cars).

I also did a google search and found a thread that recommended using only
original for thermostats due to a better design for this model. Anyone else
know about this.

As always thanks in advance for any help,

Steve