Well thanks for the help... I'm going to go get a new waterpump and probably new hoses too. It's got 168K with stock hoses.

 

Good luck with the water pump replacement, it can be a bear. I had to create a special tool to get the stupid fan clutch off of the water pump, since nobody had the correct fan clutch wrench set that fit my '96 Blazer. I replaced the fan clutch while I was in there too. Which raises a question that I've always had..that being, has anyone ELIMINATED there fan clutch driven fan and substituted an electric fan? If so, what fan did you use and how did you interface it to the vehicle...ie: did you use a thermostatically operated switch to control the fan coming on and off, or something else.....thanks.

 

thanks for the info but I read it too late... Went and bought a new pump and got home and found out I needed a special tool.. Getting one tomarrow morning.

 

Well I got the pump off and the new one one... WHAT A PAIN!!!!!!!!!!! The driverside gasket was pretty much not even there. I think thats where it was leaking/pouring outfrom.

Found out that autozone or advanced auto DON'T have the right tools to pull the fan clutch. I had to use a screwdriver beteween the clutchbolts and a adjustable wrench that I had to hit with a hammer. (Those are the "special" tools)

 

I hope the water pump was actually the problem. I'm a latecomer to the thread but my advice was going to be to let it cool off and check every single hose AND PULLEY before messing tiwht the water pump.

I strongly suggest that you check the idler pulley and all other pulleys before starting it. If the idler pulley is bad, it could have frozen up, damaged the serpentine belt and let the motor overheat.

 

No pulley problems or hoses either.. The driverside gasket had a blow-out and was pouring out over everything

 

I went through the same thing, including the replacement of my water pump, only to find out that I still had a leak. It turned out to be the infamous intake manifold (lower) gasket. If you do a search, you will see many postings about this.

After I removed the intake manifold, I could see that the gasket was all destroyed around the water (jacket) ports (front of the intake).

 

I'm thinking you did fine with the water pump replacement. Mine was working similar to yours at one point, but mine never registered that it was overheating. I was living in a mild climate, and the waterpump was leaking , but it was so slowI thought it was A/C (defrost) drips from the small wet spot.
After a day or two I had no or intermittant heat. I thought it was heater core or some hose bloackageperhaps. Turns out the pump was leaking and draining the coolant half way down. It was enough to cool the engine, but the core would drain and give no heat.
New pump fixed all the issues...
Hope it does for you too.