Hello I have a 1993 Camry and I absolutely love it. Lately it has been acting kind of wierd; when I am in stop and go traffic at a red light, the temperature gauge will shoot up very high. Bit as soon as I start driving it will go down. The harder I drive it the faster it will go down. I replaced the thermostat a few months ago and the radiator is relatively new as well and was replaced within the last year and a half or so. What could be the cause of the problem? Any and all help is very much appreciated.
I forgot to mention that it is a 4 cylinder. Also today I noticed that the only time the temperature won't climb like that is when it is in neutral. I could also hear the fans workingwhile at a stop. My vehicle has dual electric fans over the radiator.

 

V6 or 4 cylinder?

Make sure the radiator fans are working. The fans are controlled by a temperature switch that turns on when the coolant gets too hot.

When driving at lower speeds or stop and go there may not be enough air flow through the radiator to cool the coolant. The fans force air through to do the job.

 

The fan temperature switch is located on the bottom of the radiator with a plug hooked to it.

If the coolant level is normal, then it would probably be either the fan temp sensor (I think a new one is about $15 or so for aftermarket)

also, it may be thermostat. aftermarket parts can be cheaply made. I Used Toyota thermo for mine when I replaced it. ...just wanted to be safe..

I've had problems lately with aftermarket parts. it seems like 50% of the time, issues arise on camry's with some aftermarket parts. recently, after 60k miles of use, I had to replace the timing belt and the other components around the belt- pully's, tensioner, etc. I had used aftermarket before and the belt was stretched and making alot of noise. i used

 

Concur on buying quality aftermarket parts. It does seem the quality of parts sold at some name brand auto parts chain stores has gone down hill, alas the price of these parts has not.