Engine temperature gauge instantly hit maximum

[Storm13]

Disclaimer: I’m no expert, and I’m new here. Just giving my opinion.

My first guess would be a bad thermostat rather than a temperature sensor. Usually one will fail open so that your car never really gets to operating temperature, but I’ve had one or two stick closed, causing the engine to overheat, while the radiator was still nearly ice cold.
My second guess would be that you have some outside contaminant inside your cooling system that caused the thermostat to stick closed this time, but to stick open previously. Had any work done recently that opened up the cooling system?

[TheGodfather]

Originally Posted by Storm13

Disclaimer: I’m no expert, and I’m new here. Just giving my opinion. Had any work done recently that opened up the cooling system?

No work has been done to the cooling system or anything else for that matter.

I really have no clue about the cooling system, this open/ closed thing is new to me.