[Brando]

It's been a while since my last post about it - and now I'm starting to feel like AZ Porsche Kid...

At 202k in July I did a complete coolant system flush, new thermostat (160º), and coolant temperature sender. Totally fixed my overheating issues. Used the truck to tow a 2800# camper trailer up from Orange County to Redwoods National Park. Truck did great, no overheating, no issues at all.

Fast forward a few months, truck hasn't been driven that much. Putting around town on Sundays (I only really use it to haul or drive my daughter around), I see the temp creep above the 1/3rd mark on rare occasion. Ok... Pull the radiator cap to check fluid level and coolant is low. "Where the hell is my coolant going?"

I drive it out to AZ and back. Top it off, it's fine for another month (last weekend). Temps slowly creep up again, pull the cap, down ½ gallon. I start it up and lots of white smoke. I order a block tester kit and... Fluid goes from dark blue to bright yellow. Crap.

After checking around and seeing what the average turn-around time is for getting heads cleaned, rebuilt... I decided to buy replacement heads and do a complete top-end gasket job. This will net the shortest down-time when it comes to swapping everything over. Wife wasn't too excited about the cost, but $980 for all the parts + shipping wasn't a bad deal. Plus I'll get $350 back on the core charge. Now I just need a sitter for a couple days when the weather clears.

Meanwhile, I keep telling my wife "Every used vehicle is a $10,000 vehicle..." If this thing lasts another 200k miles with a fresh top-end I'll be happy.