Originally Posted by SoftballJunnkie

I was thinking the same thing about the fan too, but that could be a whole other issue with the coolant light coming on.

Takes about 5 mins for the dial to read Hot and it goes all the way to the top when the AC is on.

Whenever I use the Heater, defroster with the heater, just using the air from the outside and the heated seats the temp gauge stays normal maybe a little over into the hot side, but goes back to normal after awhile.

When this issue first arose I was traveling down the freeway and i saw smoke coming up out of my hood and my battery light came on as well. Battery light went off, but Chrysler told me the alternator was faulty. Wanted 1800 for everything. Yeah right!

I'm sending this alternator back to RockAuto they been very helpful about it and just get this one from the member for 100 shipped and cross my fingers.

Originally Posted by onehundred80

If it was steam and not smoke, I would put your gage problem down to a cooling problem. If you saw steam then we can be sure that you lost coolant.
The fan should come on when the a/c is on to cool the condenser. If the fan is not working then the radiator may get too warm because it has a hot condenser in front of it.
I cannot see why an alternator would cause heat problems, low fluid and a bad fan or fan regulator - yes.