Overheating on Hill

[coastie84]

Ohk, so here's the deal. I have a 92 XLT 5 spd with about 95k on it. I was driving all day yesterday with no problem. Then I finally come to a large hill and on the way up the truck is acting very sluggish, even when downshifting and I could feel and see it start to heat up. It just barely got out of the normal range towards the H and I got to the top of the hill and it was easy coming down (the temp dropped back down) with the exception of smoke coming from under the hood that I didn't notice until slowing. I was in traffic, so waited to pull over until I found a gas station about 10 minutes after the hill. When I pulled over though everything was normal, no smoke, no coolant boiling over or anything.
Checked the coolant level this morning and its perfectly normal. Some more info: its had coolant problems in the past (blew a head gasket about 3 years ago...fixed no probs for awhile), then for the past year or so its had some coolant issues (mainly happens on hills), and finally (possibly unrelated) the a/c is completely shot. I don't turn it on because when its on the engine heats way up, but even just the fan usually blows warm air when set on cool.
Any help would be huge as this is my daily driver and I just moved to an area where driving in hills is a necessary fact of life. Prob gonna take it to a wrench (no garage or tools right now), but I wanna have an idea what I'm looking at so I don't get ripped off. Thanks

 

[doonze]

Well from recent personal experience, I'd say start cheap first. Go to Auto zone, pick up a new thermostat for $4.99, get a buddy and 2 free hours with a ratchet and swap that thing out.....it might be opening enough to cool you most of the time but not enough to cool you under load or with the A/C on. It's a little bit of a pain but nothing too bad. I can give ya some tips if you decide to try that. You don't need a garage or any special tools.