Operating temp at 210 when it is in the 40's outside?
 

Is that normal? It seems awefully cold (maybe 40s or even 55 perhaps) and it was operating at 210 (according to my 1998 t/a guage).

That is corret, ambient air has no effect on coolant temp. I would get your radiator fans reprogrammed though to come on sooner and keep the temp down to a reasonable temperature.

My guage almost reads 210 when the car gets warmed up, but if I hook a scan tool up it says like 180 with my 160 thermostat. Its not all that accurate anyway.

98 Gauges actually read correctly, whereas later models have "dummy" gauges.

I wouldn't say they read correctly, but def more accurately than the later years :)

jsut to be safe, id say check under the car and see if there is any debri or trash bags blocking the radiator. That happened once and i could not understand the sudden jump in temps. My 98 usually reads 1/4 the way up, half way to the 210 basically and i almost NEVER hit 210 even with the stall convertor. Only time i hit 210 is when im stuck in traffic at a dead stop for like 10-15 min.

yikes! i don't have anything to worry about until it gets to be 230 or so though, right? When it is around 210, it generally is just when sitting in traffic.

As long as it doesn't go above 210, do not worry. LSx motors need to be operating at that range for efficiency. A colder motor will produce less power.

sweet thanks!