Brr! Does anyone mind if I turn on the heat?

It was 90 degrees today as I drove to campus. It's a half hour drive from my home to the parking garage. I drove the entire way with my windows down, and not because my air conditioning was malfunctioning. I drove with my hands outside, trying to scoop as much of that 90-degree air inside to me as possible. Why, when I hate summer and warm weather so much, was I bothering to make such effort to get the outside in? Shouldn't I have been tightly sealed in my car and blasting the arctic air as fast as I possibly could?

No, and for one good reason: I had the heat on in my car, as high as I could crank it.

I hear the collective scratching of heads. Why, Doctor Andy, why? Why would I willingly turn the heat on full in the hottest part of the summer? Is it because I'm a masochist? Perhaps I really do enjoy baking in the heat? Did I want to see if I could pop those last few unpopped popcorn kernals I ate last night? These are all good reasons. Well.... mostly good reasons.

No, I was running the heat to try to ventilate my engine. I noticed over the last couple of trips I made that a fan under the hood was running long after I stopped the car. Strange, said I. Usually the car is silent. I chalked it up to being excessively hot last week. But then on Friday, I drove on the highway and smelled rubber after I exited. Very odd, I thought. Must be someone else. But then I looked and the temperature guage was all the way at the top. No bright lights or warning alarms, just a guage out of place.

I was, to say the least, nervous. Would my car explode at any moment? I'd appreciate a blinking red light, if that's the case. Would my hood pop open, and superheated water and steam come geysering out, like in Abbot and Costello movies? I hoped not.

I made it safely to my destination, and found I could manipulate the temperature by turning the heat on full and driving conservatively. And boy, was the heat hot. It's coming out at approximately 160-170 degrees, such that it's uncomfortable to place my hand in the stream. I directed all the vents away from my face, and tried to enjoy how nice and relatively cold the air outside was.

Tomorrow, I'm taking it to the shop. Hopefully, there will be a simple fix that's cheap. However, as my car gets older and older (while having more frequent problems), everything seems to get more and more expensive. I mean, I'm even on my first engine! It's bound to be time for that to catch fire, melt, and seep out the bottom.