Originally Posted by bud-weis
the 'O' is about three quaters up the gauge, it reads N O R M downwards with the red above the N (i know you probably know this,but just to refresh your memory

)
i ran it for ages without the cap on, but not sure if theres an airlock?? is there a bleed valve anywhere (haven't really looked at the read in detail yet

)
Not beeing a saff 'anorak' i didn't know where the '0' was mate
I would be tempted to try another temp sender 1st and then go from there. At least that way you know if you have a problem or not!
There is no bleed screw on a 2wd thermostat housing but i always leave the hose going from rad to thermostat loose for a while whilst putting in the coolant and that seems to work ok