Murder Snake

searched on here and not much found, at least when I did it.

gauge at times, always at idle, runs at or near the top. it was fluctuating a lot, so replaced the sensor. now it does not fluctuate but at idle, will go up near the red. when it does, the a/c compressor shuts off, so no cold air coming in to the passenger compartment. both fans are on, has a relatively new (couple of months) fan controller that the dealer put in as part of a recall.

so why, all of a sudden, does the car appear to be running hot at idle. coolant level is fine, no leaks and no indication that it is that hot, other than the gauge saying so and the compressor shutting off. no gurgling, no boiling, no "hot smell" coming from the engine compartment when I pop the hood open.

if the refrigerant is low does that trigger something and make the car run hotter?

Murder Snake

update, checked the fans for movement. don't know which fan is which...white fan blade and black fan blade. white is on passenger side, black on driver side. both spin very freely, even more so for the white. when I spin the black, the white moves some too (weird). reading elsewhere, seems on these cars, if they spin freely....not a good thing. just don't know if that is the problem and if so replace both?