96 Regal 3.1l overheating

a come and go type problem, it has never actually gotten to the "red" on me, but my Mom-in-law swears it has on her. I started to replace the thermostat tonight... any way to do that without pulling the throttle body, heat shields, etc? Any hints on how to do that quickly and painlessly would be greatly appreciated.

I also noticed a couple of note in the forum on vapor locking as a cause of overheating. How do I check for that and fix it?

TIA!!!

I would not be surprised if your intake gaskets are starting to leak on that car. The 3.1L motor is an excellent motor but they all have a problem with intake gaskets leaking. check out www.60degreev6.com for much more info. -Chris

you should be able t change teh t-stat easily. after you're done, you need to bleed the system of air. Buy a haynes manual for the proper proceedure. IF a new t-stat doesn't fix it, I agree with Spit And Dirt, you may have a leaking intake gasket, very common problem on 3100 and 3400 v-6's