Mechanic help, Heater/Coolant system

[h20hunter]

Parts guys: deal with techs, parts, and advisors

Advisors: deal with car owners.

I'm good, don't need to be on the mound! 

Fyi, DNRY

[jackelope]

Parts guys: deal with techs, parts, and advisors

Advisors: deal with car owners.

I'm good, don't need to be on the mound! 

Fyi, DNRY

Clearly you've never been a service advisor with that job description.

[h20hunter]

Nope! You guys got a tough job. I joke of course but really you need to be half tech,  half advisor and 100% babysitter.

[Woodchuck]

I used to be a people person but people ruined that for me.

[timberghost72]

 

[Buckmark]

Nope! You guys got a tough job. I joke of course but really you need to be half tech,  half advisor and 100% babysitter.

Half tech
Half advisor
Half parts person
Half bartender, baby sitter (for the customer, tech and parts guys)
*

[Dan-o]

I think it's probably the passenger side tie rod.

[Fl0und3rz]

Also known as the Johnson rod.

[Caseyd]

Hit a deer. It will work itself out 

[Pete112288]

So had some new developments today, I hope my mistake didnt make it worse. The no heat at idle, and gurgling noise persist. I had opened the cap to the reservoir to check out what the coolant looked like after its been a few days of driving. Well without noticing, I haddnt gotten the cap screwed back on tight, it was just barely cracked and while the rig was warming up in the driveway, it filled the reservoir and dumped half a quart or so of coolant and the temp shot up to about 3/4 of the gauge. I tightened the cap and the temp went down but the reservoir stayed brimming full. Just over halfway to work (about mile 10 or so of a 16 mile trip) the temp started to climb. Barely got another mile to the closest safe pull off and the temp was pegged out overheating. I let it cool. Then started up and the temp would shoot back up. After it cooled again I cracked the cap and it sucked almost all of the coolant out of the reservoir. Tightened the cap, started it up, temp went way back down. Drove it the rest of the way to work. Whenever I was giving it gas it was staying cool. But the last 2 miles is all downhill and a lot of curves so my RPMs stayed low and the temp had started to climb back up and was again about 3/4 the way up the gauge when I got to work.
This morning I had just called and scheduled at a different mechanic for Wed morning. Based off of everything I told him at that point he said that he wanted to check it over for a possible partial blockage in the system, and try a different thermostat in case I had gotten a faulty or incorrect one when I replaced it.
And found that the previous mechanic had tested the coolant for hydrocarbons (if i am remembering correctly) doing a chemical test. However the new mechanic said that may not be conclusive since all the coolant was so recently replaced with fresh stuff so it may not show up enough in the system for the chemical test to work.
I only paid $300 for the vehicle, was a buddy that had new rigs and just wanted it gone and haddnt driven it very much in the last year. He is not mechanically inclined at all and barely knows enough to keep up on regular maintenance, so I doubt he had any idea of this issue when he sold it to me, if he had then he may have just given it to me free. I am about $300 more into it with all the maintenance and other work I have done thus far. My wife and I had a figure set that as long as we could get it to a decent point for around $2000 total into it then we would keep it. Since it is primarily meant to be a rig for me to drive to work in the winter when I need AWD and otherwise be at home if she needs it for kids or to run to the store while I am at work with the other car.
Thanks again everyone for weighing in on this for me!

[Buckmark]

My  which is how much my advise is worth is you have a head gasket issue, could be wrong but per your recent description gut feeling.
You need another new mechanic  as this other one telling you the coolant being newish may effect the block test is BS. Now a block test wont always show a positive. You can buy the tester and fluid from NAPA and do it yourself. Well the price on the rig was good so if you do the work yourself putting a few grand might be worth it to you?

[jackelope]

$36.99


Block Tester BT-500 Combustion Leak Test Kit - Made in USA https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06VVBSFTF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_33dsEb2V1FZE9

[deerlick]

Based on your new mechanics thoughts id find a new one. Sounds like theres an air trapped in the cooling system. Best way to fill cooling systems nowdays is with an air light vacuum style coolant filler. Sucks the air out and pulls the coolant in. Thats if you dont have a leak. Thise motors are very common for intake gasket leaks and definetly head gasket problems. New coolant will not cause a block checker not to work. You are sucking air out ofvthe sytem into the tester not coolant its fails if it pulld hydrocarbons out of the air from the cooling system not by pulling it out of the coolant. There should also be an air bleed srcew on that engine to aid in filling it. Goodluck

[Pete112288]

So finally had it in and out of the shop for a day and a half. I let them know how serious I was and filled them in on some new developments, like for the first time, it overheated on me. Not bad, I saw it coming as the temp climbed like it haddn't before. So I got off the road before it hit high enough for the warning light to start going off.
They said they ran the test again for hydrocarbons but didnt came up negative. After trying a few things, they couldnt get it to overheat at all to even a small extent for a while. He said when they finally "copy catted" the conditions where it overheated on me they got the temp to go up to about 3/4. Then they tested again, and only then did it come back positive for hydrocarbons. And they said they hooked up a hose to the reservoir and got about 5 lbs of pressure back. So they said its a headgasket, not completely shot, but that it has enough of a leak to do what it has been doing. They quoted me $1,900 + tax.
Because its a high mileage vehicle, I dont have much money into it at all, and I have a clean garage (finally), and a spare vehicle for the meantime, I am going to tackle it myself. $300 in parts and a 4 day weekend coming up.
This is kind of what I expected to find out, I didnt want it to be the case, but oh well, even after all this I will still be less than $1000 into the vehicle, including purchase price. So I am not gonna cry.
Thanks to everyone for their input!

[Fl0und3rz]

Thanks for the follow up.