While driving tonight, I noticed that my temperature needle was in the red zone and the little red light was on. As soon as it registered in my head that my car was overheating, I pulled over and turned the heat on full blast. I had the car idling like this for a minute before I decided to shut off the motor.

After the motor was off, I turned the key back to the "on" position to let the fans run and I still had the heat going at full blast. After a while, the car cooled down and the temperature needle settled back into the normal area, which is dead center. Drove the car home (25 miles) and the needle never moved.

A few more details...the coolant never boiled over/out of the reservoir and I don't believe I saw any leaks anywhere. From my initial observations, the coolant level was and still is fine. There was a very slight burning smell coming from the engine when I popped the hood but it has since gone away. As for oil and other fluids, I will check the level tomorrow morning.

To any of your guys' knowledge, would this overheating have potentially damaged something that I should have looked at?

 

In all likelyhood, the thermostat stuck closed and if the engine didn't get hot enough for long enough, no damage was done. Replace the thermostat.

 

Thank you very much for the reassurance and the prompt response!

I'll be sure to get that thermostat replaced ASAP. Also...what would be your opinion on running distilled water and water-wetter in place of coolant? Maybe have a 80% water 20% coolant mixture just in case So-Cal freezes over...

 

Since you should be limiting operation to the absolute minimum before the thermostat is replaced, the cooling system just needs to be full: the coolant concentration is not an immediate concern. This will be an added mistake of you do not immediately replace the thermostat however, as the boiling point of a diluted coolant mixture is significantly lower.