(SOLVED) 2002 Overheating

That's not overheating, I would consider overheating to be 3/4 or higher.
Do you have a scan tool to read actual coolant temp?

 

That's fair. I was using overheating as a blanket term for anything above operating temperature on the gauge but that makes more sense. I have an OBD2 scanner, not sure if that'll work but I'll try it out real quick.

Mine does not scan for the temperature

 

If it can read engine data there should be a PID for Engine Coolant Temp.

 

I'll take a look at my obd2 tomorrow. Would be nice to see real engine temperature instead of relying on just a gauge

It was getting hotter before I burped the cooling system but I'm starting to think the water pump is beginning to fail. Here's the symptoms
Temperature rises a little bit when it's in idle or at low rpms
Warm air sometimes comes out of the AC
Looks like dried coolant residue on the outside of the water pump
Clacking noise like in this video and it sounds like it's coming from where the water pump is
https://youtu.be/SBYE0l7b1Y8

 

Decided to start from the beginning and change the temperature sender I changed last week. No overheating since so I'm chalking it up to a faulty temperature sender