so after i took the 160 thermo out and un-hooked the manual fan switch wire my fan still turns on randomly, high speed which is what the wire was hooked into, i think thats why when i'm cruising my temp is below the first marker when i know for a fact i have a 180 thermo in there now. anyway it goes on and off all the time by itself, and i'm assuming it does this while i'm driving as well. i disconnected the battery and am letting it sit for a hour or two to see if that resets the computer or w/e. i know this is a weird problem but any input?

 

The fan on/off temps are in non-volatile memory. There is no "learned" temperature that will be reset by pulling the power to the PCM. And it doesn't take "an hour or two" to reset anything. Pull the "PCM BAT" fuse for 30 seconds.

If your dash gauge doesn't appear to be responding correctly, it may actually need the fans to be running without you knowing it. The sensor in the water pump feeds the PCM, and turns the low speed on at 226*F and the high speed on at 235*.