'93 S-10 overheating issues...can of worms!

[nodollaznosense]

Ok I have a 1993 S-10 4.3L V6 2wd extended cab with approx 84k miles, excellent shape until...

I noticed my truck was running a lil hot one day, nothing unusual in this California summer weather/traffic (this was around Aug. by the way, its been sitting since)

I checked the coolant, had a full service done on it, and was told the radiator cap wasn't holding the proper pressure. I replaced the radiator cap and a week or so later, I start overheating even more, and steam is blowing out of the drivers side of the radiator...I open the hood and see a little crack on the plastic area of the radiator, I end up making the decision to drive it home, slowly, in the middle of the night so its able to be worked on. So I pull the radiator and look, and I find that the plastic area on the side has a large hole in it, right where the hose comes in and takes the corner into the radiator...I was told that the engine is overheating so badly by some cause (head gasket, compression ratio?) that it shot a hot stream of air/coolant right at that corner of the radiator causing a hole to be burnt. Anyways so now I put a new radiator in, and it seems to run fine at a glance but when I turn the truck off, it spews a good cup of coolant onto the ground, I guess whatever was left in the hoses? Maybe the water pump is shot, I havent felt a leak from the bottom though, but thats about where the leak is coming from, hard to tell which is leaking, I am wondering what anyone thinks is causing this overheating, and if anyone else has had this chain reaction and cost of doing this A. Myself or B. a mechanic....

I know its a complicated story with no answers, just looking for some insight or anyone that has had similar problems. Thank you

[jackass#1]

how long does it take to overheat? have you tried a thermostat? check all hoses. does the pump make any scratching or taping sounds?

[jsgold]

May be as simple as overfilled coolant system. My son's Corsica did this same thing, no way to fix it short of replacing radiator. As he was getting noise from pump I replaced it too. I did my best to purge air out of it and ran it, refilled etc. The first day afterward I noticed it leaked out some, as the overflow bottle has a hole in it that lets excess fluid escape outside. When the engine got hot the fluid expanded and it then pushed excess out. Hopefully this is your problem. If not, get a pressure tester and see if you can get it to leak. May be able to borrow (lease) one from Advance Auto.