Why was my 2005 Honda Civic overheating?

I had the timing belt and water pump replaced at 121k miles 2 weeks ago. Everything fine. On Friday, I was sitting and the temp Gauge was all the way on hot. I turned off the car. There was a small oil seep before and then when I popped the hood there, it was worse. Called my mechanic, he said he purged the radiator and all. I let it cool and drove it home and it would get hot and then cool down and then get hot and cool down, though I had to stop 2 times because I was scared it was too hot. The oil looks fine, the coolant doesn't shoot out when I take off the cap and run the car. So I buy a thermostat and take it to him and I run the car for about 20 minutes, drive it around and just let it sit and idle. No overheating. Could a thermostat do that? Why was it getting hot and then cooling down? It mainly did it when I was sitting at a light. Why did the oil leak go from seeping to leaking? I left the car there and he will call me Monday to see what's up

Yes, that can absolutely be the thermostat. Also, if that doesn't fix it and you need to cool the car down quick without turning it off, blast the heater. It's pretty awful to do that in the summertime, but draws the heat from the engine and has saved my but a few times.

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