If you buy a 2nd hand capillary temperature gauge they're full of very nasty chemicals and can be of questionable accuracy.
Just use a capillary smiths oil gauge, not the dual one - I don't think it will mate with your existing water temp boss/sender so.... Last time I looked you couldn't get them with electrical senders but I may be out of date on that
You can mount it on a little bezel to the right of the steering column, under the dash if you want it out of the way - or redrill your fascia to fit it....
yes it's the bearings it's run and is stuck to the crank the white smoke you saw was the result of metal to metal
you might be lucky when you pull the sump the obvious one will be dry the heat will have burnt the oil from the con rod as it's tight friction etc..
have got white metal from cranks before did a mondeo not that long ago
but upmost care is needed not to mark the journal and of course knowledge as to if its damaged the crank is important
that mondeo has covered some 25000 mls since with no issues so it is posible just cross your fingers
by the time you mess about with all that you could have pulled the sump as it's about twenty mins work and as you were going to change the oil then all you need is the sump gasket , and the probability of new bearings etc..
