Need Help ASAP...Many Issues

[mitsu_vic]

For two weeks now my 03 ES V6 has been overheating with no rhyme or reason. Driving 60 miles a day sometimes it goes up and other times not; it really doesn't seem to relate to whether the car is moving or setting still. The highest the temp goes is 3/4 when climbing a nice incline, but I've taken up others with no problem. When I turn the fan on 4 it will go back down.

I've read so many posts and just wanted some fed back before I call the garage. You know how garages get when they see a girl coming.

Recent work includes a spark plug tuneup (which friends say the girl sceniro applied because it ran over $400) and a new battery. My ideas include a failing thermostat, radiator, waterpump, perhaps the garage messed up something with the plugs or the battery is not the right size (WalMart put the thing in and felt it was small for the car).

Also would a clogged throttle body play into a sticking gas pedal?

Any ideas or opinions would be helpful!

[djakay]

does the radiator fan work? is your coolant levels ok? check for leaks. I had that problem before, turned out i had a small leak of coolant barely noticable, but the outcome was the car overheating.

[mitsu_vic]

The fans both appear to be ok, is there a way to test and make sure they are going at the right speed?

The coolant levels all appear ok and the level in the radiator is ok, I had a problem with the hoses and replaced both that was probably a year ago.

[silversurfer]

did you try replacing the thermostat? if not replace that first

[dknight3]

^ x2 thermostat is an easy job, probably run you $20 if you do the work, if that doesn't fix it, it could be the water pump, that is pretty much a worst case scenario and that would probably cost around 300 to fix.

[djakay]

yep, waterpump is the next step in this.

[gtx]

As far as the throttle sticking goes: try to clean it, they can get really dirty. Just remove the sensors before you do so. The spark plug job on a V6 is one of those things that really pays off if you do it yourself.

[fatal1]

also try lubing up the tb cable...do this by taking out the 2 bolts that hold it in spray wd 40 etc on the area you see, then pull it till it is exposed from inside the tb and spray that part of the cable , you will have to pull the gas pedal back up to get it back in, make sure there is no slack in the line but no tension either and put the 2 bolts back in...explaining it is a bit hard but it will take you like 5 min to do its really easy