120k miles, 4.3 with the auto and 4wd.
Noticed I was loosing coolant and running hotter than normal, and I had no heat, pressure checked, found it was seeping though the intake gasket on the passenger side, I figured the no heat was due to the low coolant. So I pull everything apart, replace the gaskets, and reasseble. There is no bleeder valve for the coolant system that I can find, Haynes manual does not mention one. So I fill the engine up through the thermostat hole, put the thermostat in and then fill the radiator. First time out it overheats badly. Half mile of driving is at 230 and climbing. It started puking out of the radiator overflow. So I repressure check, and find there is a crack in the radiator. Replace the radiator, add coolant, throw in a new thermostat (one identicle to what came out, a 195deg 2 stage) let it burp itself for an hour and try to drive it. Overheats exactly the same, puking out the overflow, still no heat. Pulling the hoses off of the heater core, it seemed full. Jacked the front end way up in the air, to make sure the radiator cap was the highest point, and ran it, refilled, etc with no change in the overheating. The water pump has been replaced, and nothing is coming out of the weep hole.
The common thing I get is head gaskets, but I have no water in the oil, no steam out of the exhaust, and a great idle, which all say otherwise.
Any ideas on what to do next?