I thought I'd be brave and drive into town. Willis was not there, thankfully, and they brother that sold me the car put the cap on straight, even HE had a hard time removing it. Told me NOT to open it. I promised I handn't and wouldn't.
I bought 20 presto logs. I put more expensive gas in my car. It was hesitating more when I went up the pass so I slowed, and then a lot when I was turning it around in the drive to get the logs out. I turned it back around and was just about to shut it off when the check engine light came on.
My temp read right at 200. My oil pressure was fine.
I'm not sure if I'm out of transaxle fluid or my head gasket has blown without overheating.
Just think of how many times I could have gotten my cat to the vet if they hadn't wasted an hour and 2 gallons of gas letting it run unsupervised.
If it weren't for my pets, I'd drive the damned thing off a cliff and be done with it. I hate this planet anyway.

 

You don't have a blown head gasket, so I would not worry about that if you are driving 8 miles and 200 is a normal temp for the car, when it gets into the red zone at 250 shut it off.
Check engine light usually deals with emissions and the way the car is running it could be carbon-ed up a bit. You can put some fuel conditioner in the tank to clean the injectors etc. Lucas oil brand is what I use and Walmart probably has it for $4.00 1 bottle, for a while you could go every other tank.
Most likely it is a Oxygen sensor that could be needing to be replaced.
You might want to look at the air filter to see how it is, they are fairly cheap at wall mart and will improve the breathing of the car.
Good Luck I will say a prayer for you!

 

Thank you SO MUCH! I was logging in to see if I could learn how to delete my whiney, sef-pitying, angry posts.
I was SURE I had ruined my car. I'd even restarted it a couple times to see if the light went away.
I'd been having that gauge read low off and on since theR&R, ..but never high. Only took a splash of coolant (if the reservoir was a fracton low) to make it reard at normal operting temp.
If it ever stops raining I'll bleed the radiator.
Air filter is a priority, I haven't checked that since I bought the car.
I'll check the transaxle level in the morning.
I'd made this post and walked away from the obsession...I had to.
Sebastian (Maine Coone) just threw up, as if to remind me that he and Arrow (Named him for the doggie in the cartoon movie "The Point"..I doubt you're old enough to remember tht one, lol.) mean more than any car.
Thank you for the prayer...I desperately needed that!
A hairball awaits sanititation.

PS I needed this. Thanks again. I've never checked the air filter and meant to. Fuel conditoner suggestion is also greatly appreciated. Most of all...that I don't have a blown head gasket and what is normally behind a check engine light. (and the prayer, I'd really let this bring me down)

 

Adding a little coolant to the overflow bottle will have zero immediate effect on the temperature gauge. I would suggest going to a auto parts store and have them scan the computer for FREE and hopefully it knows of a good shop. Not the car lot where you purchased the car. Im my opinion you are way too obsessed in having too open the bleeder , your worried way to much about this process As I stated earlier the air pockets would be gone by now. They don't stay there forever and opening the bleeder only speeds up the process of purging the system. Beyond that it's does nothing. It's not mandatory it has to be done. I've done nemorous radiator's, water pump"s , thermostat's and engines in these cars and RARELY open the bleeder. Why, because they break. I prefer to let the system cycle and watch the thermostat open a few times and the fill the system . Put on the radiator cap and take it for a test drive.. Good luck

 

Thank you, Jeff. I thought that was kind of weird. That gauge read fine before the R&R. Now it often reads low. I'm afraid that it has overheated despite me watching it like a hawk. I'm sure nobody was while they let it run for an hour. I've also not gotten the "low fluid" warning, even though I've found it cold with maybe a tablespoon in the reservoir. Maybe it has to get lower yet.

My obsession comes from two places, the owner's manual and my experience with an MR2. Once I kindly convinced the family friend that was a mechanic and had flushed the system to humor me and help me proceed with the five bleeder process..the problem was solved. Every time prior he told me any air would have bubbled to the surface. Just like this shop, and I got my wires crossed. MR2 has radiator and engine on opposite ends so they are notiorious for trapped air as you know. I'll let that go
Further, you must be psychic, I'd seen the side of that bleeder screw a few mometns ago without removing the shield and it is solid rust. I feared cracking it would break it, you've just validated that for me. I also had finding a parts store that would scope it for free on my to do list today. Fingers crossed, there is only Auto Zone and one Napa dealer in my area.

'When Alan put that cap on straight for me I promised I hadn't removed it and I wouldn't, I just feared it leaked when on wrong. He told me to wait a week before putting cardboard under again so I didn't' pick up coolant from that or from them pressuring the system. I promised. He said if I saw the reservoir low to check for the leak and then bring it back to them. I thankied him. Then he told me to wait, ran inside and grabbed windshield wiper fluid (I was surprised and grateful as I assmed he must have thought mine was low) and dumped it all over the front of the engine bay including the battery and said "Now at least it will be blue."
I just thanked him again for the cap and left. Obviously they hate me after all, as I'm sure you'll agree.