the cmpression should be no more than 10 percent difference in any cylinder higher or lower anything more or less rebuikd

check 3 by putting a spark plug socket on by hand then get box wrench on back side of socket comes out easy, put back in by hand with socket tighten back up with box wrench easy and i highly doubt you broke your cam from overheating doing this for 25 yrs never seen that happen. Blown head gaskets happen first and youd know this right away as all compression would be low. If your compression in all cylinders is less than 10 percent difference then motor is good. Youy antifreeze is not mixed with your oil then 90 percent sure didnt blow head gasket. Sounds like the mechanic that hyad this truck didnt know his ass from his job. I think it will come down to distributor or wires not right in correct order on motor or distributor cap or the distributor was moved a tooth or so off. Had this problem i changed distibutor and made sure wires were correct on motor and on cap as well as rotor and cap beeing put on right possition

he drained it for a reason so that it didnt mix with the oil he new it had a blown head gasket or assumed it did cause the first thing i check is oil is it clean is antifreeze mixed in it. The most common failure to any vehicle all when overheating is head gasket they crack they also crack heads and blocks did you fill it probably the problem is its got to run and have pressure in the engine for you to truely know if antifreeze is leaking into oil or pouring out the head or block that could be cracked the only reason for this so called mechanic to empty it would be to mislead someone by not knowing the extent of the overheating. And so you wouldnt notice mixed oil and antifreeze or leaks from cracked heads or engine block. The main concern would be geting a compression test on all 6 cylinders at least the 5 you can get to easily and if that checks out then im saying its something to do with cap rotor or distributor. Driver side 1,3,5 pass side 2,4,6 front to back cap is numbered also follow one on cap on side mount caps be careful following tabfrom cap top to inside tab if the rotor is at 7-8 oclock possition and the tab inside cap lines up thats good if not your off 180 degrees if its pointing at 6 rotor is on backwards. Make sure to tdc the engine before checking DISTRIBUTOR tdc timimg marks on harmonic balancer will point to 0 on gauge in front lower motor behind the harmonic balancer. IF YOU WANT 3 OUT ITS SIMPLE TAKE A SPARK PLUG SOCKET AND PUT IOT ON 3 BY HAND THEN GET A BOX WRENCH ON THE END OF THE SOCKET THE BOX WRENCH IS TURNING SIDEWAYS WHICH PARRALEL WITH COLUNM ELIMINATES TAKING STERRING COLUNM **** AND GEARBOX OFF I GAURANTEE THIS IVE DONE IT MANY TIMES WHEN YOU PUT IT BACK STUFF PLUG IN SOCKET START BY HAND THEN USE BOX WRENCH TO FINISH TIGHTENNING IT THERE ALWAYS A TRICK TO SAVE YOUR SANITY.

Back at it
 

Well, I let it sit for a while and am back at it. I pulled off the distributor cap and everything looks correct. Tab is between 7 and 8 O'Clock. While Turner ng the engine with a wrench, I felt NO COMPRESSION. I tested all holes and they're all dead. So, unless I find a new motor on CL locally for cheap, I'll be rebuilding it. Anything I should know before going into it? I've rebuilt motors before but am looking to do the least amount possible here. Maybe go in from the bottom on an engine stand and replace the rings. Is this wise? Any recommendations or thoughts are appreciated. Thanks in advance!

The reason for the headlights being dim is that the lighting system has DRL (Daytime Running Lights). It will turn the headlights on at reduced voltage. To bypass this while servicing the truck, you have to put the parking brake on. To bypass the DRL feature all together, just pull out the fuse for the DRL.

Or just get a swivel spark plug socket.

You do realize this thread is over 6 years old...….. time to retire it.