I haven't studied the problem closely yet, have only let the car idle until
the fan came on (there are two fans, only one came on.  I assume the other
is for the air conditioner but I need to look into that).  I can't even
remember when the fan came on, but it seemed sufficient to keep the car at
a reasonable temperature.  When I have more time I'll repeat and let the
car run longer and see what happens.  I've driven the car for the past
week without problems.  

Reading through other posts I came across an interesting one which I'll
post for the benefit of anyone else who might find it useful. It alarmed
me at first because I was reminded that a blown head gasket causes
overheating, though my car seems to run fine. He suggests that a blown
head gasket can be mostly ruled out by running the car for 20 or 30
minutes to see if it tops out or boils over.  I'm not sure exactly what
that means.  I'm assuming I would be idling the car with the radiator cap
on, right?  So how could it boil over?  Loss of water through the overfill
tube?  I'm not a mechanic, just someone trying to do some initial
groundwork so I can get an idea of what I'm dealing.  That, hopefully,
should minimize the damages when I do take my car to a mechanic.  Thanks,
Dorian

Re: Temperature Gauge Fluctuating  
The only true way to test the head gasket is to do a cylinder compression
test.....Usually when a head gasket goes it will heat up no matter what
speed you're at.....Mostly the telltail signs of a bad head or head gasket
are...Rapid over heating and /or a misfire,or coolant in the oil...Malibu
has with the dexcool problems with flow restriction from where the coolant
crystalizes in the system over time blocking up the coolant ports....The
3.1 and the 3.4 engines have more problems with intake gaskets than with
head gaskets .At least here where im at......If it doesnt topout and boil
over at idle it might be
something else........Let it idle for about 20 min to a half an hour if it
boils over its the gasket if it doesnt you have air entering the
system somewhere ,Your stat is sticking,or your fans may not be coming on
...Be carefull I've been to some shops where they call a coolant
flush where they drain your Radiator and just refill it and been done but
the oil change guys who are unexperienced ....Which your system
really dont get flushed ya just get new coolant in your Radiator.....A
good shop can run a flow test where they can tell you how much coolant is
pumping in case of a restriction..I can tell you how to run tests yourself
if you need just let me
know....Also i can tell you tricks to watchout for when you take it into
the shop
Steve C

Hey, thanks CTDS.  That makes perfect sense and as my last car DID have a
blown headgasket and did exactly as you state, I am familiar with this
behavior.  Just wasn't clear since I thought a buildup of pressure in the
water system was to be expected so leaving the cap off would cause water
to drain even in a healthy engine.  But my car with a blown head gasket
would blow out the water in the radiator as soon as it warmed up.  I'd
have to bring gallons of water with me, stop every few miles, let the car
cool off a little, then add water.  Got kind of tedious after a while and
my sister took pity and gave me her older car as she was planning on
buying a new one.
Thanks,   Dorian
Dorian