Okay, this might sound like a dumb question, but is there any way to determine if the engine is overheating WITHOUT relying on the temperature gauge inside the car? The reason I ask is because I brought my car in to be looked at today, and afterwards I noticed that the needle was going right into the red. I pulled over and checked the coolant and it didn't seem too bad, then I let the car sit for about six hours and started it up again and the needle went into the red within one minute of non-hard driving. Is this possible? I can't beleive the engine is overheating, but why would the gauge do this? Am I really overheating? If so, what could have caused this? Before today the needle always stayed right in the middle. Okay, sorry for all the questions but I'm confused by this and I don't want to destroy my engine.