^^ Did you do it after the car was driven? Did you drain the coolant first?
The fan switch is between the upper raditior hose and the engine. If it's broken, the temp gauge won't work either. I doubt that's the case since the car is "almost" overheating. w/o a temp gauge, he'd overheat it pretty quick
I can't see that much pressure building up. Typical cooling systems only build 15 PSI, you'd blow a hose before blowing a cap.
The STOP LEAK thing seems reasonable. Could have been done, assuming you have the 3400 engine which is proned to the LIMG leak. Mixing of coolant doesn't make sense with the problems your having, but you never know.
What color is coolant? green, black, red, pink?