Overheating Options

[Random_Stranger]

Ok, I know this is bad but just hear me out.

I was in the mountains yesterday, about a 40min drive from my house (well, 40min from the point I was at). I noticed a sweet smell and pulled over to discover that I have a hole in one of my hoses. So by the grace of God, I made it home without my car overheating, because I couldn't call anyone as there is no reception out there. Today, I figured she would make it since autozone is only 10min to and from my house... WRONG! She started to overheat, so I turned on the heater full blast and it helped her out a bit as I just coasted in neutral. But noticed no heat was coming out. Once I parked the car, the obvious hole was smoking. So I go inside and get what I needed to replace the hose, along with tools I didn't need to buy, but didn't bring with me either. I checked the res tank and the hose was still wet (although could have meant there was fluid in there YESTERDAY), so I figured the hose problem would be corrected and all is well. So after many cuts, cursing, and cunning, I changed it out and started her up. Oh she took awhile as if she had to warm up to show a lil thermo. So I started to drive and not even 2 minutes she was climaxing to HOT. I had to keep going, so I threw her in neutral and again, heater full blast with no heat coming out. I managed to get some as I was only 1min away from my house and she stayed in hot zone, but was fine. The engine operated normal without any problems, yet the gauge keeps wanting to climb.

I am letting her sit before I check to make sure she is topped off with coolant before I check again. Now, other than checking the thermostat, with no other visible problems of losing coolant (no more drip), is there anything else I should be concerned about regarding the cooling system? I mean she literally hit the top of the overheat meter but functioned as normal. No smoke or anything when I lifted the hood once I got home.

[trdproven]

that wouldn't make sense because if you changed the main and return hoses, then all your coolant would have leaked out anyways, so there wouldnt be an actual indication of the level before or after the fact. but even before you changed it its pretty noticeable if theres a leak from under the car.