96 sable couple of problems

I am having problems with heat. Before I had to have the car at about 3 rpm's to get heat. Now the temp gauge runs high, and everytime I shut off the car it makes a gurgling sound from the resevoir. I have replaced the thermostat and flushed the radiator(in which there was a lot of gunk in there). I checked the oil to make sure it wasn't milky so I know it isn't a craked block. Any suggestions
Also when I am driving and come to a stop in won't shift into 1st gear. Unless I rev up the engine. Any help would be great thanks!

If you have the vulcan engine it most likely is the water pump. The Taurus forum has lots of threads about the vanes wearing out to nothing.