>has never went past the darn flashing light which at times appears to have
>a mind of it's own. 

but it does,:) and it flashes because the coolant level in the main
reservoir is low.  If this happens at high RPMs you have an airbubble in the
coolant loop that the pump pressure is collapsing, hence lowering coolant
level.  The rad fan will kick on when the needle gets to about 2/3 max in my
vans BUT the gauge reads the engine block coolant temp while the fan is
controlled by a rad temp sensor. To check for the airbubble problem check
the heat from defrsot vents.  If way cooler than floor vents you likely have
air in top part of heateer core, hence in rad too.  Get the leaches (bleed
it)  To check fan operation take off lower grill and unplug the temp sensor
connection.  Bridge the 3 connectors with a piece of stout wire with male
spade-lugs at each end.  One way gets low fan, fiddle for high fan.  No fan
means either dead load resistor or blow fuse/dead power lead.  Tim