SNIP
I don't buy any hard parts at AdvanceCheckerZone. WhoaWhoa O'reilly is another good place to stay away from.
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Thats painting with a pretty broad brush. I do most of my parts buying at CarQuest from preference however, there is an O'Reilly (Checker) just down the street and I have yet to purchase parts from them that were defective and did not work. And I buy a lot of parts building cars that I own and maintaining those that are buillt.
O'Rieilly in this area also has a Speed Shop or performance shop section attached and I have purchased perfectly good parts from their too.
Sorry. Over the years I have purchased less that satisfactory over the counter aftermarket parts.
I have also purchased dang good quality alternative too. I can not really agree with the statement that everything purchased from them is bad.

does cooling fan turn on when A/C is engaged?

yes, fan turns on when ac is turned on.

the cap did in fact have a leak to it, so i replaced that along with the temp sensor, and it appears to be running fine now. temp is pretty much right in the middle on the gauge, and needle does a little moving back and forth, but i believe its all set now.

thanks for everyones help!!

Good deal, hope all is well.