Well.... I cleaned off the old thermal paste and put artic silver on. I reseated the fan. (man those intel cooling fan hold downs are a pain when they fall apart) I actually pulled the mother board out so I could look on the bottom and check that the hold down pins (black and white) were sticking through equally.
Ok after doing that and firing the computer up, I ran the intel cpu test again. THIS TIME IT PASSED WITH FLYING COLORS! So in all likelihood my problem is solved. Thanks fireberd and Jim. sonar maybe dead but good people are still here. peace and love to all