anyone ever have there temp. gauge jump up and frantically

 

yes. i have. i took it to be the temperature sensor, under the head toward the front on the right side for a 88 1.5 liter. however, i bought one at the local parts store and it did not solve the problem - fortunately knowing the guy he took it back and i just lived with the problem until it went completely dead - and then i lived with that (this is over a couple of years).

when i rebuilt the engine a couple of weeks ago, i discovered that it was partially broken at the end (connection that is) and that it was totally disconnected. i had to drill it, epoxy, and solder new leads and put electrical connectors on the leads. All back together and to my amazement it worked.
as i recall, i put it in the refigerator and tested it and there was no continuity, and then just put it outside (hot enough out there) and it had continuity. so i figured it was good - but i thought my guage inside was bad.
so, i dont know why the original problem showed up.

but in your case i would look at the sensor. the test i did i guess is valid. check the wires going into the sensor.

hope this helps