i just flushed out my radiator and about 3 gallons came out. I can only get one gallon back in. I started my truck up and the heat gauge went almost into the red in about 5 minutes. Im sure im missing something here. Can anyone help me out? Thank you in advance

 

did you try putting your garden hose in it full blast to clear the clog you might also do that for the hoses comeing out of the heater too.

 

Try letting it cool off, then starting the engine and fill it up, the water pump makes the coolant circulate and the rad will "burp" up the air bubbles.

 

heres a tip, let your truck idle, pour some ontop of the rad and get someone else to pump the top rad hose, my friend had the same problem, that seemed to work.

 

If the heat is off, the coolant will not go into the heater core, this may be why you cant fit as much in.

 

The "burping" method was what i needed to do. when i thought about it i figured once the thermostat opened it would let me put in the other gallon. but now im worried i did some damage when i over heated it. when i removed the oil cap there was smoke comming out. seems to run fine though.

 

How much smoke? A little some is no big deal. If you ran it a long time with little coolant, you might have a problem, but a few wisps of smoke isn't the end of the world.

 

It's normal for smoke or steam to come out of the crankcase. Since the engine gets hot, water will condense inside as it cools off then turn to steam the next time the engine warms. Also blowby around the rings and oil mist can cause a light smoke when the cap is removed. You don't see this when the cap is on and the engine's running because the PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) system lets it get sucked into the intake.

 

did you also open the block drain plugs if not you have more water then antifreeze in your system.