is there a fusable link

There is a instrument cluster voltage regulator (on the back of the cluster), that applies a pulsating voltage to the gauges. This voltage averages approx 5 volts. The senders (fuel, temp, and on some models oil) are variable resistors that make the ground side of the circuit. If you apply full 12 volts to the gauges for more then a few seconds, you can burn out the gauge. Take a 12 volt test light an connect it to the wire that has been removed from the temp sensor. Then turn on the key, and see if the test light blinks, and the gauge comes off zero. If the light blinks and the gauge moves, the sender is probably bad. If the light does not blink, you might have a bad CVR (constant voltage regulator) or a bad gauge. Also possible to have a bad connection, at/on the cluster.