Driving home last night my "check gauges" light pops on and i notice the coolant temp gauge is buried in the red zone. I immediately pull over into the gas station, pop the hood, and take off the radiator cap (there goes what was left of the coolant in the radiator). So the guy at the gas station gets me a bucket of water to put in the radiator so i can make it to walmart 2 miles down the road. I get there just as the truck starts to overheat again. I get the coolant (concentrated prestone orange), pop off the radiator cap again (there goes most the water i put in there), and dump the coolant in there. I had to stop two more times to let my truck cool down before i made it home. SO... is this all because my thermostat is broken or sticking? Or was i just out of coolant? Judging by how much came out, I'd say there was plenty in there because I had dumped a whole bottle in there about 4 months ago cause it was damn near empty. I bought the thermostat today, but i heard from a friend that it could be the head gasket...if the oil is milky or bubbly..?? Not sure what to do now. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

 

definitely sounds like the thermostat... If it was mostly full when you stopped both times...

 

I'm changing the thermostat as we speak..

 

Changed the thermostat, re-filled the coolant, and it's still running hot. The air won't get warm either. The new thermostat(Valucraft from autozone) wasn't exactly the same as the old one (KOI). Is it possible that the geniuses at autozone gave me the wrong thermostat?

 

what temp thermostat is it that they gave you? I don't trust auto zone cross reference it on the net. Also i just found out I have almost the same truck as you except for its a 5.9L

 

The valucraft thermostat says 195 degrees,Seal included. Original equipment temperature. Im gonna try to run my truck without the thermostat in place to see if it still runs hot.

 

Are you loosing coolant? Watch out overheating the 4.7, them aluminum heads warp easily. My trucks in the shop as we speak for fautly head gaskets. If nothing else works do a compression test on all the cylinders and check your plenum gasket. good luck

 

Did you bleed the system? Once you get the air out, if it's still overheating go to autozone and rent a pressure checker...they'll let you use it for free.

 

I got a new and different thermostat and hooked it up. I also replaced the radiator cap and topped off the radiator reservoir once again. This solved my problem for about a day and a half. TODAY, my truck overheated again. I filled it up with water and made it all the way home and now it is not overheating...? There are no visible leaks..unless they are so minor to go unnoticed. Maybe I just needed more coolant..? Cause adding water worked to get me home. A friend said I may need a new water pump. I am so confused...not sure what to do..? HELP!

 

bleed...pressure check

Water pumps usually show signs before going out i.e. leaking weep hole ,noise, clutch fan movement. If you didn't take care of your cooling system it's possible the wp impellers rotted out.