Ok I have a 98 s10 2wd with the 4.3 vortex ohv recently I had a coolant problem because my water pump went then my head gasket went so I replaced both and cleaned the whole top end and regasketed the whole top end I got it all back together and started it and it was smoking and smells like burnt coolant I checked my heads there were no cracks and they weren't warped I checked my rings block and its all ok but my coolant is still just vanishing and my engine has a miss (which I think might be cause I didn't check if it was in time) there is no coolant leaking and no coolant in my oil or milky residue and I tried to drive it home and it had plenty of power but overheated and shut off and I checked for any leaks and nothing the hoses were rock hard and there was no coolant from what I could see I am very mechanically inclined and this is not my first head gasket by far I am just puzzled

 

Well, if you have no external leaks, check the passeger floor area, and see if it is wet. if so, heater core needs to be replaced. if ok, and not wet floor area, then it is being sucked out through the heads,or gaskets. if the exhaust burns alittle white smoke you have a good clue. possible warp. did you use a steel straight edge and feeler guage to check for a warp condition on the heads and engine block? did you use a tork wrench to tighten down the heads in the proper sequence?

you said it overheated. did you notice any antifreeze coming out of the overflow tube?

 

If you have a non contact thermometer try this. Fill your cooling system back up with water, distilled would be best. Now have an assistant start the engine and start checking the exhaust manifolds in a sequence, I'd start with 6 then go to 4 then 2 then 1 then 1 then 3 then 5. If your splash guards are off pull the front tires and make it easier to check them. You'll notice the one that's missing will warm up slower than the others, once your sure your missing cylinder shut off the engine and pull that plug to see if its wet. Do it before the engine gets hot shouldn't take more than a min to do. If you don't have one, pick one up from radio shack or a parts store might carry them. Sounds like you could have a leak through the intake gasket. To verify that your heads are good and the head gaskets are good you should do a compression test. Or even a leak down test, just pull the radiator cap and when you pressurize the cylinders if your head gasket is leaking to the water jacket, coolant/water will come out of the radiator. That should help you figure out where its leaking.