Engine overheats as A/C goes out

My wife has an 06 Chevy Aveo that recently started getting overheating engine problems. What I noticed is that the car will be at the correct temperature with the A/C working at the beginning. Then you'll notice that the A/C goes out (The fan still blows though) and the engine will begin to overheat. The needle will go between the 1/2 and 3/4 tick marks. Now the strange thing is if you keep driving the cars A/C will turn back on and the car will start to cool down again but then go out again. I checked the fluids and there doesn't seem to be any leaks. I hope one you guys on here will have more knowledge on what it could be since I don't exactly have a lot of money to throw on parts that could be the problem. Thank you for any advice give.

I assume the coolant has been topped off?

Does the car get up to temperature with the A/C off?

Its soundling like it might be a thermostat that is stuck partly open.

Yes coolant is topped off. And hasn't dropped at all since the problem started. And yes it seems to stay hot even with the a/c off. From reading around the thermostat sounds right. Is the thermostat the part that was inside the cheap plastic housing connected to the engine block?

Thank you, Daox!!! I went and got a thermostat from advanced auto parts, $5 and 15 mins later the car was fixed. Top off the coolant again and took it for a test drive. Now temp gauge stays just a tick below the 1/2 way mark. Again, thank you. This saved me a lot of time and money.

No problem. Glad it was an easy fix. :thumbleft: