97 Camry Running Hot Weirdly

[joopacat]

I have 1997 Camry 4Cyl. 176,000 miles. Had the timing belt, water pump, oil pump changed at 160k and new plugs, wires and coils at 172k. Transmission never flushed or serviced otherwise, oil changes at regular intervals. A/C not working as condenser is cracked. It's been driven a lot in New York City, so a lot of stop/go.
So problem: Started seeing the temperature needle creep upwards when stopped at red lights. Never came higher than slightly above half. Checked all relays etc and figured it was fan switch malfunctioning. Disconnected fan switch and seemed to help for a while (2 months over the winter). Now the last couple of months I get a similar situation, but while driving at highway speeds. After 30 minutes of driving the temperature will again increase to a little above 1/2 and this appear to happen randomly, as it will suddenly come down again. When I stop the car the needle drops for about 15 seconds then increases again. It never makes it above slightly above half (the top of the temperature symbol)
I fear this is the water pump malfunctioning. But with that amount of milage I don’t feel it is worth having fixed (again)

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Frank

[camlex]

what about fans

[Mike Gerber]

Is this the original radiator? How many times during the life of the car has the cooling sytem been drained and refilled? Your radiator may be partially clogged. When that happens the radiator can dissipate the heat of normal in-town driving, but can not handle the load of the extra heat created by highway driving. Do you have a radiator shop in your area. If so, call and ask if they can flow test your radiator if you bring it in.

Mike