Coolant Not so Kewl

[2K2DRSPRT]

Hi , guys ... I've got big problems . i think ..
Anywhoot .. Long story short .
Forgot to add coolant to the mostly water from summertime ..Somthing froze .. drove 2 miles .. one freeze plug on each side shot out .. lost coolant , as soon as that happened engine shut off ..didnt seem to over heat , but wouldnt start back up , so after putting 2 new freez plugs , refill with coolant , top it off .. it starts and runs ok .
I try the heat .. it took forever .. but eventually came , then i notice it goes cold and notice the guage going up to the H stay for a second and drop back down to normal .
Maybe did this 3-4 times in 10 minutes just letting the car idle ..
Coolant being topped off .. i take it for a spin i hear a POP .. like o crap .. pull over pop the hood .. the resevior is full to the brim , and bubbling like its boiling but the coolant is cold to the touch ..I thought i put too much .. Then a friend suggested its not circulating right ..
Well for the longest this peice metal on the exhaust located under the pass sear area in between to connecting points in the pipe keeps making this rattling noise . so like the McGyver i am i take a c clamp and push them 2 together and it quieted the exhuast like it was new .. Then white smoke started billowing out the pipe and very strong smell even throughout the inside of the truck . Now the truck is bogging out and white smoke cloud as i drive ..

So i left it there couple ppl came by checked it out and first thing Head Gasket ..
After a couple days of just letting it sit i go and start it again and it starts right up , the heat starts kickin i check coolant took 2 gallons .. But its working again , so this temp gauge keeps going up n down and heat works then cold air .. another buddy suggests thermostat .. i changed it out but still .. Now at cold startup .. it starts chuggin at first then after a couple minutes idles better but still not like it should ...

I wrote a book here , but i dont know if i should just try to find another motor or just spend the money and have this motor major ovewrhualed .. its got 165k on the motor ..

thanks in advance for any advice ..

 

[2K2DRSPRT]

I think ever since i put those 2 pipes closer together it did somthing .. and now i notice when i hit the gas as it idles down i hear little popping noises coming from under the car ..

 

[99SportX]

It sounds like you need to do the head gaskets. I helped a friend swap to a "new" motor in his 97 ranger and he got it from a salvage yard for $550 and it had about 45k on it. If you have the tools to do it yourself, it may be worthwhile to just swap another motor in.

 

[jonlax]

Did you properly bleed the system? If not you could have caused a hot spot and ruined your head gasket thus the white smoke.