over heating & problem starting

Here's the story, the 98 Intregue was starting to run alittle on the hot side(just over 1/2). I let it run while waiting for my b/f with the air on. All of the sudden I heard a popping and the needle went all the way to hot. The belt flew off and the tensioner was seized. We put on a new tensioner and new belt. I had the car into the dealer before this to get the A/C charged, they did a smoke test and found a leak in the filler neck (gas filler). They tested the A/c and said the condenser was bad and that the coolant wouldn't last long. That was a month ago and I still have coolant, so I'm wondering if the bad tensioner had something to do with that running out so quickly. We went about 45 mins away from home last weekend and the temp level went to just over 1/2, we turned the car off and it wouldn't start. We let it cool down and tried again, we ended up wiggling the wire to the battery and holding the key and it started. A couple days later it started just fine when we left the campgrounds. It also started fine for a few days until last night, it wasn't running hot at all, I drove 5 mins and shut it down and it wouln't start again. Nothing no lights, no power,just the check engine light was on. Wiggled the battery cable and the lights came on didn't start untill I moved the shifter a bit. This morning I cleaned the cable again(we just changed the post). There was a clicking noise inside the car without the key in and the temp gage was all the way to hot. I disconected the cables again and it went to C and the clicking stopped. I put the car in neutral and it started, a few mins later it started again. Didn't run hot on my way to work (about 1/2 hr.) Now I'm wondering if this is somewhat connected with other things. Like the temp sensor to the battery and also I hear a tapping under the car only while driving, could it be the clutch too!!! Sorry to ramble but I'm hoping this will help someone else out too someday.
Thanx for any input.

Wow, you sound like you have the exact same car with the exact same problems as I do. my 98' intrigues temp likes to run at just over half. I've had multiple problems with the a/c compressor in it. When I first got it there was a loud whiney sound in the compressor and had to have it replaced. Well just a few weeks ago the A/C Compressor siezed up and started a small fire under the hood and now just a couple of days ago the car would not start for me, it would not even turn over. There was a clicking inside the car and all the gauges were going crazy and that was without the key in the ignition. I just got a call from my mechanic and he says its the ignition switch this time.

Sidenote: I love the way this car drives, but this car has been the biggest pile of crap I've ever owned, Even worse then the plymouth reliant I owned almost 15 years ago. every single month since I've had the car there seems to be a new problem. I've had the car for around 6 months and I'm almost ready to trade this pile of crap in.

We narrowed down some of the problem. The positive cable to the battery was still not conncecting properly even after repalceing the bolt inside the battery. It had corrosion on the inside, I cleaned it and the starting and overheating as a rule have stopped EXCEPT when we went on a long trip, up and down hills and going very slow, the temp went above 1/2, when we put the AC on it went back to normal. Last night we ran it and noticed the fan wasn't comming on unless we put the AC on. I guess we'll check into the fan it's self now.