I owned a 96 1500 Laramie slt sport for over 2 years that never gave me Issues even with 240,000 miles on it. Never a smell, noise, leak or failed part until I got in a wreak. So if I knew I could get this truck to go that far then yes it's well worth fixing. If that seems like a long shot with my truck already having issues then I don't know if it's worth the cost. But I want to explore all my options before deciding. Choices choices...

 

My engine never showed any water in the oil or oil in the water. But once it was warm if the radiator cap was off it would blow the coolant out of the radiator under force. So it had to be a blown head gasket and/or a cracked head. When I did a compression test they all came up fine. 170lbs or better from what I remember. I never did the compression test when it what hot because I didn't have anyway to not burn the crap out of my arms. I bought one of the testers for exhaust in the radiator but it would blow the tester out of the radiator once it got warm.

 

I've already explored the possibility of a cracked head gasket but none of my fluids are mixing so far but I get a burst of black smoke when I start up and it takes 5-10 seconds to turn over when it's been sitting for a few hours so I originally just assumed it's my fuel pump, filter or injectors