Hi - if anyone has any idea, they will be appreciated.

The other day, I am driving to my gf's house. I get off the hwy, and it takes me a few to go down the side streets to get to her house. I see the engine temp is getting way too hot. I made it to her house, but barely - the temp gauge was all the way in the red and the coolant was gurgling slightly. I waited until the car cooled a bit - still too hot to drive, but cooled down enough to start for a few - and started it. The fan is not working. So, I get the owner's manual, see which fuse is for the fan relay, and even tho the fuse looked good, swapped it with another 20 ma fuse. No fan. So here I am thinking the fan relay is bad. I start driving the next morning, the car gets up to about 220, and the fan kicks in. Ok....

The same thing happened last night. I am driving for about an hour, and the temp is fine - fan is running. Then the temp gets too high - no fan. Several hours later, I start the car, let it run for a bit, and the fan kicks in.

Anyone have any ideas here? My mode of thinking originally was that if the relay was bad, it would just not work - but it does - usually. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.