i was heading to work today got on the ohio turnpike and was going between65-70mph for a few miles and my truck started to spit and sputter looked down at the guages and it was buried in hot and i instantly shut it off pushed in the clutch and pulled to the side,i went to pop the hood and it wouldnt go up so i sat there for 5 minutes trying to make it the i-75 exit it started up fine i went about 200 feet and it started to spit and sputter again and it was buried in hot i turned the heat on high and it didnt help so i shut it down again.called the wrecker to come so i worked on getting the hood opened and finally got it open.all the hoses in tact, serp belt was there,water pump looked dry but the resivior(?)was empty.it had fluid in it when i checked the oil last thursday when i got gas and maybe did 50 miles of driving since then.well made a few phone calls and its going to my buddies shop for a diagnosis but it sounds like maybe i blew a head gasket,but the res thing was empty,im just worried if i have an aluminum head on this if i warped it or not.any questions,comments concerns appreciated.anyone replaced the head gasket on a 01 2.3 or the head itself and what options are there?thanks ahead.

 

nobody has ever heard of this happening?

 

It's a cast iron head, mine overheated, started rattling, etc, since I was about 5 miles from the nearest gas station I kept on going, I managed to coast in the gas station, got my brother to come and tow me home. I pulled the engine, and put in another 2.3 that I got out of a 89 mustang the next day, got the truck running, then pulled the head off the old engine, the head had cracked in between the valves in the number 2 and 3 chambers (you could look through the cracks and see the water jacket), but since the engine had over 320,000 miles on it, it was due to be replaced anyways.

 

im hoping that it isnt that the head isnt cracked but it did run out of anitfreeze.found out the water pump failed on it going down the road.i guess thats the draw back to haveing standard guages that really dont alert you but they show you.it was in the morning and when your looking for cops in the median on 5 hours of sleep you really dont tend to check your guages.